Mayoral Visit Reopens Blessed Sacrament Church

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Mayor Marty Walsh, center, gazes at the interior of the former Blessed Sacrament Church on Saturday, March 29, 2014.

Chris Helms

Mayor Marty Walsh, center, gazes at the interior of the former Blessed Sacrament Church on Saturday, March 29, 2014.

Mayor Marty Walsh, center, gazes at the interior of the former Blessed Sacrament Church on Saturday, March 29, 2014.

Chris Helms

Mayor Marty Walsh, center, gazes at the interior of the former Blessed Sacrament Church on Saturday, March 29, 2014.

Mayor Marty Walsh toured the long-shuttered Blessed Sacrament Church during his visit Jamaica Plain to celebrate the opening of small businesses in Hyde Square.

The church has been closed for about a decade, so it was a rare opportunity for community members accompanying the mayor to see inside the basilica.

Hyde Square Task Force recently closed on buying the old church. The space will become a community and arts space. Members of the youth development organization provided a live drum accompaniment to the mayoral tour.

The event began with refreshments at Centre Street Sanctuary. It marked the retail spaces of the former Blessed Sacrament campus being fully rented. In addition to the restaurant Sanctuary, other businesses at 363-365 Centre St. are: Family CaregiversMassachusetts Bay Brazilian Jiu-JitsuBilingual Veterans Outreach Center of MassachusettsPeak Performance Chiropractic and Re/Max Destiny.

The businesses have all been open for some time, some for more than a year.

While Walsh was in JP, he cut the ribbon for A passerby greets Mayor Marty Walsh outside 363-365 Centre St. At right is Felix G. Arroyo, a former city councilor whom Walsh tapped as his head of Health and Human Services.[/caption]

Claudio Martinez, executive director of the Hyde Square Task Force and school committee member, left, escorts Mayor Marty Walsh, center, on a visit to the Blessed Sacrament campus in Hyde Square on Saturday, March 29, 2014.

Chris Helms

Claudio Martinez, executive director of the Hyde Square Task Force and school committee member, left, escorts Mayor Marty Walsh, center, on a visit to the Blessed Sacrament campus in Hyde Square on Saturday, March 29, 2014.

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