MBTA Plans Call for Demolition of 500 Arborway Building

A site preparation contract the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority plans to issue this summer would involve the demolition of a vacant 500 Arborway office building, according to the Jamaica Plain Gazette

The Arborway Yard, an 18-acre area of land on Washington Street and the Arborway in the Forest Hills section of Jamaica Plain, currently houses a temporary bus maintenance facility, and the proposed contract would also include the demolition of a City of Boston pole yard site nearby, according to the Jamaica Plain Gazette, which reported that the pole yard is related to a larger site preparation plan that includes the 500 Arborway demolition. 

A formal announcement regarding the effort and the reasons and funding for the work have yet to be disclosed, according to the Gazette. 

The MBTA previously built a facility on the yard that was meant to temporary for five years and to eventually be replaced by a permanent transit facility that would be a model of environmental soundness and safety. Close to half the land would be turned over to the city for affordable homes, small businesses, and open space. The MBTA omitted the $220 million funding for the Yard from its 2012-2016 Capital Investment Plan. The facility design was expected to be completed in the spring of 2011.

For more information on the Arborway Yard project, click here.