Tufts University plans to temporarily use its popular Stearns Estate Field in South Medford as a staging area for the Joyce Cummings Center construction project. However, Medford neighbors and city councilors are unhappy and want Tufts to choose a new staging area for construction.

"To say the neighbors are frustrated and disappointed with where we are at with Tufts is an understatement," said one neighbor who lives near the construction project. "This is beyond construction."

During Tuesday night's City Council meeting, many Medford residents who use the Stearns Estate Field, which is a property owned by Tufts near the future Cummings academic building, voiced their concerns over the use of the crucial landmark in South Medford.

"It is a very special place for many Medford residents," said a neighbor. "That field is beautiful. It gets a lot of use. It's the last place left."

The Joyce Cummings Center project, which will be located at 177 College Ave. in Medford, is a multi-purpose academic building that was donated to Tufts and the city by philanthropists Bill and Joyce Cummings through the Cummings Foundation. In 2017, the Medford Zoning Board of Appeals accepted Tufts' proposal, and the University wants to temporarily use the field as a roadway and turn-around area for the construction trucks during the making of the building.

"The field is a gem," said one resident who uses the field frequently with his kids and dog. "It's a treasure. It is the wrong place for the staging of the construction area of the Cummings Building. There is no reason to destroy Stearns Estate Field."

"It's a great place that people use," added another neighbor during Tuesday night's meeting. "I implore you to help us with this. I'm shocked. It would devalue our property. It would be a nuisance for years."

Initially, residents were supportive of the overall project. However, since Tufts introduced the plans for the project, residents say the design has changed dramatically and they want answers from Tufts in its upcoming meeting with the neighbors this Thursday at 6:15 at Halligan Hall.

"We are hoping for more of a collaborative back and forth on this project," said one neighbor.

Medford Mayor Stephanie Burke explained that the design changed because of the Green Line Extension project.

"When the green line was changing all of their plans with their station design in order to cut back to reach the budget they have, they changed the scope of the Cummings Building," Burke said. "They had to go back and reworked the building to stand alone as opposed to being a part of the green line station."

There are 22 neighbors who abut the construction project, and they explained they were not involved in the process enough and only learned only a week or two ago about the latest design plans. The neighbors said that Tufts offered them two different versions of the plan a few years ago, but the most recent version had the "building shifted substantially" from the prior design.

However, Tufts said they have had "numerous meetings" with the neighbors to discuss the project, including two "community presentations" in March and April and a "per-construction meeting" with the neighbors in May, and have worked with the residents to meet their needs.

"At these meetings, neighbors provided important feedback," said Tufts University Director of Government and Community Relations Rocco DiRico. "We were able to incorporate many of their requests into our design. Tufts University is committed to continuing to update our neighbors on this project and working with them to address their concerns."

However, residents still are not happy with the design.

"It was too big for the neighborhood," one neighbor said.

"It's a significant change of lifestyle," urged another resident. "It's going to be substantial. Use another cite."

Medford Building Department Commissioner Paul Mochi said the average height, which is the best way to define the height of a building with an uneven surface, of the Joyce Cummings Center was initially 95 feet high, and the average height of the latest design is 93.76 feet.

The neighbors further emphasized that the building is just too high and big, and they are concerned it will provide too much light, noise and traffic in the area. Also, there is supposed to be a parking lot for 25 cars, and the neighbors are concerned the traffic will disrupt people walking to school and work.

"They are not being good neighbors," one neighbor. "They know how it should be done."

Burke said she can understand "both sides" of the problem.

"Whenever something affects you in your neighborhood, you are concerned and you have a right to be," Burke said. "Likewise, Tufts wants to get their building put up, and they need a place to put down the equipment on their property so it's a tough balance. I'm hopeful Tufts will be respectful with the neighbors, which they have always been, and include them in on the process because those neighbors, in particular, have been very supportive of Tufts University."

Burke said she met with Tufts about the parking lot and mentioned her concern about the traffic that would result from the new lot. However, Tufts assured Burke the University doesn't want to use the lot for parking and just needed it to satisfy the Zoning Board of Appeals.

"They are more than willing to not use that for parking," Burke said. "I really implored upon them to think about this because it is adding to the chaos in back, and they were receptive to the idea of not allowing anyone to park there."

Council agrees with residents

The City Council heard the residents' concerns last Tuesday night and also shared their frustrations with Tufts University.

"There is a lot of concern back there with the neighbors," said City Councillor Michael Marks. "I want to thank the neighbors for showing up tonight. I'm glad to hear neighbors have a concern with this open space. They should be concerned."

Marks said the new Tufts plan is a "substantial change" to the original design and explained it is important for Tufts to go back through the hearing process when they make a change this dramatic, which he said "never happened."

"It is definitely a quality of life issue," Marks said. "We need to send a message to Tufts University we are extremely unhappy with the staging area."

When the design changed, Tufts went before the Zoning Board of Appeals for a second time in January of this past year. However, Burke said the Building Commissioner and the Board of Appeals didn't "deem" the changes "significant enough" to have another hearing, and Mochi confirmed Burke's comments, stating that the Board had "no questions on the new design."

City Council Vice President Breanna Lungo-Koehn agreed with Marks and said she was shocked when the location changed for the building and believes residents should have more of a say in the process.

"For residents not to have a say is crazy to me," Lungo-Koehn said, who also mentioned she used go sledding at Stearns Estate Field when she was a kid. "I can't understand it. I grew up in the neighborhood. I know the use it gets."

City Councillor George Scarpelli suggested that Tufts use a different piece of land, like Field C, for the construction staging area.

"Eliminate half of their parking area," Scarpelli said. "Persuade Tufts to use that land as a staging area. Tufts needs to do their part with the neighborhood. They know they can do it."

Lungo-Koehn said she is "amazed" that Tufts picked the Stearns Estate Field for the construction area, and Scarpelli explained that Field C is an open parking lot that is "seldom used" besides when there is a baseball game in the area.

"Your changing a whole neighborhood on something you can do in your own backyard," Scarpelli said. "This is a no-brainer. I can't see why this would be an issue. This really is that simple. This should be easy."

However, Dirico said Field C is "not suitable" to replace Stearns Field as the lay down area during construction because of the heavy traffic from the Green Line Extension and other construction projects in the area.

"Thousands of cars travel down College Avenue everyday," Dirico said. "It's not feasible to have trucks crossing College Avenue and adding more traffic issues to an already heavily congested area."

Marks, who asked the city to put in a reverse 911 call about the upcoming Tufts meeting on June 13, also mentioned it is important for the Administration to step up and fight back against Tufts.

"I hope the city Administration would be the first voice to Tufts University to say, 'There is a concern regarding the staging area,'" Marks said. "The city is nowhere to be found on these issues. I don't see the leadership."

Burke said she has walked the area near the project and talked to Tufts about the neighbors' concerns.

"I asked them to look over their land and see if there is any other place to do it," Burke said of the staging area. "The problem they are encountering is the [Green Line Extension] doing their work on the tracks. They are going to try to come up with something but it's hard right now with all of the GLS work."

Marks and Scarpelli believe Tufts will listen and comply to the suggestions in the meeting on June 13, and they didn't appear overly worried last Tuesday night.

"The presentation and the persuasion of this Council will go a long way," said Scarpelli.

"I certainly agree there are a lot of concerns and they are very valid," added Councillor Adam Knight. "I am confident we will be able to work through some of these issues."