Washington Park Urban Renewal-Fact SHeet



WASHINGTON PARK URBAN RENEWAL AREA

1963-1975

Fact Sheet

Summarized from Heath, Richard: An Act of Faith: Building the Washington Park Urban Renewal Area: 1960-1975,

Boston: Low Income Housing Advocacy and Research, June 2005.

Area

502 acres

Institutions created

New police and fire station

Courthouse

Two public libraries: Dudley Branch and Grove Hall

Washington Park Shopping mall

YMCA

Boys and Girls Club

Shelburne Center—gymnasium, pool and covered ice rink

Outdoor basketball courts

Roxbury Comprehensive Health Center

The Trotter School

Five Garden style housing developments –2000 apartments

Cost

$70.4 million

2,600 families relocated

150 acres of land (1/4 of the site) leveled

Support

Supported by Freedom House (Muriel and Otto Snowden)

Citizens for Urban Renewal (CURE) founded May 1961

Housing Created

Marksdale Gardens I 

82 units of cluster housing—completed in 1964

Architect: Associated Architects and Engineers (Henry C. Boles)

Cost : $2.5 million

Marksdale Gardens II

94 cluster homes –completed in 1965

Cost: $1.107 million

Originally developed by St. Marks Development Team

HUD transferred ownership to a resident run co-op board in September 1984

Charlame and Warren Gardens also transferred to resident run co-ops at that time

Charlame Homes I and II

Developed by Charles St AME Church, formed Charlame Park Homes in 1963

Charlame I-

Architect: Rudolph Beders and Phineas Alpers

92 units of housing

Construction began in 1964

Charlame II

Architect: Rudolph Beders and Phineas Alpers

Forty units

Construction began in 1965

Warren Gardens

200 units of housing

Built between 1967-1969

Architect: Hugh Stubbins Associates

St. Joseph’s Cooperative Housing

Developed by St. Josephs Church

Built 1965-1971

137 units of cooperative housing

One of the oldest subsidized co-operatives in US

Civic Center in Dudley Square

Boston Police District B-3-1971,Kallman, McKinnell with Hoyle and Berry

Municipal Court of Roxbury District-1971,Kallman and McKinnell; 1994, $10million dollar addition

Dudley Library-1974, Kalman, McKinnell and Wood

Boys and Girls Club-1968,The Architects Collaborative

Construction on Warren St and MLK Blvd.

Martin Luther King Towers-1969, Freeman Flansburg

Only public housing in urban renewal area

Roxbury Comprehensive Health Center-1975, PARD Team.

Unity Bank:420 Warren Street-1967, Donald Stull

Converted from the former Westminster Motors Showroom

Greater Boston YMCA-1965, The Architects Collaborative

Washington Park Mall— 1967,developed by Blairs Foodland

Associated Architects and Engineers

Anchor tenants -Zayres, Family Food land and Thom McCann Shoes

Completed with 17 stores in 1967

Otto Snowden at opening” This mall represents the largest business investment in the area for years. Now everyone can see what urban renewal is all about.”

Destroyed

Congregation Beth Hamidrash Hagodal (Crispus Attucks Day Care is now on the site)

Dudley Street Baptist Church

Rivoli Theater

Dudley Opera House

St. Marks Church (razed and rebuilt)

St.Marks Social Center for Negro Boys and Girls

Hotel Warren

Madison Park and SW Corridor 

Roxbury Community College—1988,Stull and Lee

Islamic Cultural Center-2006, Steffan Bradley

Boston Police Headquarters-Stull and Lee

From: An Act of Faith: The Building of the Washington Park Urban Renewal Area-1960-1975

By Richard Heath, Low Income Housing Advocacy and Research, June 2005