An aging Boston community center is generating social media activity and advocacy.
The Jackson Mann Community Center in Allston opened in 1975, and it was deemed not viable for long-term use in 2019.
“We recognized a moment and a space in which the city kind of hadn’t stepped up as much as we’d wanted,” said Nikhil Dasgupta, who lives in Allston-Brighton.
Locals say it’s time for the project to move forward.
“We’re a neighborhood that is going to need more investment in order to build community, because we’re not dominated by people who have lived here for generations,” said Dasgupta.
“It’s the culmination of what feels like years, at this point, of disinvestment from the city in our neighborhood,” said Cullen Deimer.
The community’s effort has begun to pay off. City leaders say they’ve got big plans for the Jackson Mann that go well beyond a community center.
“I would be in favor of housing on the site. There’s a lot of space,” said Boston City Council President Liz Breadon. “There’s also going to be some folks in the neighborhood who would like to see a new school.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu listed those same priorities in a letter sent to the neighborhood, and a city study suggests that shovels could be on site by 2030.
“For the first time, we saw a firm commitment to a timeline,” said Breadon. “It had been sort of more vague than that.”
“It will get done, and it will be a process that’s going to take, even now, a few more years,” said Deimer.
While that’s a welcome spark of optimism, advocates have no plans to pull back on their efforts.
“I often think of projects like this like they’re plants that need to be watered,” said Dasgupta. “You can’t water it once and then leave forever and expect it to be fine.”
At a community meeting at the end of May, the city guaranteed three more meetings throughout 2026 to keep the neighborhood apprised to progress and keep them involved in the process.
Source: News – Boston – necn
