The City of Boston has selected the first of three options for the eagerly awaited $32 million redevelopment of the South End Branch Library, with an approach that prioritizes making the least impact on the adjacent park.
“The project schedule remains on track, with the prequalification stage of contractor selection underway,” Mohammed Missouri, executive director of the city’s Office of Neighborhood Services, wrote in part in a July 2 email to South End community members. “The design team is updating the construction documents to reflect the new alley modifications shown in Option 1, while further refining exterior design details. The next stage of the bidding process is expected to commence Fall 2026.”
Missouri added the city is “also reviewing additional methods to address towing and parking concerns.”
A two-story structure is now on track to replace the shuttered one-story library at 685 Tremont St., nearly double its size from around 9,000 to about 16,000 square feet. But the expansion of the library’s footprint will inevitably result in the loss of some adjacent alley space, according to the city.
A ground-floor footprint of the new building extends approximately 5 feet into Alley #510, which runs behind the library, while staying within the Boston Public Library’s property lines. Alley #510 is connected perpendicularly to Alley #529, which is serviced by city Public Works vehicles for curbside collection of solid waste and recycling. Today, sanitation vehicles service Alley #529 via West Newton Street, as well as exit Alley #510 via both West Newton Street and Rutland Square. With the new library design, large vehicles will need to turn right out of Alley #529 into Alley #510.
When the new library is built, Alley #510, which now runs two ways, will become one way to minimize conflicts, while new No Stop signage will be increased to make it clear that vehicles left in the alley will be towed.
During a standing-room, seventh community meeting on the project held May 19 at Union Church, Brett Bentson, a principal with the Boston architectural firm, Utile, outlined three options for reconfiguring the site to accommodate the new library, with the first option entailing no changes to the park while maintaining a strip of asphalt to allow access for city and emergency vehicles.
Powering the expanded library will require the installation of a new Eversource electrical transformer on site, said Bentson, and in the first option, the generator is located near Alley #510.
The second alternative would have left the alley configuration alone, while placing the transformer partially within the boundaries of the existing park, which would have also required tree relocation.
A third option entailed making minor modifications to both Alley #510 and the park, expanding the alley as much as possible with asphalt. The transformer would have been installed within the park, making the entrance narrower in an effort to preserve the existing trees.
In both the second and third options, a ‘dedicated tree’ would also have been relocated to an area of the park where tables and chairs are presently located, said Bentson.
In an informal straw poll conducted by Mayor Micelle Wu, the vast majority of meeting attendees favored the first option, which entails leaving the park untouched, while a handful of others preferred the second option, which would leave the alley alone. The third, hybrid option garnered little to no support.
Since the meeting took place, Eversource has agreed to locate an 8-foot high utility box, which will provide underground service to the new, all-electric library. The utility company had originally intended to place the box above ground, somewhere alongside the alley running parallel to Library Park, or inside the park itself.
Also, no changes will be made that might limit area residents’ access to their private parking spaces via “one-way only” restrictions on the alley’s entrances and exits, and all four alley access points for vehicles will remain open for two-way traffic, except for trucks.
In response to the city’s plans to move forward with Option 1, Yvette Jarrreau, president of Friends of the South End Library, wrote: “FOSEL is pleased to know the decision about Alley #510, and that the project is proceeding in alignment with the latest timeline indicating completion of alley design, construction documents, and contractor pre-qualifications this spring/summer. We look forward to further updates when fall/winter phases begin.”
The project is scheduled to go out to bid this fall, with construction, expected to run about 27 months, starting in the spring of ’27, according to the city.
The South End Branch Library has been closed since April of 2022 due to flooding.