The campaign to save the St. James African Orthodox Church is in the news today. Neighborhood advocates scored a win by successfully persuading Boston Landmarks Commission to accept the building for further study as a landmark. Nevertheless, the current owners City Realty are free to tear the building down once the demolition delay expires on July 9th, and the Landmarks Commission will not have had time to complete its study before then.
This setback serves to highlight some of the problems in the landmarking process. Landmarking is a last-resort measure and is not effective for controlling development overall in Highland Park. Even in the case of an exceptionally important building like the St. James Church, there is no guarantee that the landmarking process will work.
With an ACD in place, we will have direct neighborhood power over what gets built here in Highland Park.
We need a better tool to stem the tide of destruction and displacement, and we have that tool in the ACD. With an ACD in place, we will have direct neighborhood power over what gets built here in Highland Park. The process to get the ACD will take a year to implement, but it can be accelerated if we show strong neighborhood support.
Get the word out to your family, friends, and neighbors today! Have them sign the ACD declaration of support, so we can take back our neighborhood and end displacement and destruction.