Demolition of Dearborn School, Roxbury

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FK4

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Just learned about this... another typical shitty move by the City on Roxbury. Furthering the agenda of officials and not giving notice or a good goddam about the locals. Undoubtedly if this was in another area it would be renovated. Crazy. And the whole neighborhood is just teeming with BRA-owned land for a new school instead. I don't think it's the best building around, but that little 'hood is one of the few parts of Roxbury that feels untouched by urban renewal. Why cant we leave Roxbury alone for once?

Globe article:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...born-school/Dr3NTd2nHoPn3LS6w8YbfL/story.html

The idea was attractive to parents and school officials: Replace an aging and struggling Roxbury school with a state-of-the-art, $70.7 million facility whose focus on science, technology, engineering, and math would better position students for future employment.

But five months after it gained state approval, the ambitious plan for the Dearborn STEM Academy project is proving less popular among some nearby residents. They say they have been largely left in the dark as city, state, and school officials move to raze a historic building that has been a neighborhood fixture for more than a century.
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Short documentary on the school and neighborhood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPiCQk7BLOc#t=425
 
Thanks for posting. What can be done to save this building?
 
I'm not sure what group exactly got a demolition delay, but there are less than 80 days left. I heard about it indirectly from an architect interested in historical preservation, and despite that video there isn't any organized or named group I can find, other than the urging to write the mayor at mayor@boston.gov which I am doing, whether it matters or not.

It stinks. If you know the location it is very untouched by all the destruction wrought everywhere else. I dont see why they can't renovate or sell it to be converted - they could build a new school on MLK or Vale in all the base-of-the-highlands vast, vast territory of still vacant lots.
 
Massachusetts will not pay to renovate schools, only tear them down and build brand new one. More union jobs that way.
 
BostonObserver said:
Massachusetts will not pay to renovate schools, only tear them down and build brand new one. More union jobs that way.
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False. Fenway High School (formerly Mission Church High School) on Alleghany St is currently being renovated & expanded.

That said, this news of the demolition of Dearborn is really unfortunate. It's a beautiful building. In the case of Fenway High, the solution for making it ADA accessible was eliminating an extra egress stair and turning it into an elevator shaft.
 
BostonObserver said:
Massachusetts will not pay to renovate schools, only tear them down and build brand new one. More union jobs that way.
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Old schools are often renovated with state funds.

This Salem school was originally built circa 1916, following the Great Salem Fire of 1914.

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It's been renovated extensively with state money, twice within as many decades, the last renovation being completed about a year ago.

Going through the list below, Boston has been slow to renovate old schools.
http://www.massschoolbuildings.org/node/40035
 
The Elliot Elementary in the North End is renovating the old North Bennett Street School building to expand into (NBSS moved to the old city printing building on North St). They also renovated the old Romney campaign headquarters. But yeah, "unions" or something...
 
Well, being Boston, there's probably a couple of reasons.
One, Boston doesn't give a shit about Roxbury or any ethnic neighborhood (excepting Menino, who went out of his way for the Ferdinand thing).
Two, "unions" as stated, plus political graft. Much more money to be made tearing down a building and starting from scratch.
 
Globe editorial on Dearborn:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion...chool-sites/Z5tJV9aLxfE62cSgE3oXvL/story.html

By their own admission, though, city officials never considered other sites for the new school. That’s puzzling: tearing down an asbestos-laden building is bound to be expensive. There’s wide agreement on the need for a new science-focused school in Roxbury, but there’s no reason it has to be on that location, especially when the building’s advocates make a good case for preserving it.
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What a shame! Such a handsome and dignified building. I don't care if this sits empty for decades waiting for the right proposal to get through, because once this is gone, it's never coming back. If the city put more effort into finding alternative uses, and gave the community a greater say, I think we could find a suitable development for the site within the next couple of years.
 
Just signed the petition that they linked in that article.

Aside from the building being historic, this isn't the best location for a modern day school. It's surrounded by a network of narrow one way streets. Bus traffic alone would have a real impact on the quality of life here.
 
Thank god. I didn't realize Marty was in favor of demolition. So shortsighted, just like the Greystone demolition in NJ. I thought our society learned its lessons regarding demolition in the 50s-70s. Apparently not. A mighty war robbed Europe of much of its architectural past. We didn't even need war to rob ourselves of our past.
 
It's funny because even if this became a private building IE turned condo, it would do much to rejuvenate an area that has great old homes - one of the nicest mini-neighborhoods in Roxbury. I think it should just remain a school - maybe a smaller one with a community center taking up some other space. There's so much vacant land around here, it's crazy to not build on that instead.
 
That vacant land you speak of might not be big enough to support a school or is otherwise sanctioned for other development. Adapt a reuse here. Please.
 
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