Business

Shattuck Campus Redevelopment Virtual Meeting on Tuesday

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There will be a virtual public meeting on Tuesday to discuss the state's proposal to redevelop the Shattuck campus to include new treatment beds, permanent supportive housing, family supportive housing and emergency housing beds, and more. The state had put out a request for proposals (RFP) to redevelop the campus located at 170 Morton St. at Franklin Park in Jamaica Plain, and received only one proposal. The state provisionally accepted the proposal of the Boston Medical Center (BMC) which includes two facilities with 326 treatment beds, 200 units of permanent supportive housing, 205 units of family supportive housing, 120 emergency housing beds, and seven-plus acres of green and open space. According to the state's website, the proposal is not a final plan.

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From the Community

Dukakis Sends Gov. Baker Letter Urging Leadership for Franklin Park

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Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis recently delivered a letter to Governor Charlie Baker calling for leadership and a coordinated vision as it relates to the redevelopment of the Shattuck Hospital site in Franklin Park. In the letter, he outlined how the Commonwealth’s decision to redevelop the site contradicts the Baker administration’s stated priorities “for open space, climate resilience, and natural resource conservation.”
Governor Dukakis states that, “rather than engaging community members and thinking holistically for the neighborhood and Greater Boston’s needs, the Commonwealth has decided to move forward with a plan to demolish the outdated building, which sits on parkland, and lease the land to a private developer.”
Shattuck Hospital, now slated for demolition, currently occupies 13 acres of parkland, a site that was taken from the community in 1949 and, over the years, has joined other sites that reduced Franklin Park’s free and public green space by roughly 200 acres. Now, the Commonwealth proposes a new plan: a 99-year lease for a private developer to build housing for the formerly homeless. Housing for the formerly homeless is extremely important; however, the Commonwealth did not evaluate alternative sites, conduct a feasibility study, involve the many of the communities around the park, nor provide any state funding for the new facilities. This new plan requires numerous legal waivers, and the housing, if all goes according to plan, may take five years to build and does not include supportive services in the latest proposal.

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Opinion

Letter: Redevelopment of the Shattuck Campus Urgently Needed

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We are a group of concerned Boston residents and housing, homeless, public health, climate justice, faith-based leaders and activists writing to urge you to support the Commonwealth’s Preliminary Project Proposal for the redevelopment of the Shattuck Campus as presented in April 2021. When the state conducted a comprehensive planning process in 2019, stakeholders from the surrounding neighborhoods, community groups, greenspace advocates, housing, and health care groups came to consensus on a Vision Plan. The Vision Plan includes behavioral health services, the shelter, and 75-100 units of supportive housing. The Plan also includes integrating the campus with Franklin Park and including components that will be accessible to the community, such as a public restroom, community garden or a child care center. In the six months since the Shattuck Campus Redevelopment was approved by the state, the city’s desperate need for supportive housing has only become more dire.

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