Renovations in the Dana building

After opening its Yawkey Center for Cancer Care, Dana-Farber has started the next phase of its Longwood campus transformation: converting the vacated parking garage in its Dana building to add a number of needed faculty offices, while also unifying the campus through facade improvements.

Construction began in February 2012 and is slated to continue through spring 2013.

This architectural drawing shows the design for the updated facade of the Dana building, with the current entrance relocated closer to Jimmy Fund Way. Image courtesy Miller Dyer Spears. 

Patients and visitors coming to the area during different stages of the construction process will be affected in three primary ways:

• The sidewalk on the Dana side of Jimmy Fund Way will be closed until spring 2013, with all pedestrian traffic relocated to the other side of the street.
• Jimmy Fund Way and Binney Street will periodically close to traffic, but these closures will be limited to weekends and weekday nights (8 p.m. – 5 a.m.). Access to the Dana-Farber parking garage will not be interrupted during these times.
• Visitors may notice cosmetic changes to the third floor of the Dana building, where temporary walls are being erected in two hallways to partition off active construction areas. This will result in slightly narrower hallways and a relocated entrance to the Betty Ann Blum and Marjorie Blum Pediatric Resource Room.

An ongoing construction project at Boston Children’s Hospital also affects both Binney Street and Jimmy Fund Way, so Dana-Farber will carefully monitor the situation and coordinate activities with Children's as needed.

The end result of the Dana-Farber project will be another beautiful facade that, when paired with that of the Yawkey Center across the way, will become a "gateway" to the Institute’s Longwood campus. Colorful banners bearing faces of Jimmy Fund Clinic patients and Dana-Farber researchers will hang on the building's exterior over Binney Street, to create a bright welcome for pediatric families.

Additionally, the Dana building's lobby will have a new look, featuring a welcoming glass entranceway near Jimmy Fund Way and a coffee kiosk for patients, families, and staff.

In order to reduce the effects of construction noise, dust, and vibration, much of this work will be done during Dana-Farber's off-hours (8 p.m. – 5 a.m.) and within contained, pressurized space.

"Cautious and precise demolition of the Dana parking ramps on either side of occupied space on three levels is critical," explains Wendy Gettleman, Dana-Farber's senior director of Planning, Design, and Construction. "The project team is working to carefully plan the construction logistics and safety measures to minimize construction impacts on patients and staff."