The Foundry
View of the former Foundry lobby from Rogers Street
WHAT’s NEW AND WHAT’S COMING
The Foundry Project Received its Permitting!
The Cambridge Planning Board approved the permitting for the Foundry project at its virtual meeting on August 11th. A presentation was made by Assistant City Manager Iram Farooq, CRA Executive Director Tom Evans, and project architects Cambridge Seven. This was followed by public comments, including from Foundry Consortium Board President Stephanie Couch. The Planning Board then deliberated and voted unanimously to approve the requests. Now the project can move full steam ahead from the demolition phase into construction.
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The Foundry’s construction timeline has been delayed due to COVID-19. The new building opening date is now expected by January 2022.
In winter and spring of 2020, the CRA and Foundry Consortium Board of Directors worked with Ann Silverman Consulting to develop a job description and marketing plan for finding the Foundry’s first Executive Director. That job opening will be shared here once it’s made public, in late summer 2020.
We will also publicize an expected timeline for marketing to potential office space tenants for the Foundry by early fall.
STAY INFORMED
- Document Library - Formal agreements and other documents and presentations relating to the project
- Community Outreach and Input - Foundry related community meetings, including meeting notes and presentations
- Foundry Advisory Committee - Meetings of the FAC, including meeting notes and presentations
And don't miss these other important resources:
- City of Cambridge Foundry Construction Page - City of Cambridge's Construction updates on the Foundry project. There is also a link to sign up for email updates about the construction, which should be completed in December 2021.
- The Foundry Consortium website - Website of the independent nonprofit organization that will run the building once it’s open.
- The CRA’s social media pages - We provide updates on the Foundry via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
- CoUrbanize Foundry page - We deactivated our CoUrbanize site in September 2019 as we no longer needed its survey function. However, you can still scroll through posts from 2017 - 2019.
- CRA’s Foundry related e-newsletters - To join the contact list, email Erica Schwarz: ESchwarz@CambridgeRedevelopment.org
NEXT FOUNDRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MTG:
Foundry Advisory Committee - Quarterly Public Meeting
Friday October 16, 2020
8:00 - 9:00 am
Find the meeting link, agenda, and other details on the FAC page.
Mission: The Foundry is an adaptive reuse project to build a self-sustaining center for creativity and collaboration for the Cambridge community. At the intersection of the Kendall Square Innovation District and the East Cambridge neighborhood, the Foundry building will provide space and programs for the visual and performing arts, entrepreneurship, technology, and workforce education within its historic, industrial setting. The Foundry will also help facilitate access for residents, especially underrepresented communities and adjacent neighborhoods, to the dynamic working and learning environment of Kendall Square. This project is guided by the Foundry Demonstration Project Plan.
Project Summary
The Foundry is a brick and timber frame industrial building, built in 1890. For many decades workers in the buildings created iron steam pump parts. Since that time it has seen other uses, including taxi barn and office building. The Foundry had been vacant for several years when it was transferred to the City of Cambridge, who is in a partnership with the CRA to transform the property.
The City of Cambridge owns the building. The CRA has a master lease for the site, where we must ensure the Foundry’s mission is met. The City of Cambridge is now redeveloping and repurposing the site into a creative, innovative, and collaborative multipurpose center, in partnership with the CRA, as a publicly funded capital project. When completed, it will provide public community space and programming for art, entrepreneurship, technology, and workforce education.
To learn more about the construction project to redevelop the Foundry, visit the City of Cambridge’s Foundry page.
The building will be accessible and inclusive to Cambridge residents of all ages and backgrounds, and its location on the border of Kendall Square and East Cambridge provides an ideal opportunity to connect residents to some of the world's most visible companies in life sciences, technology and innovation.
The Foundry will be self-sustaining operationally, supported through rents paid by the building’s tenants. This strategy allows for approximately 60% of the building’s programmatic space to be reserved for community uses.
The vision and programming for the Foundry has been informed over several years through numerous community and stakeholder meetings and workshops, and public hearings, with oversight provided by the Foundry Advisory Committee (FAC). The CRA and the City will utilize the FAC to inform the selection of the Operator. The CRA and the FAC will remain active stewards of the building to assure the operations remain faithful to the mission and to adjust the management goals over time to reflect evolving community needs and interests.
The links in the “Stay Informed” box above provide additional information on community events and the public process, the Foundry Advisory Board (FAC), and additional resources.
View from (soon to be demolished) first floor during interior demolition and abatement, January 2020.
The Foundry Building entrance in 2017
The third floor of the Foundry after intitial interior demolition, 2018
Building OPERATIONS
The CRA issued an Operator RFP on January 25th, 2018 to select a master tenant to occupy, activate, program and maintain The Foundry Building. On April 25th, 2018 the CRA Board unanimously approved The Foundry Consortium to be the Operator.
The Operator is expected to perform three major roles: program management and outreach, property management, and sub-tenant recruitment and selection. The Foundry Consortium will ensure the Foundry is self-sustaining and becomes a collaborative and thriving innovative center for visual and performing arts, entrepreneurship, technology and workforce education.
Building DESIGN
A rendering of the main entrance from Cambridge Seven’s Design Development drawings, December 2019
The building will be repurposed with an array of flexible spaces that can accommodate anchor organizations, artists and community uses, as well as host shorter-term events and activities in shared spaces. The design will reflect the building's industrial past, with high quality, big-volume spaces that will be durable and accessible. Over time, the building’s uses may adapt to meet evolving community demand.
The space will include:
Multi-purpose rooms for community meetings and other programs
Flexible performance space
Maker Workshops
Artist studios
Cafe and demonstration kitchen for cooking classes
Community Hall & Gallery
Office Space, including for nonprofit tenants
On January 19th, 2018, The City of Cambridge announced that Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc. was selected as the firm for design services for the Foundry Building. Cambridge Seven was selected by a Designer Selection Committee, which included city staff and members of the CRA. In their proposal, it was clear that Cambridge Seven understood the Foundry's vision and goals, has experience with complicated public construction projects, and has successfully implemented other flexible building designs. Visit the City's website for more information on the Designer RFQ process.
Project TIMELINE
History of the Foundry Building
The original building at 101 Rogers Street is masonry exterior over a heavy timber frame structure. The main building was built in 1890, with side wings added in 1910. At that time, the building was used as a foundry, all on one floor, at ground level. L.H. Gager of Palmer, Massachusetts, designed the original structure with an unusual truss system that accommodated large cranes to support iron production. This truss system had reinforced double wood trusses that rise up within the clerestory to support the beams on which the crane ran.
The Foundry processed up to 50 tons of iron per day. The Foundry was originally part of a larger industrial complex for the Blake & Knowles Steam Pump Company. The complex, including the Foundry, was once a nationally recognized manufacturing facility and supplied 90% of pump supplies to the U.S. Navy in the 1930s. In the 1960s and 1970s, the building was used as a taxi barn. In the 1980’s it was renovated for office space. For more information, see the Cambridge Historical Commission's Landmark Designation Study on the Foundry, or view the presentation to the FAC on the history of the Foundry.
The Foundry as a Taxi Barn circa mid-1900's
The arrow indicates the Foundry Building - Image circa 1910
CONTACT & Location
All inquiries concerning the Foundry may be addressed to:
Thomas Evans, Executive Director,
Cambridge Redevelopment Authority
255 Main Street, 8th floor, Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-492-6800
Email: foundry@cambridgeredevelopment.org