Thursday, January 09, 2025

Fort Point Landmarks January 2025 Public Meeting

Updated 1/9: Due to a lack of quorum, the Fort Point Channel Landmark District Commission virtual monthly public hearing has been canceled.

THE FORT POINT CHANNEL LANDMARK DISTRICT COMMISSION
will hold a public hearing on:

Thursday, January 9, 2025
6:00 PM

This hearing will be held virtually and NOT in person. 
You can participate in this hearing by going to the Zoom meeting link 
or by calling 929-436-2866 and entering meeting id  975 9693 8919# You can also submit written comments or questions to FortPointLDC@boston.

I.  DESIGN REVIEW HEARING

APP # 25.0466 FPC  332 CONGRESS STREET 
Applicant: Daniel Brennan 
Proposed Work: Replace single entry door with (2) two 36” wide wood/glass doors; Replace two fixed windows with accordion style operable windows; Paint pilasters, portion of cornice, and entry doors; Install (3) three sconce light fixtures; Install blade sign at far left pilaster; Install individual letter signage affixed to an LED raceway Center on two windows; install vinyl window decals at entry door. Continued from the 12/12/24 Public Hearing.

APP # 25.0521 FPC 259-267 SUMMER STREET 
Applicant: Adam Burns
Proposed Work: As part of the larger office-to-residential conversion project, the proposed scope of work includes selective updates to the southern façade, replacing one column of masonry window infills with historic windows spanning floors 1-8 and one column of louvers with Juliet balconies onfloors 2-8. The applicant will also remove the infill of three at-grade windows and replace them with historic windows. Additional work includes constructing a roof deck and extending the existing headhouse to provide secondary rooftop egress, both designed to remain non-visible from Summer and Melcher Streets. Lastly, rooftop mechanicals will be replaced with updated infrastructure, designed and confirmed to be non-visible from surrounding streets.

II. RATIFICATION OF 12/12/24 PUBLIC HEARING MINUTES

II.  STAFF UPDATES

IV. PROJECTED ADJOURNMENT: 7:30 PM

FORT POINT CHANNEL LANDMARK DISTRICT COMMISSION
Members: David Berarducci, Susan Goganian, Vacancy, Vacancy, Vacancy
Alternates: Thomas Rodde, Raber Umphenour
 

Originally published 12/23/24

Wednesday, January 08, 2025

Boston Public Schools Recommends Closure of Excel High School

A message from Lydia Poleski, our South Boston liaison regarding the the Boston Public Schools (BPS) recommendation to close Excel High School. 

Yesterday, BPS shared recommendations for select closures and mergers impacting a total of 6 schools including Excel, identified through a rigorous, transparent, data-driven, process: 

  • This includes 2 high school closures, 1 elementary school closure, 1 merger of two elementary schools, and the conversion of 1 high school from a degree-granting school into a program.

  • These recommendations will be presented to the Boston School Committee on January 22, 2025. We expect the School Committee to vote on these proposals in March/April 2025.

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper recently shared that the current Excel High School building is in need of capital investments, which the district plans to make after the 2025-2026 school year with the vision of bringing an anchor high school back to the neighborhood. 


What does this mean for our neighborhood and students? The vision is to have a fully enrolled high school in the next few years that will be sought out by students and families and delivers the High Quality Student Experience, including early college and career pathways, robust academic programming and a range of extracurriculars–all important pieces in building a strong school community. Excel’s current building has excellent potential and a beautiful WWI memorial in the lobby, which will be preserved alongside the modernization work throughout the learning spaces allowing us to develop programming that best serves our students.


How will this closure impact current Excel High School students in South Boston?

  • Current 12th graders who are eligible to graduate will graduate in 2025, and current 11th graders will transition to 12th grade and then will be eligible to graduate next year. BPS will cap new enrollment at 9th grade starting in Fall 2025.

  • Though the building is in poor condition, it shows great potential to support a high-quality student experience. The building is currently being scoped for a decarbonization project through Renew Boston Trust. We are committed to maintaining an anchor high school in South Boston.


The Long-Term Facilities Plan is available for community members to review. BPS has evaluated all schools in the District based on the public Decision-Making Data Framework. The data framework is described here, and all data is publicly available here


If you have any additional questions, please reach out to Boston Public Schools for further information at BPS Helpline at 617-635-8873 or capitalplanning@bostonpublicschools.org.