Mass Eye and Ear Expansion Plan Ruffles Feathers

A group of Beacon Hill residents met Wednesday night with representatives from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and expressed serious fears over the hospital's impending expansion plans.

A group of about 20 residents gathered at the to voice their concerns over the new construction projects, slated to begin in 2011 and continue for 10 years or more.

The hospital is planning three expansion projects as part of its "Vision 2020" campaign. 

In total, the three project will add an additional 125,000 square feet, bringing the campus to a total of 575,000 square feet, to be divided as follows:

-65,000 sq. ft. of out-patient facilities

-20,000 sq. ft. of right sizing (adding space to crowded lobbies, etc.)

-20,000 sq. ft. of research space

-10,000 sq. ft. of support space

-8,000 - 10,000 sq. ft. of retail space

Project 1

Plans for the first project are to raze the building on Cambridge St. next to the Mass Gen's Yawkey Center for Cancer Care and erect a new, larger building in its place to be used for research and outpatient care. 

The plan is to make the new building 20 feet taller than the one there now, but no taller than the Yawkey Center. The ground floor will feature 4,000 square feet of retail space.

Project 2

The second planned project drew the most ire from residents, especially those living at West Hill Place, a condo complex sandwiched between the  to the east and the  to the north (see our map).

Mass Eye and Ear wants to build a 25,000-square-foot building in the now vacant parking lot on the corner of Charles St. and Embankment Rd., next to , the Charles Street Garage and the John Jeffries House. Mass Eye and Ear owns the parking lot, which is now mostly used by Savenor's as a loading dock.

The ground floor of the building will be used for retail space and the rest of the building will be used for administrative functions. While Mass Eye and Ear has moved much of its administrative staff to Charlestown, Robert Biggio, vice president of support services and real estate, said this building will house human resources and training facilities that employees need more immediate access to.

Residents living in the far corner of West Hill Place are concerned the building, which will abut their condos, will block light and views. 

Some residents described the new building as their "worst nightmare" -- fearing the negative affects on their quality of life and property value.

Aesthetics are also an issue. "We don't have a preconceived notion of what style building it should be -- we're open to input on that," said Biggio, noting that he was aware the building would have to jibe with the aesthetics of Beacon Hill. 

"That corner, to fill it in to this extent is a very, very substantial visual change. So I would urge some flexibility," said Tad Stahl, a member of the board.

Residents expressed fears that the construction would jeopardize the existence of Savenor's -- the only grocery store on Charles St. after the loss of at the other end of the street.

"Savenor's uses your parking lot for loading and unloading right now," said West Hill Place resident and stay-at-home mom Jenny Besser.

Biggio asked the group if the grocery store was very important to them and Besser and others responded with an emphatic "Absolutely!"

Other concerns included the weight of the building which some fear will compromise the foundation, built mostly on wood pilings that have given out in the past.

"I appreciate them coming to us but this has the potential to cause serious structural damage," said West Hill Place resident Mike Novak, who works in finance.

Representatives from Mass Eye and Ear said working with residents to reach an equitable solution was a top priority. 

"We've thought a lot about this. It's not something that we're trying to gloss over here," said Biggio.

A Potential Compromise?

Concerned residents suggested Mass Eye and Ear add two floors to the proposed Cambridge St. building (next to the Yawkey Center) instead of erecting a new building next to the Charles Street Garage. 

Even though the addition of two floors would mean the building would stand taller than surrounding structures, a show of hands indicated the majority of residents preferred a taller building on the other side of Cambridge St. to any building at all next to the Charles Street Garage.

Project 3

A third project, Biggio said, involves renovations to the building at 230 Charles St. (at the mouth of the Longfellow Bridge), and would be virtually invisible to residents. Plans include adding two elevators to the corner of the building at Fruit and Charles streets, adding a loading dock in the alley way and filling in the middle of the building.

Hospital Expanding to Meet Needs of Boomers, Outpatients

Mass Eye and Ear is a 186-year-old independent teaching hospital with a 450,000-square-foot campus located adjacent to . The need for expansion, explained Vice President of Communications Jennifer Street, comes from the changing nature of eye, ear, nose and throat surgery as well as an aging baby boomer population demanding more medical care.

"We project a 2 percent growth in patient volume annually and that's not because we're out there advertising for patients," said Biggio. The aging population needs improved access to the facilities and more elevators, he said.

"The surgery we do has changed dramatically over the last 50 years," said Street. A tonsillectomy, which used to mean a three- or four-day hospital stay, is now a minimally invasive outpatient surgery, explained Street. Most all of the surgeries performed at Mass Eye and Ear are now outpatient surgeries. This means more patient traffic and more doctors but less of a need for patient rooms.

A third reason, Street said, is to accommodate an increased focus on research -- something the hospital needs more space for.

"We do not want to start spreading our research out to be any distance away from the hospital itself," said Street.

Mass Eye and Ear said it wants to continue discussions with residents as it finalizes expansion plans over the next six months. 

"There is no architect for this building yet. That's how early it is in the process," Street emphasized. The next step for Mass Eye and Ear is a December visit to the , which must approve all of the hospital's plans.