The Boston City Council approved projects for the community preservation act.
The Community Preservation Act (CPA) provides funds for acquisition, creation, preservation and enhancement of open space, historic resources and affordable housing in Boston. The City of Boston voted in favor of the act in 2016 with 74 percent of residents voting for CPA. This allows the city to charge an additional 1 percent property tax to create a $20 million fund annually for local projects that meet the guidelines.
This year CPA awarded $34,926,700 for the fiscal years of 2018 and 2019. There were 56 projects awarded the funding. About $18 million dollars went to affordable housing projects, $8 million went to historic preservation projects and $8.8 million went to recreational projects.
Community Preservation Director Christine Poff said this year was a big round since they put two fiscal years together. They think moving forward they can expect 20 to 25 million annually.
According to Poff, about 88 organizations or residents applied.
“Every neighborhood has at least one project funded,” she said.
This round they wanted to focus mainly on affordable housing in the city since it is a main priority for the administration. They are taking the spring off to regroup and will announce the new round in the summer.
The downtown area will be awarded $315,000 to develop a Faneuil Hall Archaeology. Residents and tourists will be able to learn about Boston’s rich history through archaeology. They will also be able to access information online from a website that will also be created.
Downtown will receive another $350,000 to restore the Old State House. Some of that funding will go to restoring the structure of the building as well as replacing the current windows.
The North End is gaining $1,000,000 to do working on Langone Park/Puopolo Playground to develop a field that can stand the test of time against climate change, said officials.
“I’m thrilled citizens are utilizing the CPA funds,” councilor Michael Flaherty. “They are doing great things across the city with these funds.”
