Construction of Emerson Residence Hall Reaches Milestone

A topping-off ceremony took place at 2 Boylston Place—a new student residence hall being built at Emerson College—on August 8.

(A topping-off ceremony is a construction-industry tradition marking the moment when the crew puts in place the highest structural point of a building.)

President Lee Pelton welcomed the gathering of College officials, invited guests, contractors, and construction workers, and spoke about the importance of this new project, which “will strengthen the College’s sense of place in the downtown corridor.” He also praised the city of Boston in particular for being “supportive, encouraging, collaborative” in the College’s effort to expand “in the heart of Boston’s Theatre District.”

Construction of the 18-story, 380-bed student housing project will be completed in summer 2017, in time for students to move into the building at the beginning of the 2017–2018 academic year.

Among the invited guests were Deputy Director of Urban Design for the Boston Redevelopment Authority David Carlson; Suffolk Construction VP Frank Craemer; Emerson Trustee and President and CEO of Samuels and Associates Steve Samuels; and Founding Principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects Howard Elkus. 

Construction workers on the project were invited to sign their names on the final beam, and a concrete bucket was hoisted, marking the completion of the building’s concrete core.

In addition to the new student residence hall at 2 Boylston Place, the College is currently constructing a new Student Dining Center just around the corner at 122-124 Boylston Street and planning a renovation and reconfiguration of its largest student residence hall, known as the Little Building, at 80 Boylston Street. Little Building renovations will start in spring 2017 and will add 290 new student beds. These significant investments will establish a vibrant streetscape along Boylston Street across from the Boston Common and will allow the College to house an additional 670 of its students on campus.

Undergraduate housing will increase by 33 percent, which supports the City’s goal for colleges and universities to increase on-campus student housing.