Please Come: Nazzaro Future Designs To Be Presented May 13

Please come to a meeting May 13 at 6 pm. at the Nazzaro Center to see what the architects from Boston Architectural College are proposing to redesign the the interior of the Nazzaro building, as part of our effort to save it as as public resource.

The architects’ design proposals will reflect North End community groups’ wishes for what might happen in the building once the Boston Centers for Youth and Families relocate their programs to a new community center, which the city will build next to the Mirabella pool. Instead of thanking the BAC for its gift of design help, city officials on April 25 said they will  “surplus” the beloved Nazzaro building in two or three years, as soon as the new community center is built. The announcement sent shock waves throughout the community, dampening the news that the Mayor will build the much-needed new athletic facility on the waterfront. See a video of the overflow crowd and discussion at the April 25 meeting here. 

The team of BAC architects have donated their time as a service to the North End community, which is working to landmark the historic Nazzaro building and save it from an uncertain fate. Despite the Mayor’s promise in February that the Nazzaro building will not be sold or torn down, his staff have continuously distanced themselves from neighborhood efforts to keep the Nazzaro as a public resource. At the April 25 meeting, the Mayor’s Chief of Operations Patrick Brophy flatly rejected the North End’s requests to keep some community programs in the Nazzaro building. He finally said that some community group might run programs for seniors there, but he did not explain who that would be, or who would pay for repairing the building or staffing it.

Despite the city’s lack of support, these BAC designs will be part of future discussions over the fate of the Nazzaro building. Please come to the architects’ presentation on May 13, and give them your feedback. Stay tuned for future community actions to save the Nazzaro building, which for over 100 years has been a treasured community resource in the heart of the North End.