• Rich Barlow

    Senior Writer

    Photo: Headshot of Rich Barlow, an older white man with dark grey hair and wearing a grey shirt and grey-blue blazer, smiles and poses in front of a dark grey backdrop.

    Rich Barlow is a senior writer at BU Today and Bostonia magazine. Perhaps the only native of Trenton, N.J., who will volunteer his birthplace without police interrogation, he graduated from Dartmouth College, spent 20 years as a small-town newspaper reporter, and is a former Boston Globe religion columnist, book reviewer, and occasional op-ed contributor. Profile

Comments & Discussion

Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.

There are 9 comments on Warren Towers to Get Multiyear, $550 Million Renovation—AC Included

  1. Warren Towers should be demolished rather than refurbished. Imagine what could be done if the University made the most of its purchase of Cummington Mall. A new, LEED certified housing and classroom complex could rise from the ashes of Warren Towers and the Cummington buildings behind it (Psychology, Sociology, etc.). The campus sorely needs more green space, and you wouldn’t need to hire a starchitect to come up with a less depressing building layout (thinking of the generations of freshmen assigned to B Tower).

  2. WOW! Very ambitious project. I lived at “700” from 1969-1970. In those days it was quite modern. When the project is complete Warren Towers will be state of the art. Before the dorm was named “Warren Towers”, it was affectionately called “700” after the address on Commonwealth Avenue.

  3. I was among the first to occupy C-Tower (then an all-male tower, with B & A being all female) of what is now Warren Towers. I was there as a freshman during the 1967-68 academic year. During Parents’ Weekend I was present when a University Vice-President (I think named Mr. Yeo) described to my parents a future renovation intention for the dorm. He said that it had been designed with the intent, once the need for beds was reduced, to make 4-person suites. Three adjacent rooms (each housing two residents) would be combined to make a suite for four. The center room would hold four study desks and would connect to the two other rooms which would remain sleeping quarters for two residents each. This would make more residential space for everyone and allow study without disturbing a roommate. I know nothing of the sort was ever done and wonder if it could be incorporated into current plans.

  4. Thanks for the feature! High School students have been living there each summer tolerating extreme heat waves. Warren and West Campus dorms trap heat. There was even one fainting incident. As you know, the winters are becoming more cold and the summers are becoming hotter.

    Will high school students and staff this summer be in dorms with air conditioning?

    1. From my understanding, no. Administration has said students will be housed in the towers not undergoing renovation in the summer, and I am assuming no towers will be renovated by the start of the summer. They will likely be in one of the old towers while they work on the new renovations. Seems like they are ignoring the people currently living there and students over the summer. We haven’t had a working escalator this entire year!

  5. I lived in ‘700’ C tower from Sept, 1970-May, 1972. Needless to say it was an adventure, especially the ringing of fire alarms at 3am and you got to get up for your final at 8am. So why not stay up and join in playing bid wist in the lobby. I’m happy for those who will be residing in the renovated buildings. Especially if closet space is added.
    Take care of it for those whom come behind you. Hopefully your meals will be better.

  6. During my time (mid 70’s) at the University Warren Towers was referred to as the “ZOO” for two reasons.
    The first and lesser reason was that the font used for 700 on the building marquee was easily mistaken for the word zoo.
    The second and more important reason was that the building housed the largest collection of crab lice in the city of Boston.

    Best regards to the future Zoo keepers!

Post a comment.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *