[TM-L7tQLt0w_SPEAKER_09]: Good morning, everybody. Good morning. If I could, I'd just like to welcome everybody here. And before we move on, I'd like to introduce a few of the elected officials or their representatives who are here. I saw City Councilor Rick Caraviello is with us. Here I am. City Councilor, former Budget Director Stephanie Ucchini-Burke is here with us. representing, oh, Congresswoman Catherine Clark. We have Wade Blackman and Kelsey Perkins here with us. Thank you for being here. And representing District Attorney Marion Ryan, Denise Duren is right behind everybody here. So thank you all for being here. This is a very exciting day for all of us. And it's taken a little time for four parties. Cummings Property, Tufts University, MBTA, the City of Medford, to look at the number of details involved in this proposed project. And we've all come together on a proposal. This is the beginning step where we will unveil that proposal, but then begin a public process for review by the community as we move forward. But as we look at the project, we had an interest in it because it does a number of things here in the community, not the least of which are improvements to pedestrian safety, financial packages for the community, better walkways and access to the neighborhoods, the opportunity to have a brand new beautiful educational building that'll have access to community groups, and also, hopefully, by having the educational building right on the top of that station, it'll be another attraction to just take the train to school and get off and go up to the second and third floor and take your classes. So we have come to agreement And at this time, we're going to go through two or three speakers, and then I'll sum up the community benefits at the end. And hopefully by the end, you'll have a full understanding of the entire program. So our first speaker is the president of Tufts, Tony Monaco. Now, Tony and I have worked together since 2011. And over that four-year period of time, we have built a great relationship. I have served with four presidents of Tufts University. And I think when it comes to negotiations, Tony and I are most alike. We look at each other. I tell him what the needs are in the community. He tells me what the needs are in the university. And then in a very short period of time, we are able to work out an agreement that maybe we're not both very happy with, but we know that we got a good agreement on both sides. One that's good for the university, one that's good for the city, one that's good for the quality of life. So I'd like to present my dear friend, President Tony Monaco.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you Mayor McGlynn for bringing us all together for this press conference. I'm so grateful to the Mayor, over 28 years he's been a true friend to Tufts and today's announcement is yet another example of our very strong partnership. We're also enormously proud of our alumnus Bill Cummings and his wife Joyce. Today we're unveiling another of his visionary projects that benefits both Tufts and his hometown of Medford. I also want to thank Frank DiPaola. The MBA team has worked collaboratively with us and I appreciate their hard work. Tufts is excited to have this opportunity to work with the City of Medford and the MBTA on the construction of a new public transit station in our neighborhood. We believe this transit station will support our efforts to reduce the number of cars that come to campus on a regular basis, a sustainable outcome we can all support. As always, we are delighted to have Medford as our partner in this project. We will work closely with the city and its residents on this project as it goes through the permitting and neighborhood discussions before construction can begin. We are honored through the generosity of Bill and Joyce Cummings and the Cummings Foundation that we have this opportunity to add an important building to our community. Bill and Joyce have been wonderful friends to Tufts and to the greater community. Their philanthropy has been transformational to our university, and non-profit organizations across the Commonwealth. This visionary project will enhance public spaces for community use and also help knit together our campus, which is located on both sides of the railroad right-of-way. We plan a building that will be a home for outward-reaching academic endeavors. It will improve our access to the Tufts Health Science Campus in downtown Boston. We are still considering how best to use this academic space, but I can state now that there will be no wet labs nor student housing in the building. We also see the new academic building as a place where the Tufts community and the Medford community can come together and interact. For example, we will design the building with meeting spaces which will be available for use by the community. The building plans also include commercial space on the first floor which might be used for a coffee shop for tea riders, neighbors, faculty, staff and students. We also hope to move forward on a design and permitting for a footbridge that will link the new building to the top of the hill. It will benefit members of the Tufts community and our visitors and will be open to the public during the day. It will help make our campus more accessible, meaning a real challenge for our campus on a hill. and will route pedestrians away from the already busy Boston Avenue-College Avenue intersection. We are pleased to support the City of Medford by contributing to a community fund which will be used to improve things throughout the City. We have also agreed to make annual payments to the City related to the building. I want to take this opportunity to thank Mayor McGlynn, the City of Medford and our neighbors for their cooperation. We appreciate their willingness to work with us as we continue to refine our plan. Neither the Tufts Building nor its amenities would be possible without the significant work of the MBTA that they've already done on the College Ave Station. The MBTA has been a true partner as this project has developed and we look forward to completion of our building when the T Station opens at the end of 2020. It is a very exciting project. And I look forward to the day we can all assemble again to dedicate the vision of Bill Cummings, which is finally brought to fruition. Thank you very much.
[TM-L7tQLt0w_SPEAKER_09]: Our next speaker is Frank Capalla, who is the interim director of the MBTA, general manager. I suggest, if anyone in this room has a problem, You call Frank. Because I think of the one public servant that I've called the most over my 28 years, and it's Frank DiPaolo. whether he was at the MWRA working with us on environmental issues, whether he was the highway administrator who we worked on numerous issues with, whether he was the interim director of Secretary of Transportation, where I found myself in his office on many occasions, and now he has just taken on the chore of straightening out one of the most difficult issues to straighten out in the history of public transportation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and that is getting the MBTA back on track. He is a gentleman who is very reasonable to work with. It's always, tell me the problem, and we'll figure out what his solution is. He's good for the Commonwealth. He's good for our city. He's good for this project. I thank him for his leadership. Thank you, Paul.
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you, Mayor McGlynn, President Monaco, and Mr. Cummings. The MBTA is extremely excited to be part of this public-private partnership. The Green Line extension is not just a new light rail line going through Somerville and Midland. It also represents a transforming endeavor and an opportunity to shape our community in a positive way for generations to come. Partnerships such as these attract private investment to public expenditures and provide an opportunity to enhance public infrastructure in communities in a way that the MBTA could not accomplish alone. Tufts and the City of Medford have been exemplary partners. The GLX project has been underway for some time now, and the plans from the City and from Tufts have been thoughtfully integrated into the project team's work. It is a requirement that this project have no negative impacts to the Green Line project schedule or overall budget, and Tufts and the City of Medford have fully met that requirement. To be clear, Tufts has committed to fund any and all improvements that the MBTA will build on their behalf and all improvements required in order to enable their plans. Tufts project will not require any additional funds from the Commonwealth to complete the Green Line project. Tufts has also committed to maintaining and securing the plaza around the station and all pathways leading to the station. This is a significant commitment and will result in a savings to the MBTA. We thank you for that. The agreement between Tufts and the MBTA commits Tufts to cover all additional project costs implemented on the University's behalf. It also commits Tufts to a maintenance and security obligation for the station and the area around the station, and enables a 99-year lease of the air rights above the public right-of-way granted to Tufts. We are very much looking forward to the fulfillment of many years of planning and execution that will bring the Green Line to Medford. The Green Line project and this partnership will benefit all Medford citizens and help make the area around the College Avenue Station a vibrant and livable place. Thank you.
[TM-L7tQLt0w_SPEAKER_09]: What do you say about this next guy? I like to say he was a mentor kid. Grew up on Salem Street, Cherry Street, down in the neighborhood where he had a good friend who was someone else who had success, great success in life, and he's known as the father of Festival Sound, Mr. Hanley, who you may know or may not know, but he was a gentleman who actually laid out Woodstock, and he had a dream about If someone was sitting in the front row of a concert or someone was sitting way back, that they would have the same sound, they would hear the same music that came out. And I've seen the two of you together and I say it's amazing. Out of that neighborhood, two icons that have just achieved so much. Bill has never forgotten where he has come from. With the Cummings Foundation over the years, there are a number of recipients here the last few years for the Crystal Campbell Peace Garden, we needed a final $100,000 towards the $1.1 million to build it, and the foundation was there. The Kathy Granara Scary Pancreatic Walk Run for research is closing in on a mark of raising a million dollars, a commitment that siblings made to their dying sister. And as of the other day, Mr. Cummings, with your generosity too, I want to tell you that they're now at $860,000. So after this year's run, they're probably going to hit their million. And again, you've done a tremendous amount to make that happen. And the preservation of the Brooks Estates, a piece of real history in the community where Funding has been shot over the course of the last seven, eight years. We're serving in the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression. But this man has been there. And now he's looking to education and to providing greater opportunities for those who will benefit from this building and go on locally to greater heights in life. He's a good man. Joyce, we're so happy that you're here too. I've never seen Bill without Joyce at his side at a number of events. And we thank you for everything that you have done. Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Cummings.
