Planning board approves WPI’s 384-bed new dormitory
Photo | Grant Welker
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
The Worcester Planning Board unanimously approved the definitive site plan for Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s new 384-bed dormitory on Wednesday, and also approved the removal of a portion of Rumford Avenue from the official city map, as part of the project.
The new dorm will go up on a piece of WPI-owned land at 75 Park Ave., where the school maintains eight dorm buildings. As part of the new dorm’s constructions, six of those eight buildings will be demolished and replaced with one four-story dorm building.
The new dorm will house 384 students in 256 units, on top of the 90 students who may be housed in the remaining 30 units not demolished. The project will result in a net increase of 153 beds and 179 units when it is complete.
Approximately 121 parking spaces will be removed as part of the project, with a plan to replace them with a new parking lot with 95 parking spaces, according to WPI's application to the planning board. Although the number of parking spaces at Salisbury Estates will decrease, Michelle Smith, Worcester’s senior planner, said the school plans to run shuttle service between the dorms and academic buildings.
The school will still have 1,600 parking spaces across its entire campus, Smith said.
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