Historic Boston Incorporated 1999 Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook : Property
Entries Online
next / previous / back to contents / HBI homepage
Click here for Summer 2002 Update
| Mission Church Buildings | Mission Hill |
| • Underutilized trio of
late-19th c. buildings anchoring Mission Church complex and streetscape • Exceptional opportunity to use preservation development to benefit the owners and revitalize a whole neighborhood • Church's comprehensive plan proposes combination of reuse and demolition • Adjacent to Mission Main Housing now being rebuilt |
|
| Name: Mission Church Buildings: Sisters Convent, Grammar School, St. Alphonsus Hall | Bldg SqFt: Convent: 25,000 School: 32,000 Hall: 25,000 |
Lot SqFt: Convent: 4,680 School: 24,000 Hall: 16,000 |
|
| Address: 80-100 Smith Street | Ward: 10 | Parcel: 13 | |
| Neighborhood: Mission Hill | Zoning: Community Facilities Subdistrict (CF) | ||
| Year Built: 1887-1898 | Use: Vacant | ||
| Style: Italianate/Queen Anne; Romanesque Revival | Condition: Fair to Poor | ||
| Architect(s): Henry Burns; F. Joseph Untersee | Owner: Boston Society of Redemptorists (Redemptorist Fathers of Brooklyn, NY) 1545 Tremont St. Roxbury, MA 02120 |
||
| Historic Certification: National Register eligible district (Mission Church) | |||
| FY99 Building Assessment: N/A FY02 Building Assessment: N/A |
FY99 Tax: N/A FY02 Tax: N/A |
||
| FY99 Land Assessment: N/A FY02 Land Assessment: N/A |
Tax Status: Exempt | ||
Preservation Strategy:
Encourage the owners to utilize the $650,000 committed by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts for FY99 and FY2000 for the Massachusetts Historical Commission to award for the preservation of St. Alphonsus Hall. Perhaps a charrette to elicit viable development alternatives for these three buildings would generate new ideas, community support, and momentum for exciting preservation development initiatives.
Significance:
The Mission Church complex is the heart and namesake of the Mission Hill neighborhood. The Redemptorist Fathers of Brooklyn, New York, established the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, better known as the Mission Church, in 1878 to serve the growing Irish and German immigrant populations in Lower Roxbury. The basilica’s original octagonal cupola and its 215-foot twin spires, added in 1910, rise majestically above the complex and present a glorious landmark to the surrounding neighborhood. The parish grew steadily throughout the latter part of the 19th century, and by 1904 had 11,000 members. Between 1888 and 1910, at the height of the Church's prosperity and influence, the Redemptorist Fathers expanded the Church complex by adding five additional buildings on the property. These include the Convent of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and the Mission Church School in 1888-1889 and St. Alphonsus Hall in 1898, all on Smith Street, the Mission Church Grammar School on St. Alphonsus Street in 1901, and the Rectory on Tremont Street in 1903. St. Alphonsus Hall and the schools helped to attract many Catholic families to the parish. The Hall served as a clubhouse for the young men of the parish and included a gymnasium, library, and auditorium that could seat over 1,000 people.
Preservation Challenges:
The Mission Church complex is a remarkably intact historic district that contains all six original buildings associated with the site. Each building is architecturally significant in its own right and is an integral part of the church’s development. While the Basilica, the Rectory, and the Grammar School are still in use, St. Alphonsus Hall and the Convent have been vacant for several years. A private charter school occupies the Mission School building, but will vacate the property at the end of the current school year. The owner is exploring options for the redevelopment of the site with the assistance of Weston Associates of Boston and Barney Skanska Construction of New York. Because of its condition and size, St. Alphonsus Hall may be a candidate for demolition. Several local theater groups have shown some interest in occupying St. Alphonsus Hall and using the fine auditorium for performance space.
Neighborhood Context:
The upper half of the Mission Church campus along Tremont and St. Alphonsus Streets contains the renowned Basilica, the rectory, the existing grammar school, and the contemplation garden. The buildings on the lower portion of the site along Smith Street include the convent, the Mission School, and St. Alphonsus Hall. An eight foot retaining wall separates the two halves of the property. The Smith Street buildings face the Mission Main public housing site, which the Boston Housing Authority is in the process of redeveloping. The entire Mission Church complex abuts a city playground to the east. The property is close to the Green Line T on Huntington Avenue and the Orange Line Roxbury Crossing Station.
Other Sources of Information:
Boston Landmarks Commission Survey & Planning Grant Study, Parker Hill/Mission Hill, 1984
Boston Landmarks Commission Building Information Form: 516
Mission School Extended Use Scenario, Boston University Preservation Studies Program, 1993
Entry Completed: 06/02/1999
After years of debate, the future of these three buildings is increasingly hopeful, even though the Society of Redemptorists failed to utilize the $650,000 committed by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts for the preservation of St. Alphonsus Hall. (Historic Boston offered the Society a $7,000 matching grant to begin the architectural planning necessary to utilize the money, but the Society failed to act. HBI also awarded the church a $10,000 Steeples grant in 1999 for exterior illumination that has yet to be acted upon.) The Society has entered into an agreement with Weston Associates to redevelop these three buildings and 22 others in Mission Hill to ostensibly fund repairs to the Basilica. Weston originally proposed demolishing all three building on this site and constructing 225 market-rate apartments in a 24 story tower.Community outrage over Weston's redevelopment proposals and its refusal to substantively examine preservation options led Mayor Menino in the fall of 2001 to create the Mission Hill Citizens Advisory Committee (MHCAC) to review and guide the redevelopment process. Since then the Boston Redevelopment Authority has been working with the MHCAC to find an agreeable solution. At the behest of the BRA, the Medical Academic and Scientific Community Organization, Inc. (MASCO) conducted a study in May 2002 that identified the potential for rehabilitating the existing buildings--minus the theatre portion of St. Alphonsus Hall--into extended stay apartments for the families of local hospital patients. This use is supported by the local community and by the Society. The American Cancer Society is currently assessing its interest in such a project and may issue its decision by January 2003.
Update Entry Completed: 08/12/2002
