Before  
After 181-197 Washington Street

Photo by Josh McCann

This past weekend the former Somerville Boys and Girls Club building that’s located on Washington Street was demolished making room for new development. 

In March of 2014, the Somerville Planning Board approved our revised proposal for redevelopment of the property at 181 Washington Street, the former location of the Boys and Girls Club, into a mixed-use development with ground-floor commercial, and 35 rental units of workforce and affordable housing. The development plans conform to zoning including use, density, and parking. Zoning allows up to 45 apartments in a 5 story building with ground floor commercial/retail space. (for more information about this project, see http://www.everyonessomerville.org) 
Currently the site housed a vacant 3-story circa 1950’s elementary school, with a circa 1970’s rehab. An architect and contractor performed an analysis of the existing building to determine if it should be reused. 

Because of the poor configuration of the building, part of it could not easily be rehabbed into apartments, namely the gymnasium, and its poor access to the rear parking area.