The Boston Business Journal’s Thomas Grillo reports the City of Boston is no longer considering the former police station and printing plant on North St. to expand the Eliot School.
Michael Galvin, chief of public property for the Thomas M. Menino administration, said the cost to turn the shuttered printing department and the former police station at North and Richmond streets into an elementary school would be in the millions — a cost that is out of reach for the city. The city has reissued a request for proposal (RFP) for the properties that have been appraised at $11.8 million.
To date, the vocal bidders include the North Bennet Street School and North End real estate developer Matteo Gallo. The RFP specifies a cash bid is preferable but a swap including land or buildings is an alternative, according to the article. NBSS could offer a bid that would include its current building in the North End. Bids are due on February 15, 2012.
The present arrangement of North Bennet Street School allowing Eliot School pupils use their facilities during the school year indicates their interest in the education of the children and the North End. Rather than discussing the feasability of repairing and remodeling the old printing plant for the Eliot School one should consider how NBSS could be redesigned to accept more Eliot students in their building. The old printing plant on Richmond and North Streets is not a residential area, with heavy Business traffic and in the fringe of the North End. The NBSS is located in the center of the North End where children can walk to school under the watchful eye of members of the community. In the long run if the present arrangement of NBSS accepting student from the Eliot is successful, further arragement from the City of Boston and the school committe should come up with a plan to aquire NBSS as a permanent school for the City of Boston. They would both benifit.The facilities of the old print shop is ideally set up for a trade school and they need more space to carry on their vocational work. Can a trade be accomplished? I would think that the real estate value would be similar for both parcels as they demand a high value for Business (Old Print Shop) and for residential property (NBSS).
Mario Di Leo was born in the North End and was employed as a social worker dealing with the children of the neighborhood when it was the North Bennet Street Industrial School from November 1952 to September 1968. He was also Admissions Director of the full time trade classes. As Admissions Director he wrote a series of historical articles of the school that were published in The Italian News.