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lo Municipal BuiTdin; Fields Corner Information for Developers r^OSTv^x* / ^^o/v /?£d:; City of Boston Kevin H. White, Mayor — -^<^ton Neighborhood DevelopmentAgency r : John E Weis, Director 3 ^sw'^m. M3 Municipal Building The 1970s saw a new awareness of the district in Dorchester. The Municipal value of the nation's neighborhoods, Building is an excellent example of the especially those in older urban areas. Victorian Gothic style of architecture Neighborhoods and their revitalization popular at the end of the nineteenth increasingly became the center of fed- century. The structure was built in 1874 eral, state and local government activ- probably by City Architect George A. ity. Boston, with a long-standing pride Clough. It is a three-story building and in the cultural diversity of its neigh- consists in plan of a central, three-bay borhoods, was in the forefront of this pavillion, flanked by two gable ends. renaissance. Its neighborhoods have It is constructed of brick with limestone since been strengthened by an infusion trim. of public and private investment in housing rehabilitation, commercial re- In addition to its architectural impor- vitalization and public improvements. tance, the Fields Corner Municipal Build- ing has civic and cultural significance. To assure that Boston would add to its The structure has.been the home of record of accomplishment in the decade a police station. District Court and to come, in August 1980, Mayor Kevin H. the Dorchester branch of the Boston White established the Boston Neighbor- Public Library. Presently, the building hood Development Agency. One of the is being considered for nomination to first mandates of this new agency was the National Register which would make to undertake major revitalization it eligible for certain tax advantages. efforts in nine designated commercial districts. In launching the program The Municipal Building is located at One during 1980-1981, over $5 million was Arcadia Street, near the intersection committed from the city's Community of Adams Street and Dorchester Avenue. Development Block Grant to provide low The building is currently vacant and interest loans, build capital improve- owned by the City of Boston. ments and develop key under-utilized properties in these areas. One such property is the Municipal Building in the Fields Corner business . . Corner Fields Asa retail center, Fields Corner has competition for downtown and urban seen many changes since its birth over stores. a century ago. First the streetcar, and then the automobile made it a key Although this highly competitive era is link in a growing urban network of still here, emerging energy and popula- business and transportation centers, tion trends are shifting the advantage allowing the district to clearly dom- again towards Fields Corner and have inate its market. Later, however, out- increased its attraction as a shopping ward expansion of the city's highways district - and massive suburban housing development - ushered in an era of stiff Transportation Younger families who might have settled services 9200 passengers daily. Five bus in the suburbs are instead beginning to lines operate daily along Fields Corner's buy homes in the neighborhoods around main streets. Traffic patterns are Fields Corner where housing and trans- currently being studied and new parking portation costs are more reasonable plans developed in order to more than they are outside the city. The MBTA easily accomodate exhisting vehicular Red Line stops at Fields Comer and traffic Consumer Local Population Besides the flow of thousands of poten- In addition. Fields Comer is in the tial shoppers by various forms of unique position of having an urban transit, an impressive consumer popula- shopping center with a Bradlees and tion lives within the immediate Fields Purity Supreme as anchor tenants and Comer area. There are 63,000 people five major banks have offices here. living within one mile and 186,000 These are assets of which few neighbor- within two miles of the business dis- hood business districts can boast. trict itself. s Public Investment in the SurroundingArea Eighty-eight percent of the surround- two of which will be ready for occupancy ing housing stock is in good to excel- in the summer of 1981. lent condition due in part to home improvement incentives offered to local In addition, over $600,000 has been residents through the City's Housing spent for capital improvements in the Improvement Program. In the last six Fields Corner residential district years, $1,672,639 has been spent in with another $970,000 earmarked for Dorchester to rehabilitate over 2285 further improvements. residential properties. Other recent housing development in Fields Comer inlcudes three elderly housing projects. Boston Neighborhood Development Agency The Neighborhood Development Agency' District designation will make funds Commercial Development Division has available at reduced interest rates assigned a project manager to Fields to merchants and investors. Comer, as it has in each of the nine commercial revitalization districts. Marketing Assistance - NDA has com- The project manager oversees development piled extensive marketing data which in the project area and coordinates the is available to potential investors. services offered by other staff members. The goal of city-sponsoredmarketing Some of the services offered are: efforts is to improve the mix of Design Assistance - Architects and stores in a neighborhood by careful Landscape architects are available selection and upgrading of businesses, from NDA's Urban Design Division rather than merely lowering the to furnish design support, especially vacancy rate. to merchants who wish to upgrade and renovate their storefronts. Security Programs - Police foot pa.rols are scheduled to begin in Financing Assistance - Loan packagers April 1981 with a budget of $100,000 can assist investors in indentifying for the year. the best combination of private financing and public investment.NDA's Field Services -Extensive information new Neighborhood Commercial Develop- on available development sites, local ment Bank and bonds obtained from labor supply and other demographic the CommercialAreaRevitalization and statistical information can be