Assembly Square Orange Line Station to Open in 2014

The new Orange Line MBTA stop at Assembly Square is expected to open in 2014, and the state has awarded the construction contract to the Lowell firm S&R Construction Co., Inc., according to a press release from the city of Somerville.

Construction on the new station—the first new MBTA rapid transit station to be built since 1987, when several stations on the Orange Line in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain opened—will begin this fall.

The construction contract, awarded by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, is worth $29,229,184, according to the press release.

The Assembly Square Orange Line station will be Somerville's second MBTA station (currently, Somerville's only station is the Davis Square station on the Red Line). It will be located between the Sullivan Square and Wellington stations, and it will bring passengers to Assembly Square, which is undergoing a major redevelopment.

, the area's major developer, plans to build 1.75 million square feet of commercial space, 600,000 square feet of retail space and 2100 new housing units in Assembly Square, according to the press release. In addition, IKEA, the Swedish furniture giant, next to the new MBTA station and has a special permit to do so.

"This new Orange Line station is the critical piece of infrastructure that unlocks the entire district. There is no longer any question over whether Assembly Square will be redeveloped. The work is taking place right now," said Somerville's mayor, Joseph Curtatone, in the press release.