Bunker Hill Community College is envisioning the advancement of its higher education mission at the Charlestown Campus through modern facilities and a vibrant built environment that connects the College’s diverse student body to the local and global innovation economies.
Background
Constructed 50 years ago, the Charlestown Campus facilities are outdated, inefficient, and in poor condition—requiring hundreds of millions in state funding to even begin to modernize.
To deliver on its mission for the next generation of learners, the College needs new facilities that provide flexible, collaborative, technology-enabled spaces to deliver education in a more interdisciplinary, compact footprint.
Located near world-class academic, research and technology clusters, the College has a unique opportunity to foster partnerships between public higher education and the local knowledge economy while creating state-of-the-art facilities for the workforce of tomorrow.
Project Goals
BHCC and the Commonwealth hope to achieve five main goals:
- Create a contemporary, urban community college for greater Boston with no or minimal funding from the Commonwealth.
- Provide mission-critical and essential programs to meet workforce demands.
- Ensure an equitable environment for BHCC’s diverse learners.
- Foster public-private industry partnerships.
- Elevate the future campus as a community-based, social-service hub connected to the Charlestown community and other regional networks.
Partnership
A Public-Private Partnership (P3) is an agreement between a public entity and a third-party organization that allows both parties to achieve common goals cost effectively. At the BHCC site, a P3 could attract a development partner to be responsible for designing, permitting, financing, and constructing both the College’s future facilities and a private development.
A Public-Private Partnership approach, selected through a public procurement, was authorized by the Commonwealth’s Asset Management Board (AMB) in November 2022, and will be a collaboration between the College and the State’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM). Over the next year, the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance and the College will advance the programmatic design guidelines and craft a request for proposals as the next step in this alternative disposition process authorized by the AMB. Following the proposal selection process, the proposer will proceed with all City and State permitting processes that will provide further opportunity for public input to shape the project.
Engagement and Stakeholders
In 2022, the College held public meetings and met with community stakeholders. It heard from community stakeholders the importance of including shared community spaces and programming, of conscientious planning with the community’s input, and a desire to build close relationships between BHCC and the surrounding community.
The College and DCAMM are coordinating with the Executive Office of Education, the Department of Higher Education, and the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.
Previous Public Comment Opportunities
- Wednesday, October 5, 2022
A Campus Open House for the College's Charlestown neighbors was held on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. in the B-Building lobby. Guests were invited to tour our buildings and learn more about the College’s campus planning in the years ahead and had a chance to ask questions and learn about opportunities to be involved at BHCC. - Thursday, October 20, 2022
A Public Hearing was held at the Charlestown Campus on Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. in Room C-202 in C-Building.
Timeline and Next Steps
BHCC and DCAMM are in the initial phases of a multi-year process beginning with a public procurement that aligns with the College’s mission and Commonwealth goals.
The selected developer partner will be expected to go through the City of Boston’s typical permitting process, which includes opportunities for public input to help shape the project
Partner selection, design, and permitting are expected to take 3-5 years; construction is not expected to begin for at least 5 years.
Document Library
- A Vision for Bunker Hill Community College Redevelopment (January 2023 Project Information Sheet)
- BHCC’s Final Project Proposal to the Asset Management Board (October 31, 2022)
- Attachments to BHCC’s Final Project Proposal to the Asset Management Board (October 31, 2022)
For general project inquiries email visionproject@bhcc.edu or call 617-336-5242.