Acknowledgements

The 1999 HBI Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook has been financed in part with federal funds from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, through the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, Chairman. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior, or the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

This program receives federal funds from the National Park Service. The U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, gender, or handicap in its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office for Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Room 1324, Washington, DC 20240.

In preparing this casebook, many organizations provided assistance, including the:

Boston Community Development Corporations
Boston Landmarks Commission
Boston Main Streets
Boston Preservation Alliance
Boston Redevelopment Authority
City of Boston Assessing Department
City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development
Historic Massachusetts, Inc.
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
Massachusetts Historical Commission

Individuals who deserve special recognition for their help include John Bowman, Margaret Dyson, Marilyn Fenollosa, Andrea Gilmore, Joan Goody, Pauline Chase-Harrell, June Hatfield, Matthew Kiefer, Ellen Lipsey, Albert Rex, and Carter Wilkie. Additional thanks to the Harvard Map Collection in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and GIS Specialist Bonnie Burns, for providing maps included with entries.

We have tried to be as accurate as possible throughout the casebook. However, since much of the information comes from selective interviews and secondary sources, conclusions and recommendations may be based upon assumptions which are not valid. We apologize for any error of fact.

Historic Boston maintains a computerized historic property information database. We welcome the opportunity to record any recommendations, corrections or updates readers may suggest.  Property updates will be made to this on-line version to extend the useful life of the casebook data. 

Historic Boston Incorporated

Paul F. McDonough, Jr., President
Stanley M. Smith, Executive Director
Chad A. Perry, Project Manager
Jeffrey Shrimpton, Project Consultant

This is the fourth casebook Historic Boston has prepared over the past 18 years in order to focus attention on endangered properties important to the social and architectural fabric of Boston and its neighborhoods.

The casebooks of 1981 and 1985 dealt with many types of buildings while the 1991 edition targeted buildings built specifically for worship. The heart of the current edition profiles properties representing a wide variety of building types and which have or may have an uncertain future. Religious properties face their own set of peculiar preservation challenges which are addressed in an essay preceding the entries. Several religious properties, however, embody such pressing and representative needs that they are included with the other full entries. Also included in this edition is an overview of Historic Boston's activities highlighting a broad range of property types and levels of involvement. HBI is not, of course, alone in such activities, as revealed in an essay outlining recent public, private, and partnership initiatives to preserve several well-known properties. Initially considered prime candidates for the casebook, many of these long-neglected buildings are undergoing an extraordinary rebirth thanks to Boston's resolute preservation community.

The purpose of the casebook is to help guide where and how Historic Boston lends money and/or invests its time and resources in technical assistance and to build the case for obtaining new support for HBI's activities. Additionally, HBI hopes that publishing the status of these historic resources will encourage investment by others and possibly serve as a model for other cities and towns to undertake similar initiatives.

Methodology

Supported by a Survey and Planning Grant through the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Historic Boston contracted with a preservation consultant to do research for the casebook. A steering committee composed of representatives from the Boston Landmarks Commission, the Boston Preservation Alliance, Historic Boston, and Historic Massachusetts, convened to assist with the endeavor.

HBI reviewed the 1985 casebook properties to determine their current status. Five of those properties remain threatened and are included again as full entries in the current edition. Three properties from the 1991 religious properties casebook also merit inclusion because their future remains uncertain.

Based on phone calls and interviews with representatives from various city agencies, Boston area Community Development Corporations and Main Streets programs, as well as first hand exploration of all of Boston's neighborhoods, the consultant compiled a list of approximately 100 properties as potential entries for the casebook. Data compiled for each full casebook entry included the following: photograph(s), name, address, year built, style, architect, historic certification, building and lot size, ward and parcel, zoning, current use, condition, owner, tax assessment and tax status. Narrative information outlines the properties' significance, preservation challenges, neighborhood context, and preservation strategy (for a full explanation of each entry item see Appendix A). The information was then entered into Historic Boston's computerized property database for ease of reference and for translation to HBI's web site which will serve as a forum for updates and a tool to increase the dissemination of casebook content.

While research for past casebooks involved several small community meetings to solicit further input, the steering committee recommended that one large meeting might be more practical and provide a more dynamic forum to discuss the properties. On February 23rd, 1999, Historic Boston hosted the Revolving Fund Casebook Symposium to solicit ideas for properties not previously identified and to discuss priorities for preservation intervention in Boston. The event produced a greater understanding of what consensus exists regarding the casebook entries as well as the addition of 24 properties to the master list of properties for inclusion in this edition*. A list of organizations represented at the symposium is included in Appendix E.

Properties included as full entries in the casebook meet some or all of the following criteria:

1. listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places or designated or
        recommended for designation as a Boston Landmark;

2. located at pivotal sites in that they are visually prominent and/or that their location is a
        bellwether for the future well-being (or decline) of a neighborhood;

3. endangered in that their survival may depend upon more than market forces or regulatory
        controls;

4. potential to benefit the community at large in terms of environmental/aesthetic contribution,
        historical value, social/cultural value, or economic development; and

5. likely to benefit from the publicity of Casebook listing which could catalyze or influence other
        decision makers or become future Historic Boston projects.