New cancer/health center wows planners

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The architect for the new $108 million ambulatory care and cancer treatment facility opening on Endicott Street wowed the Planning Board Tuesday night when she hauled in actual panels of the proposed building for them to see and touch.

“We really needed to see these, to see the wood grain,” board member Ron Baser said.

The board was impressed with the overall state-of-the-art panel design for the sprawling facility slated for construction by Partners HealthCare at 100 Endicott St., a joint venture of Massachusetts General Hospital and the North Shore Medical Center, both members of the health care giant.

This was the second round for Partners representatives before the board, with its first presentation for site plan approval last month falling flat with its proposed design.

During that presentation, architect Angela Watson of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson Abbott relied on one-dimensional boards and depictions of the facility, which consists of two separate buildings joined in the center by a glass atrium lobby. That presentation failed to depict the grandeur and magnificence of the building, the board said.

But this week Watson was back with a three-dimensional board and heavy, large resin panel samples in three different earth tone colors. Also in tow were boards with photographs of buildings with the same design and panel use.

“As you can see, this will be a very sleek, modern building,” Watson said, struggling to hold up the panels for the board. “Our idea for this facility is that it is technologically forward-looking in appearance and in the care that will be provided there.”

Watson, too, brought in a depiction of the proposed renovation of the Osram Sylvania building on the property, which includes partial demolition but a similar color palette and stucco façade on the rest, she said.

The Partners team is due back before the board on March 27 in a continuation of the site plan approval process. For that presentation, the group will bring a “full complement of consultants” to answer the board’s questions regarding a walkway along the waterfront between the property and a new assisted living facility across the street, and further detail on traffic, landscaping and storm water drainage plans.

Board member Kristine Cheetham reiterated her concern about the traffic impact on Endicott and Water Streets and asked Nancy McCann, attorney for Partners, to produce a separate document specifically detailing that, to which McCann agreed.

Precinct 3 Town Meeting member Ann Marie Ruotolo attended the meeting with a copy in hand of the tax bill for the 49-acre property at 100 Endicott St. Ruotolo questioned why Partners had yet to make a payment in lieu of taxes for that portion of the property the ambulatory care center will occupy, which is tax exempt.

“This property is not taxable under state law,” McCann said. “A payment can be made in lieu of taxes to deal with services provided by the town to the facility, and this is negotiated.”

Those negotiations are underway between Partners and Town Manager Wayne Marquis, McCann said.