• Long vacant, these buildings stand as a prominent visual landmark from Columbus Avenue
• Most recent plan for redevelopment proposed a four-story rooftop addition and a nine-story adjacent tower for artists housing
Historic Boston Incorporated 1999 Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook : Property
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| Highland Spring Brewery/Oliver Ditson Co. | Mission Hill |
| • Large-scale
industrial buildings associated with two important Stony Brook Valley companies: the
Highland Spring Brewery and the Oliver Ditson Publishing Co. • Long vacant, these buildings stand as a prominent visual landmark from Columbus Avenue • Most recent plan for redevelopment proposed a four-story rooftop addition and a nine-story adjacent tower for artists housing |
|
| Name: Highland Spring Brewery / Oliver Ditson Co. | Bldg SqFt: Brewery + adjacent building: 36,000 Oliver Ditson Co.: 40,392 |
Lot SqFt: Brewery + adjacent building: 14,871 Oliver Ditson Co.: 10,107 |
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| Address: 148-168 Terrace Street | Ward: 10 | Parcel: 358, 359, 360 | |
| Neighborhood: Mission Hill | Zoning: Local Industrial Subdistrict (LI) | ||
| Year Built: 1892-1912 | Use: Vacant | ||
| Style: Late Victorian Industrial / Georgian Revival | Condition: Poor | ||
| Architect(s): J. Williams Beal / Monks and Johnson |
Owner: Stephen V. Miller Trust c/o 166 Terrace St. Realty Trust 40 Saddle Ridge Road Milton, MA 02186 Peter R. Fenn Trust 491-497 Harrison Avenue Boston, MA 02118 |
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| Historic Certification: National Register eligible | |||
| FY99 Building Assessment: Brewery: $259,000 Brewery bldg2: $35,000 Oliver Ditson: $763,500 FY02 Building
Assessment: |
FY99 Tax: Brewery: $12,186 Brewery bldg2: $3,056 Oliver Ditson: $31,540 FY02 Tax: |
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| FY99 Land Assessment: Brewery: $70,000 Brewerey bldg2: $47,500 Oliver Ditson: $88,000 FY02 Land Assessment: |
Tax Status: Current | ||
Preservation Strategy:
Conduct pre-development feasibility study to sort out options for financing, re-development, and preservation.
Significance:
Henry A. Reuter and John R. Alley, brewers from Germany and Ireland respectively, opened the Highland Spring Brewery in 1867. By 1872 it was the largest brewery in the United States that produced only ale and porter. Although the brewery itself is no longer extant, this large complex of two distinct, yet interconnected buildings remains a prominent landmark at the foot of Mission Hill in the Stony Brook Valley. The late Victorian building, built in 1892, at 158-164 Terrace Street housed the firm's bottling plant. The massive Georgian Revival addition at 31 New Heath Street, built by Reuter’s sons in 1912, was a storehouse for the casks and tanks of ale and porter. The Oliver Ditson Co., Boston’s largest publisher of sheet music, purchased 31 New Heath Street during prohibition and used the building into the 1950s for printing and storage purposes.
Preservation Challenges:
The Highland Spring Brewery has been vacant for nearly twenty years. Many windows are broken out and the interior is exposed to the elements. The extreme size of the buildings and the deteriorated condition will make rehabilitation difficult. The current owner has recently proposed to convert the property into an enormous complex of artists' housing. This proposal included a great deal of new construction, including an additional four stories onto the roof of the buildings and an adjacent nine story tower. the City and BRA have not approved new construction which are out of scale with the site and its surroundings.
Neighborhood Context:
Highland Brewery is located at the southwestern slope of Mission Hill, in a location that is visually isolated by MBTA's Orange line corridor to the east and a large parking lot owned by New England Baptist Hospital across Terrace Street to the west. The former refrigeration plant of the Highland Brewery is located on the hospital property. Directly to the south of the property stand two buildings: one is a concrete block maintenance facility of the Metropolitan District Commission and the other is the historic Roxbury Brewing Co., which Family Service of Boston is presently converting into office space.
Other Sources of Information:
BLC Building Information Form; Parker Hill/Mission Hill Preservation Study, BLC, 1984
Entry Completed: 05/07/1999
Global Ventures Ltd. has withdrawn its proposal for a $15 million redevelopment of this property as its zoning relief expired in December 2001. The proposal included approximately 167 residential units in a rehabilitated and expanded Oliver Ditson Building and a new seven-story tower. Neighborhood concerns over building height, development density, increased traffic, parking, noise, and preservation prompted the developer to withdraw the proposal at the request of the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The BRA expects Global Ventures to submit a new Project Notification Form that addresses the community's concerns in September 2002.Update Entry Completed: 08/12/2002