Kirsten Hoffman presented updates from the Friends of Cutillo Park, the North End Clean Streets Committee, and the Boston Architectural College’s study on future uses of the Nazzaro Center building at the March North End/Waterfront Neighborhood Council (NEWNC) meeting.
(0:00) Friends of Cutillo Park
Cutillo Park, located off of Stillman Street, dates back to the early 1900s. It was a neighborhood playground, later used by St. Mary School, and then a hockey rink in the 1960s, after which it feel into disrepair. Since then it has had a lot of issues with trash, drug use, and homelessness. The Friends of Cutillo Park have been working to clean up and bring active use back to the area. The City has awarded $200,000 from its capital budget toward planning for the park.
The Friends of Cutillo Park meet the last Wednesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. at the Nazzaro Center. All are welcome to join. Visit their website at friendsofcutillopark.com.
(2:40) North End Clean Streets Initiative
This effort was initiated by District One City Councilor Lydia Edwards. A bunch of North End residents along with representatives from NEWNC and the North End/Waterfront Residents’ Association (NEWRA) got together to come with ideas and potentially raise money to help with the North End trash issues.
Last summer the number of hokeys was increased to four, which had a good impact on our neighborhood, but there are still issues with trash. The group still meets occasionally. They are also planning to put in a suggestion box at the Nazzaro Center to get more informal input from community members.
(5:35) Nazzaro Center Building
The Nazzaro Building dates back to the early 1900s when it used to be the neighborhood bathhouse. The city is planning on building a new, modern, larger community center most likely at the Mirabella Pool. A group of North End residents want to keep the current building in public use, to complement the new center.
The Boston Architectural College (BAC)’s Gateway Program is doing a study on the potentials for future use of the building. The students came up with two different plans (displayed in the pages below)—a lower cost that would use the building mostly as it is, and a more extensive plan that includes a third-floor auditorium. In the BAC’s second stage of the study, they went out to neighborhood groups to develop more detailed plans of what the future of the Nazzaro might look like.
Hoffman reiterated that this is a student project, not related to the City’s planning, but she hopes this can be influential to that process. The final study from the BAC will be released in the next few months.
See the first stage of the BAC’s study below. Click to enlarge.
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