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星期四, 7月 14, 2022

波士頓市府宣佈高地公園為最新的建築保護區

MAYOR WU AND THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL ANNOUNCE THE DESIGNATION OF HIGHLAND PARK AS THE NEWEST ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION DISTRICT

 Highland Park is Boston’s tenth historic district and the first historic district designated in Boston in over a decade; celebration to take place tomorrow, July 15 at Fort Hill Tower in Highland Park

 

 

BOSTON - Thursday, July 14, 2022 - Mayor Wu and the Boston City Council designated Highland Park as Boston’s newest Architectural Conservation District, under the provisions of Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as amended. This designation follows an unanimous vote of approval by the Boston City Council on June 29, 2022 and deems Highland Park as Boston’s first protected historic district in over a decade. The Highland Park Architectural Conservation District Commission is made up of both Landmarks Commissioners and local neighborhood Commissioners. The Commission is charged with preserving the multifaceted history of Highland Park and its social, cultural, architectural, and aesthetic significance. The Mayor, the City Council, and the Boston Landmarks Commission will hold a celebratory event Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Fort Hill Tower in Highland Park. 

 “Highland Park is a historical treasure that I’m grateful so many community members have fought to preserve and protect,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “I am immensely proud to designate Highland Park as our newest historic district so that this rich, multicultural history can be connected to our communities for generations to come.”

 



 

Highland Park, which is approximately bordered by Malcolm X Boulevard on the north, Washington Street on the southeast, and Columbus Avenue on the southwest, is known for various topographies and architectural styles that reflect the many communities who have resided in this neighborhood throughout history. This district represents a diverse cross section of Boston’s history, which began with its important role for the Native people from the region. Highland Park also served a strategic role in the Revolutionary War and was critical for the civil rights movement, fostering grassroots activism and community organizing for housing, education, and economic equity. Highland Park covers about 170 acres of steep terrain with a variety of topographies, eclectic architectural styles, and distinct social significance. 

“I am extremely excited that Highland Park has been designated as a historical landmark,” said District 7 City Councilor, Tania Fernandes Anderson. “Naming and honoring is important, as it helps us to properly value and maintain that which is integral to our heritage and history. With an eye toward acknowledging our rich past, we move forward in the creation of a bountiful future.”

In 1978, Highland Park residents submitted a petition that was accepted by the Boston Landmarks Commission to designate Highland Park as a historic district. At the time, there was not enough wider community interest for the process to designate the district to move forward. Over the following decades, support for the district was periodically revitalized. A group of local activists organized in support of the creation of a district commission in the 1990s, although this did not come to fruition. Then, in 2018, the Highland Park Neighborhood Coalition approached the Landmarks Commission with the goal of reviving the process. Neighborhood residents gathered more than 500 signatures in support of district designation. With the support of a Massachusetts Historical Commission grant, the Boston Landmarks Commission hired the Public Archaeology Laboratory to undertake the historic research for a study report on Highland Park

Over the course of 16 months, 23 public meetings, and three community listening events, the Study Committee worked to create guidelines that would preserve the character of the district and the quality of life for its residents, without requiring homeowners to undertake potentially costly actions. In order to avoid placing financial burden on local residents and property owners, the Study Committee developed a set of standards and criteria for the proposed Highland Park Architectural Conservation District. This includes the proposed district to not regulate how to do maintenance and repairs or which materials a building owner must use on small alterations. The regulations do address the demolition of existing buildings, major architectural alterations, major landscape alterations, and new construction. The designation of Highland Park as an Architectural Conservation District will create a commission made up of two members and two alternates from Highland Park as well as three Boston Landmarks Commission representatives. The commission will be charged with reviewing and issuing guidance on proposed demolitions and developments, monitoring and evaluating the use of open space, and reviewing any major exterior alterations to the district’s buildings. This District will provide learning opportunities and be a model for preservation in other neighborhoods where residents want to have a voice in what is preserved in their community without imposing a financial burden. 

“For generations, Highland Park residents have celebrated the multilayered history of their neighborhood and today we celebrate their role in preserving it on a city-wide scale,” said Reverend Mariama White-Hammond, Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space. “As a Roxbury native, I am grateful to the Highland Park Study Committee for bringing light to this important history and to Mayor Wu, the Boston City Council and the Boston Landmarks Commission for the designation of Boston’s newest conservation district.” 

“With the ACD designation, Highland Park residents now have a voice on how we want to protect our neighborhood and how we want to shape its future,” said Andrea Caceres, Highland Park Study Committee member. “This allows us to both respect our diverse history, especially our Black culture, and celebrate and protect our community that lives here today. I want to thank Mayor Wu, the Boston Landmarks Commission, the City Council, and our community for supporting the Highland Park community in achieving this massive feat.“

Prior to the designation of Highland Park, the last historic district to be established by the City was the Fort Point Channel Landmark District (South Boston) in 2009. Any ten registered Boston voters can petition the Boston Landmarks Commission to designate a historic neighborhood, building, landscape or object as a protected Boston Landmark or District. Local historic districts carry the ability to regulate change in historic neighborhoods, unlike National Register districts, which advocate for their protection. You can learn more about designating a landmark in Boston by emailing BLC@boston.gov.  

Additionally, Mayor Wu created the new Office of Historic Preservation, which sits under the Environment, Energy and Open Space Cabinet, effective July 1, 2022. The Office of Historic Preservation works to ensure that Boston’s history is inclusive, honest and elevates every community to have the tools and resources to research, preserve, acknowledge, and celebrate history. Historic preservation helps support the City with its carbon neutrality goals by preserving the upfront embodied carbon, which is the energy it took to harvest, manufacture, and ship building materials that make up these properties.The new office includes the Boston Landmarks Commission and the City Archaeology Program. The Boston Landmarks Commission and the ten local historic district commissions are volunteers nominated from professional organizations and neighborhood groups specified in each commission’s legislation. There are over 8,000 properties designated as individual Landmarks or located within Boston’s local historic districts. 

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