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We welcome your questions and comments. Please contact Regis East Project Manager Mary Adams at 781-768-7313 or email her at mary.adams@regiscollege.edu

1. Why are you doing this?
   We’re doing this as an extension of our educational program and to use our asset – the land – in a way that meets the college’s future financial needs. This proposal meets the educational needs of our students – especially our significant nursing, management, education and social work programs – and offers residents the kinds of educational opportunities that will help them lead meaningful lives, staying engaged with the world around them.
    
    Over 60 years ago, Regis College became one of the first colleges to educate non-traditional-age students as well as those of traditional age. We have our pre-school programs, and graduate programs open to both men and women. We now have Lifelong Learning at Regis College (LLARC), an institute to provide educational opportunities specifically designed for the mature adults in our community.
    
    There are proportionately more senior citizens in Weston than in both Massachusetts and the nation as a whole. Regis East will open opportunities for them even as it enhances the educational offerings for our traditional students.
    
2. What exactly are you planning to build?
   We are planning an expansion of our existing educational facilities which will incorporate a senior residential community within the overall college campus setting, where residents enjoy a high quality of life, enhanced by expanding choices as they age. The emphasis for senior residents is to live a full life in one’s own home, supported by a variety of on-site services and enhanced by a wide range of educational, intellectual, social, physical and spiritual activities. The new facilities will promote wellness and intergenerational education, and programming will be integrated with Regis College. We plan to build more classrooms for our undergraduate and graduate nursing program, and other facilities for students on the East Campus site, interactive with the senior residential community situated there.
    
3. How will it affect traffic in the area?
   Weston does have to address Wellesley Street traffic, and we want to collaborate with the town on that. There are strategies that we’re working on, having to do with minivans for transporting residents, placement of entrances and exits, timing deliveries and arrivals and departures of personnel, even building an underpass to facilitate movement from one part of the campus to another.
   Remember, our faculty, staff and students are affected by traffic as well, and we want to preserve the character of the neighborhood.
    
4. How will this community benefit local residents?
   Regis College sits in a prime location on 130 acres in Weston. A vibrant college community, serving the needs of its undergraduate and student population, is essential to maintaining the current character of Weston. Forward thinking development of Regis East Campus land, within the context of that community, will reach out to serve the needs of other Weston residents. Many Weston residents tell us they want to shed the responsibility of their homes, but they don’t want to leave the community. This will enable them to stay in their hometown and stay active physically, socially, and intellectually. We now have a Lifelong Learning Institute providing education specifically designed for mature adults in the community, and it will continue to be available for Weston residents in addition to our own. We are also looking at how to create opportunities for recreational use, such as hiking trails and playing fields. Weston residents already enjoy the athletic facilities, Stamp Museum, art exhibitions, concerts and theatrical performances at Regis. They also audit classes. We expect to continue to build upon those opportunities.
    
5. You say Regis East furthers your educational mission. How will that work?
   Among our bachelor’s and master’s degree programs we have tracks in nursing, education, social work and in leadership and organizational change. We anticipate that these programs will dovetail with programs in this residential community and provide our students with hands-on experience as well as new classroom space to further their degree based educational pursuits . Likewise, residents will have the opportunity to interact fully with the college community; to take courses; and to become involved in on-campus activities; and that will, in the long run, benefit our traditional liberal arts students as well. Seniors in Lifelong Learning at Regis College are already studying a variety of timely and diverse subjects.
    
6. How long will the construction take?
   It will be at least two years before the first shovel is in the ground. Thereafter it will take approximately two years to build, so it may be approximately four years before the vision becomes a reality.
    
7. How visible will the buildings be from the road?
   Regis (on the West Campus) is the single largest abutter to the proposed East Campus development. The property’s main feature is a broad hilltop with land that slopes down about 80 feet. Since the land slopes down, the buildings will be tucked into the hillside, and views from the road are protected by a natural berm, Regis East will balance Regis West, which is similarly built into the hillside. Regis College has as much interest in preserving the pastoral nature of the setting as anyone else who lives here. We are requiring those involved in planning Regis East to design a community that will work with the site, minimize disturbance and preserve natural vegetation.
    
8. What’s the overall plan going to look like?
   Again, the property’s main feature is a broad hilltop with land that slopes down about 80 feet. The community is designed to work with the site, preserving vegetation. A curved ridge building will house common activities (such as dining, meeting rooms, library, classrooms, and craft and game rooms) and extend along the north of the hilltop, forming the edge of a landscaped, park-like open space. This ridge, which has parking under it, provides the main connecting element of the community and gives access to four residential buildings that radiate from it and step down the hillside. In addition, there are four other dwellings that line the south edge of the hilltop park that reflect the scale of some private homes along Wellesley Street. Over 75 percent of the site will remain as open space.
   
   
9. There are rumors there are going to be four 12-story towers?
   That’s not true. The buildings range from 117 feet, or 11 stories (the tallest), down to 50 feet. But the tallest buildings are built into the hill – they are of the hill, not on it. In fact, the height of Regis East is proportionate to buildings on the main campus. In reality, we are the largest abutter to ourselves, and we have an interest in preserving the quality of the neighborhood.
   
   
10. Why have the senior residential buildings been designed to rise up and not spread out on the east campus?
    Regis East has been designed to be state of the art in design and technology.  In keeping with the topography, the housing units have been consolidated on the site in order to best serve the needs of the elderly residents. The units have been clustered to respond to best practices in gerontology research, which maintains that elderly, especially living alone in their units, report feeling better, emotionally and physically, and function best when they are in close proximately of their neighbors and the dining, meeting and recreational areas. (At least 80 percent of adults aged 65 and older have at least one chronic condition that could be exacerbated by requiring them to traverse long distances frequently.) In Regis East no residence is more than 300 feet from the common areas. And instead of walking long distances, residents can take elevators.
    
    
11. What’s it going to cost, and can Regis afford to do this?
    The attraction to building this kind of community is that it is not a speculative endeavor: No shovel goes into the ground until we have at least half of the units pre-sold, demonstrating sound market acceptance and strong prospects for successful completion. Rest assured, we will only propose a community that is financially feasible and furthers the college’s mission.
     
12. Won’t this increase the size of the town and put pressure on police, fire and ambulance services?
    Regis has had many conversations with town officials concerning this project. The College has its own health and safety professionals trained to respond to a variety of emergency situations without unduly burdening local services. We expect to continue and improve this tradition and practice through a continued and open dialogue with the town government.

For more information, please contact:
Mary Adams - East Campus Project Manager
Regis College - box #3
235 Wellesley Street
Weston Ma, 02493
Phone: 781-768-7313
Email: mary.adams@regiscollege.edu