[SPEAKER_03]: The thing about Billy Hanley is especially interesting because we did both start off on Cherry Street and Farragut Avenue. And I was dumbstruck one time when I saw my buddy Billy showing up on the History Channel. History? And all the innovative work he did in sound amplification on huge sites, and Bill was He was a graduate of Bedford Vocational High School, and just carried that to a real art form, and is still doing it today, by the way. He lives up in Merrimack, New Hampshire, just over the line, and is active in a lot of ways. The other thing we most recently did, by the way, was supporting the Boys and Girls Club. And in the process, I was surprised to find that the Bedford Boys and Girls Club is in the the basement of the old Medford High School. Shabani or Auditorium Basement? It's now called the Jean Mack Genesee. Okay. And sure enough, there's a Boys and Girls Club. We put a fond spot in our hearts for Boys and Girls Clubs. Now all of the schools that I attended in Medford are gone. I attended Curtis School on Parrot Street. The Swan School on Washington Street and Park Street, Roberts Junior High School after that, and of course Medford High School. And the only place that I attended school in Medford that fortunately is still there is Tufts University. The only place I can still come back and really feel connected there. The project that you're seeing here in the artwork is all from CBT Architects, John Burt from Zecharis Architects, and they've done a marvelous job with that. And it certainly is impressive. It's impressive to me. I can show you what we normally work with. And a couple of projects that we did here, a project we did in Redford. And this is 196 Boston Avenue, the before and after views of the building, which is partially occupied and leased by Tufts University. And this is the type of thing that we typically do. Right now, we do a little more, much more variety of that. But that's a little more simple. But we've done a lot, oftentimes, by keeping it simple and keeping it basic. And it's really exciting to be a part of this great project, which was originally proposed with a bridge over Boston Avenue, probably in about your third year of your administration, Mr. Mayor. And thank you for helping make sure it got done before you were decided that you were going to take a couple of years off. A couple of years and I'll be back. So thank you all very much and it's nice to be with you all here today and as we see the rest of this come to come to fruition, and we can't get it there too soon. It would like to go down next month, probably, but we're going to be barred from that for a little while longer. But we're there ready to go whenever you're ready to have us. So we're very anxious, and thanks all again.
[TM-L7tQLt0w_SPEAKER_09]: And thank you for your generosity, Mr. Cummings. 196 Boston Ave set a new tone in the community when Mr. Cummings did that building over. And we had many of the people from the biopharmaceuticals in different areas that were now coming to the community. And one company from Italy came and relocated here. And as soon as that happened, then in other parts, a company came from Spain, and then a company came from China. And it opened up new doors here in terms of employment and opportunities for people in our community. So we thank you for everything and all of your leadership. Let's look at some of the community benefits, just so people have an understanding. Some of them have been mentioned, but one of the first things is going to be enhanced public spaces and plazas around the station, which will be maintained by Tufts. I've always said, if Tufts builds something, they build it right, and they maintain it. They've always made sure that anything they've done in terms of development is A number one, and I don't think anyone will ever question that. And this is going to be a big public benefit. They have tufts right in there, not only with maintenance, but also with their police department. Improved access to the station. will include more accessible walkways and enhanced pathway to the adjacent Burrigan and Sunset neighborhood, which was long in discussion of the neighbors and residents of that area. It would be a great improvement. And I know it hasn't been mentioned, I know it may not be part of the plan, but there is, you have it here, this one, there is a plan for a bridge over Lawsonette where you can walk out of the building right onto the campus. And that will be another part of a public hearing. But that would certainly enhance pedestrian safety. Sidewalks and crossings, obviously, will be improved. Community-oriented retail space adjacent to the new station. And community space in the new building. Significant community benefits will include a payment of $500,000 to the city of Medford spread in the following way. Some $150,000 on April 15, 2016. $150,000 on April 15, 2017. A sum of $200,000 on April 15, 2018. That half a million dollars will be used for improvements in neighborhoods throughout the community. I won't be here to determine how those funds will be spent, but I am creating the fund to make sure that it's being spent for that reason. In addition to that, we will also receive, this August 1st, $25,000 that will be used for an issue that has been before the Council in the past, and the Council has suggested that I go and generate the money myself and do this. but it's to help make Medford, which is a very welcoming community, a little more welcome. When we go through the different parts of the community, and we put up the Welcome to Medford signs, and the goal is to have, like, if you're in North Medford, you say, Welcome to Medford, Fulton Heights. If you're around Tufts, Welcome to Medford, Stearns Village. If you're in West Medford, Welcome to Medford, Village of Brooks, and break down the different areas and the neighborhoods of the city so people become familiar with them. There will be another payment of $25,000 in the month of December that will go towards the fund, the maintenance fund for the Crystal Campbell Peace Guide. That $25,000 will be added to a trust fund that we're establishing from an event we ran on March 12th, which we had a goal of raising $15,000 at that event. And as many of you who look around the room who were there are involved in it, You know that $15,000 in a matter of two hours grew to $145,000. And Tufts was also a very big part of that event. The goal would be to put all of that money into a trust fund that's not used for seven years, and then hopefully in all perpetuity, it would help to maintain that garden for future years. I think that's about... That's about it on the public improvements, which obviously are very significant. Now the next step will be to move forward on starting the public process so that people can have public input on what they want to see in their community. We look forward and hope everything goes well. Any questions for anybody from up here? Thank you very much.