Sept. 12 Vote at Landmarks Commission!

We are nearing the decisive moment!

The Boston Landmarks Commission is scheduled to vote  this Tuesday Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. to protect the Nazzaro community center building in the heart of Boston’s Little Italy. The expected positive vote will mean almost certain success for our five-year effort to protect this historic cultural resource.

You can participate in this meeting by going to the Commission’s online meeting or calling +1-312 626 6799 and entering meeting id #987 4262 6175. You can also submit written comments or questions to BLC@boston.gov. https://www.boston.gov/public-notices/16043986

The Commission’s positive vote would preserve the building’s beautiful and historic Renaissance Revival architecture while allowing repairs, renovations, new tenants and uses inside the building.

In addition to preserving its original exterior design, our current city officials have expressed their intention to protect the Nazzaro’s civic role in the heart of our North End neighborhood.

For example, the North End Waterfront Health Services is considering expanding into part of the Nazzaro building in the future, after the current Boston Youth and Families programs are moved into a new community center slated for construction soon on the waterfront.

In addition, the North End Music and Performing Arts Center (NEMPAC) may convert the current indoor basketball court into an auditorium performance space, a potential interior renovation that was suggested by students at the Boston Architectural College (see their image at left) who worked pro bono with the Save the Nazzaro coalition in 2019.

Landmark status will honor not just the Nazzaro building’s structural beauty but also its immigrant origins in 1910 as the original North End bathhouse. We are on the brink of success thanks to the work of our local elected officials, including state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, state Sen. Lydia Edwards, and City Councilor Gigi Coletta who have supported our effort from the beginning. We are grateful to Landmarks executive director Rosanne Foley, commissioner Kirsten Hoffman and the Commission staff for recommending this landmark.

This signals the final phase of a process we began in 2018, when we learned that then-Mayor Marty Walsh was considering selling the city’s Nazzaro Community Center for private development. If landmark status is approved by 2/3 of the Commission on Sept. 12, the matter then goes to Mayor Michelle Wu for her signature.  After the Mayor signs it, the City Council can still override it with a 2/3 vote within 30 days.  If the City Council does not act within 30 days, the matter is deemed approved. Councilor Coletta has said she will lead the City Council effort to support the landmark, if the need arises.