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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2009

ROXBURY NEIGHBORS CELEBRATE NEW LIFE FOR 150-YEAR-OLD BOSTON NEIGHBORHOOD FIRE HOUSE

$2 Million plus investment will lead to new headquarters for Historic Boston Incorporated

Roxbury, Massachusetts (June 8, 2009) – City officials, business and community leaders, led by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, gathered today to celebrate plans for significant new investment in and rehabilitation of the historic Eustis Street Fire House, which will serve as new home to Historic Boston Incorporated (HBI), a city-wide historic preservation organization.

Roxbury residents and business owners met at the fire house Monday for a community photograph as part of the “This Place Matters!” campaign of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which showcases the places the matter most to communities across the country during National Historic Preservation Month.

HBI Executive Director Kathy Kottaridis said the preservation of the long-vacant fire house, expected to begin in fall 2009, would be done in accordance with federal standards for historic rehabilitation. Through this project, HBI will:

Invest more than $2 million in a full rehabilitation under a 99-year lease from the City of Boston.
Reconstruct a wooden ell that was demolished in 1991;
Create 650 feet of leasable space on the ground floor in addition to housing HBI;
Install conference space on the first floor for community use;
Provide safe, wheelchair access to the Eliot Burying Ground through the Fire House;
Provide on-site docent training in the form of cross-trained HBI staff to provide interpretation of the Eustis Street Architectural Conservation District; and
Acquire two separate parcels across the street from the Fire House for parking and ancillary services.

HBI was selected as developer of the fire house by the City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development in a publicly advertised designation process in 2008 that requires that HBI to carry out all physical investment in the building and assume all management and related costs for the building through to the year 2108.

“This is a watershed moment for Historic Boston,” said Kottaridis. “It is an important opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to Boston’s neighborhoods by restoring places that matter to the community. We look forward to becoming part of Dudley Square.”

“We’re proud to partner with Historic Boston on the restoration of the Eustis Street Fire House,” said Evelyn Friedman, Director of the City of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development. “Their ambitious plan to restore this important landmark will greatly enhance the quality of life in the surrounding community.”

For more information about this project, or to secure photographs of the fire house, please call Margo Mosher at 617 227 4679.

For additional information about the “This Place Matters!” campaign and to view and upload photos, visit http://www.preservationnation.org/take-action/this-place-matters/

ABOUT HBI
Historic Boston Incorporated is a not-for-profit preservation and real estate organization that rehabilitates historic and culturally significant properties in Boston’s neighborhoods. Founded in 1960 to save the 1718 Old Corner Bookstore Building at Downtown Crossing, HBI works with local partners to identify and invest in historic buildings and cultural resources whose re-use will catalyze neighborhood renewal.

FACTS ABOUT EUSTIS STREET FIRE HOUSE
The Eustis Street Fire House is Boston’s oldest remaining fire house structure. It is unusual for its small size and for its ornate decoration. Built in 1859, this brick structure replaced an earlier wooden building on the same site and represents architectural responses to innovations in fire- fighting equipment in the 19th century.

The Fire House was home to the local chapter of Spanish American War Veterans from 1919 to 1950, and was used briefly by the City of Boston Parks Department in the 1950s. It is believed that the structure has been vacant since then. The Fire House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Eliot Burying Ground District, and as part of a Boston Landmarks Commission’s Eustis Architectural Conservation District.

Today, the Fire House stands despite decades of deterioration.

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