MMA Construction At Old Beachmoor Inn Continues
Massachusetts Maritime Academy is inching closer and closer to completion of its ongoing project in Taylor Point, which involves replacing the former Beachmoor Inn with a 72-bed dormitory and conference center.
In an interview with the Enterprise, MMA Vice President of Operations Captain Allen G. Metcalfe Jr. said that the project on Buttermilk Way is progressing well, with workers having finished the rough exterior and begun interior work. The 14-month project is looking at a completion date of December.
“They’re on schedule, they’re rocking it,” Capt. Metcalfe said. “We’re going to start seeing all the finishing touches in the next couple of months and the final touches in the last two months.”
MMA’s vision for the dormitory and conference center, which broke ground last year, is to consolidate the cadets by creating new spaces on and around campus and make a full return to the regimental lifestyle that draws students from across the nation, Capt. Metcalfe said.
“We want to consolidate the cadets on campus because we are a regimental campus,” he said. “We want to make sure the kids have the opportunity to be here. It’s not just the academics that get people excited about the academy, it is the regimental lifestyle….So getting the kids all consolidated, that’s fantastic.”
The three-story dormitory will consist of 36 dorms with two beds in each room, a conference center with a capacity of 200 people, three additional breakout rooms for smaller groups, and kitchen facilities to accommodate food services and catering.
Capt. Metcalfe said the team in charge of the project has worked closely with residents of Taylor Point to hear their concerns and adjust the project accordingly. Even the architecture, which was based on the famous Chatham Bars Inn, was designed with the neighborhood in mind, he said.
“We’re very responsive to any needs that have popped up with the local Taylor’s Point personnel and residents,” Mr. Metcalfe said. “We want to ensure that we have a good neighborly connection. We’re part of the community, we want to make sure that we respond and talk to the residents about what we’re doing.”
The conference area is versatile, Capt. Metcalfe explained, and has the capacity to serve as a flexible space that could be used as classrooms, for presentations, and to host guest speakers for the academy and community. And should another wave of the pandemic hit, the conference space has the capacity to be repurposed to suit whatever the academy might need at the time.
“It’s a wonderful benefit to us,” he said.
MMA has grown so much, Capt. Metcalfe said, and continues to grow each year. Having a versatile space like this one gives the school more capabilities to stimulate not only their own community but also the greater Bourne community, academically, economically, and socially.
“We’re number four in the country in return on investment, so people are beginning to see this little hidden nugget in Buzzards Bay called Mass Maritime Academy and they’re realizing what we do,” Capt. Metcalfe said. “What we put out, every industry that we serve is grabbing people.”