Historic Boston Incorporated 1999 Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook : Property
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| Houghton-Vienna Brewery | Mission Hill |
| • Oldest brewery in Stony
Brook Valley • Essentially intact complex pre-dating mechanical refrigeration • Recent compromise by Boston Landmarks Commission allows Wentworth to demolish three buildings at rear of property • Brew House and Office Building along Station Street to be retained while
Wentworth plans to build anathletic complex on rest of land |
 |
| Name: Houghton-Vienna Brewery | Bldg SqFt: Office Building: 3,096 Brew House: 8,116 Fermentation/Cold Storage: 20,936 Keg Shed: 3,466 |
Lot SqFt: 18,494 |
|
| Address: 133 Halleck St./37 Station St. | Ward: 9 | Parcel: 2855 | |
| Neighborhood: Mission Hill | Zoning: Local Industrial Subdistrict (LI) | ||
| Year Built: 1876-1890 | Use: Vacant | ||
| Style: Italianate; Panel Brick | Condition: Fair to Poor | ||
| Architect(s): Unknown | Owner: Wentworth Institute of Technology Boston, MA 02115 550 Huntington Avenue |
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| Historic Certification: Boston Landmark; National Register eligible | |||
| FY99 Building Assessment: $782,000 FY02 Building Assessment: $0 |
FY99 Tax: N/A FY02 Tax: $9,099 |
||
| FY99 Land Assessment: $193,500 FY02 Land Assessment: $300,000 |
Tax Status: Current | ||
Preservation Strategy:
Continue to monitor demolition and stabilization process overseen by BLC; maintain dialog with interested parties to ensure reuse by Wentworth or disposition for redevelopment by a subsequent owner.
Significance:
By the late 19th century, Boston was one of America's largest brewing centers with most breweries located in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain because of the combination of pure water from the Stony Brook aquifer, reasonably priced land near the city, and large German and Irish immigrant populations. This complex is part of the largely intact A. J. Houghton (Vienna) Brewery. In 1870, Houghton, along with brewer John Kohl (1827-1901), erected this brewery. They purchased land on the east side of Halleck Street from brewer Gottlieb Burkhardt and in 1875 purchased the Jutz Brewery which was in operation on the west side of Halleck Street since the 1850s (a brick stable from the Burkhardt complex is still extant on the north side of this complex). Houghton and Kohl enlarged the Jutz complex to accommodate the manufacture of lager beer. Renamed the "Vienna" Brewery, it was one of the first to utilize artificial refrigeration. In 1901, the business was purchased by Reuter and Co. which retained the original name until the beginning of Prohibition. By 1930 the site was occupied by Gatte Service, Inc., (waste dealers) and not long after by the Great Eastern Packing & Paper Stock Co. which remained until the 1980s. As a relatively rare but intact complex, the Houghton Brewery serves as an important record of the area's industrial heritage.
Preservation Challenges:
The fermentation and cold storage buildings as well as the keg shed will be demolished. Maintaining a sense of the original u-shaped complex as well as stabilizing and preserving the remaining buildings is the intent of landmark designation. What happens to the land surrounding the complex is an important factor. With the redevelopment of the Mission Main housing project and proposed development on Wentworth land surrounding the brewery, it is important to try and connect the complex with surrounding new uses rather than isolating it in the past.
Neighborhood Context:
Part of a small but intact concentration of breweries surviving along what was once the Stony Brook in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. Its more immediate environment is dominated by the Mission Main housing complex to the west as well as several surface parking lots. A few blocks to the south is Tremont Street, the main business street in Mission Hill while the Mission Church lies just beyond a large, currently empty, lot to the west. MBTA Orange Line tracks run along the corridor on the other side of the parking lot to the east.
Other Sources of Information:
Vienna Brewery Feasibility Study Prepared for The Boston Housing Authority (Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc, 12/23/97)
Report on the Potential Designation of the Vienna Brewery as a Landmark (Boston Landmarks Commission, 3/13/98)
Entry Completed: 05/07/1999
| In August 1999 the Fermentation/Cold Storage building and the Keg Shed were demolished in accordance with a BLC landmark agreement. (The Burkhardt brewery stable was also demolished at this time.) Wentworth spent approximately $250,000 to stabilize the remaining buildings, including installing a new roof on the Brew House. Wentworth is planning to construct a student recreational/athletic center on this block, which is currently used for parking, in the next five to ten years. Conceptual rehabilitation ideas for the brewery buildings include utilizing the Brew House as a contributing structure to the future student recreational/athletic center and the Office Building as Wentworth office space. Any redevelopment proposals will preserve the courtyard space between the two buildings. |
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Update Entry Completed: 08/07/2002
