The Save the Nazzaro Coalition is hosting a public meeting at the Nazzaro Center at 6:30-8:30 on April 17 so that you and other community members can share your ideas about redesigning the interior of the historic Nazzaro building at 30 North Bennet Street. The meeting is with a team from the Boston Architectural College who are donating their time to help us figure out creative ways to rethink this unique public space, when the current indoor basketball court and other programs are moved to a new location.
We hope to update this beloved building to accommodate public meetings, senior programs, kids and toddlers. We might add some office space for community groups. How about zumba and yoga programs for young and old? How about using the former basketball court area for a new movable stage, for public meetings and performances of the North End Music and Performing Arts Center (NEMPAC)?
We do not have the city’s promise yet to agree to these designs or or pay for them. But we hope your input will help us with these negotiations. The Mayor told us that he will work with the community on how to reconfigure the old building, once the new North End Community Center facility is built in an undetermined new location. The Nazzaro building is a beautiful and historic treasure in the heart of the North End, but it does need an upgrade inside while we work with the Landmarks Commission to protect its exterior. Originally built in 1906 as the North Bennet Street Bath House, the Nazzaro was last upgraded for community programs in 2004.
PSST: Please also put April 25 at 6:30 on your calendar, for an important meeting at the Nazzaro Center. This is when the City’s architects will unveil their proposals for the new North End Community Center, and their choice for a new location. At their original presentation in October, North Enders were concerned that the new building might require the demolition of the old one, but the Mayor has since assured us he won’t sell or tear down the Nazzaro building. Community members also reacted negatively to the city’s two other proposed options: Sargeant’s Wharf or next to the Mirabella Pool.Neighbors proposed instead that the new basketball court and other community facilities be put into a mixed-use building on the city’s Fulton Street parking lot, while keeping programs for seniors, kids, and the community at the current Nazzaro building. Stay tuned for more details about the April 25 meeting….
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