This complex project completed for the City of Boston involved converting an exiting outdoor skating rink into a brand new, full service recreational facility for the Boys & Girls Club of Boston and the thousands of youth it serves each year. The Youth Development Center received numerous design awards, including the prestigious Harleston Parker Award, and provides a new recreation, social and learning center for young people in this densely populated and multi-racial urban neighborhood. The project involved the partial demolition of an existing skating rink and its subsequent conversion into a new multi-use 10,000 sf gymnasium and outdoor pool, educational, meeting and activty spaces for community use and related administrative and support areas.
As general contractor, Boston Building & Bridge partially demolished several bays of an abandoned ice rink and built the new gymnasium and entry lobby on the original foundations. Clubhouse facilities were reconstructed out of the remaining vaulted space with the shed’s original bowstring trusses visible overhead. As part of this project, Boston Building & Bridge also created a computer center, art studio, library, teen lounge and a semi-enclosed play area as well as locker rooms and shower facilities for the gymnasium.