Boston EMS has opened a new station on the South Boston waterfront, a facility officials say was built to keep pace with a decade-long surge in emergency calls across the Seaport. The station is officially open, though crews were still moving in equipment this week to make it fully operational, with officials expecting it to be up and running within the next week.
According to WCVB, Boston EMS opened the station specifically to address the significant increase in emergency calls in the area over the past decade, and the new facility will serve the Seaport and parts of South Boston. The station sits on Drydock Avenue, according to WBZ NewsRadio. The project took a decade to plan and build, the station's report notes, reflecting just how long the city has been wrestling with demand in one of its fastest-changing neighborhoods.
Call Volume Doubled as the Seaport Grew
The scale of the problem is stark. Boston EMS Chief James Hooley said emergency calls in the South Boston Waterfront area have doubled over the past decade, according to Caught In Southie's coverage of the May 2025 groundbreaking. Hooley also said Boston EMS call volume grows by between 1% and 2% each year, as reported by El Planeta. With the new station, Hooley said, the Seaport will have an ambulance permanently based in the neighborhood for the first time, per that same report.
The station was part of the city's 2022 Master Plan Update, designed to address significant population growth on the South Boston Waterfront, according to Boston 25 News. Construction broke ground on May 23, 2025, with Mayor Michelle Wu joining Boston EMS officials for the ceremony, Caught In Southie reported at the time. El Planeta notes that the work took less than two years to complete.
An All-Electric Building With Flood Protections
WCVB reports that the finished station is entirely electric and includes water drainage points at the ground level to mitigate flooding, a design choice suited to a low-lying waterfront site. The facility features a gym, showers, indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, and a kitchen, per the same outlet, while Boston 25 News describes a two-bay ambulance garage with a second-floor lounge, kitchenette, showers, and a gym. Boston 25 News also reports that a newly paved plaza and a landscaped parklet with trees and greenery were added to the site.
Twenty-two EMS personnel will use the facility daily, according to WCVB. John Cushing, Boston EMS director of facilities, said the design process demanded patience. “We took a lot of time to design this place with, took some time to make sure this was right,” Cushing said, according to the station's report. Officials have said the station's intentional design aims to support quality care for the community.
Officials Turn Out for the Opening
City officials, including the mayor, Councilor Ed Flynn and the Boston EMS chief, attended the opening ceremony, WCVB reported. Mayor Wu said the station would bring emergency services closer to a growing neighborhood, adding that “we are helping crews respond faster citywide,” according to Boston 25 News.
The project's price tag remains unsettled in public reporting. WCVB describes it as a $16 billion facility, while Boston 25 News and El Planeta report a $16 million project on Drydock Avenue, and a Boston.gov project page lists a $13 million budget for the work. The discrepancy has not been publicly reconciled by any of the outlets or city sources reviewed.
For now, the Seaport's new round-the-clock emergency presence stands as the headline result of a decade of planning, even as crews finish settling in. Boston EMS has said it expects the station to be fully operational within the week, closing out a buildout that began with a groundbreaking ceremony on the waterfront a year and a half ago.
