Old Colony Housing Project

The Old Colony Housing Project is a 16.7-acre public housing project located in South Boston, Massachusetts. First built in 1940 as a cluster of 22 three-story brick buildings housing 873 low-income units,[1] it is one of the Boston Housing Authority's oldest developments.

Location

Old Colony is roughly a triangle, bordered by East 8th Street, Dorchester Street, Old Colony Avenue and Columbia Road. It adjoins a traffic circle to the southwest, and Babe Ruth Park, a youth park with baseball fields, to the south.42°19′54″N 71°03′02″W / 42.3318°N 71.050666°W / 42.3318; -71.050666Coordinates: 42°19′54″N 71°03′02″W / 42.3318°N 71.050666°W / 42.3318; -71.050666

Across the street from Old Colony, on the rotary to the southwest, is where James "Whitey" Bulger and associates Buddy Francis and Kevin Weeks owned a liquor store and where Bulger headquartered his organized crime ring.[2] He grew up in the nearby Mary Ellen McCormack housing project, renamed the Old Harbor housing project. Buddy Francis was later murdered by Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi and John Martorano, on the orders of Bulger. The liquor store, formerly South Boston Liquor Mart, is now Kippy's Wine and Spirits.[3]

Prominent residents

This project is where author Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up. He chronicled his Old Colony experiences in his memoir All Souls: A Family Story From Southie. Other former Old Colony dwellers included U.S. Representative Stephen F. Lynch and the late Boston City Councilor Joseph M. Tierney, father of actress Maura Tierney of ER and NewsRadio fame.[4]

Redevelopment

Old Colony is currently in the middle of a three-phase redevelopment that is moving most of its tenants from the original large multi-family complexes to mixed housing in newly constructed townhouse rows and apartment buildings that will replace the 1940s structures, in keeping with the modern US philosophy for low-income housing.[5] Phase I, which replaced rows of brick buildings containing 164 units with 116 new affordable townhouse units along Old Colony Avenue and Columbia Road, commenced in late 2010 and was finished in March 2012.[6] Phase II, which was partially financed by a $22 million HOPE VI Revitalization grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, is under construction, targeted for completion by winter 2014. Phase III, which will add 364-464 housing units, does not yet have the funding it needs to proceed.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Rosso, Patrick, "2nd phase in Old Colony makeover is progressing," Boston.com, Jan. 23, 2013
  2. ↑ Baker, Billy, "Old Colony gets a bright new facelift," The Boston Globe, March 21, 2012
  3. ↑ http://www.flickr.com/photos/eoconnor/5532590471/
  4. ↑ Baker, op. cit.
  5. ↑ see HOPE VI for a discussion of the transition to lower-density mixed housing
  6. ↑ Baker, op. cit.
  7. ↑ Rosso, Patrick, "Second phase of Old Colony redevelopment is progressing," Boston.com, July 2, 2013

External links

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