By Bill Forry
Managing Editor

Stop & Shop's finally given up its strangle-hold on the River Street corridor, selling two large parcels of land this week- including the old Lower Mills Knights of Columbus (K of C) Hall- to a newly-minted real estate developer with Dorchester roots. The Reporter has learned that John Judge, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity Boston, has purchased the land along with several other investors. Judge will leave his post at the non-profit next month to launch his own private enterprise and plans to make the River Street parcels his first development.

Judge lived on nearby Old Morton Street as a teenager and remembers the K of C building when it was still a semi-functioning hall, used for neighborhood get-togethers and political times. The K of C building, and another residential parcel next door, sold out to Stop & Shop in the late 1990s as the supermarket conglomerate bought up land in hopes of siting a "super" store in Lower Mills. Instead, Stop & Shop was aced out by Shaw's Supermarkets, which last year opened its own, smaller store at the corner of River and Washington Streets. Shaw's and developer Trinity Financial coveted the K of C building, too, but Stop & Shop has left the building to wither as its chief competitor built next door.

Until now. Judge and a group of limited partners bought the two parcels - together comprising nearly 50,000 square feet - for an undisclosed amount on Monday, he says. He envisions tearing down the K of C Hall - which he says was left structurally unsafe thanks to burst water pipes inside - and building an undetermined number of new condominiums on the property. Judge, who has won laudits for his non-profit work in building affordable housing across Greater Boston, says his private venture will similarly strive to keep prices "reasonable."

"It's a great site, it overlooks the Neponset River and Baker Chocolate. It's just a great area and a lot of people, myself included, would love to live there," Judge said.

Judge says he may also want to include a retail component of the first floor of any new building. First, he says, he plans to convene a community meeting to solicit ideas, in conjunction with local elected officials.

Latest State Promise

on Roper Bridge:

'Mid-Fall' Opening

State officials last week pledged that the Roper Bridge over the Neponset River in Lower Mills will re-open to two-way traffic by "mid-fall," although the same officials acknowledge that work is still only half-done and will not be fully complete until 2005.

In a press release issued last Friday from the Romney administration's Office of Transportation and Construction, construction on the historic span near the Baker Chocolate complex was described as "ongoing," a term that will surely come as a surprise to residents who have seen little if any work at the site since last summer.

"Crews primarily have been working from below the structure, not visible to passing motorists and local resident," read the statement. "Because of the break in the cold snap earlier this week, crews could be seen pouring concrete on the bridge. In early March, beams will be installed and additional concrete will be poured. All other outstanding permitting and redesign issues have been resolved," the press release claimed.

Mass Highway, the state agency responsible for the project- now with a higher-than-predicted pricetag of $4.1 million - has come under intense pressure from Dorchester elected officials, who themselves have been bombarded by complaints about the slow progress of work and ongoing traffic problems. Since the work began in spring 2002, motorists traveling south have been sent on a circuitous and sometimes-gridlocked half-mile detour down River Street and Central Avenue to re-connect with Adams Street. Northbound traffic from Milton has not been affected by the closing. And despite pleas from Dorchester residents, the lopsided detour will remain in place until the bridge work is finished.

"I have met with officials on the state and local level, and they are firm in their position that the current traffic pattern remain in place," Speaker Tom Finneran stated in the same press release. "For public safety reasons, I defer to the judgment of the experts."

Mass Highway officials now say that the fix-up of the George J. Roper bridge, named for a Dorchester man killed in World War II, has been complicated by the historic nature of an original 19th century granite span that remains intact under a newer concrete and steel span. Initially, the Mass Highway Department blamed another state department, the MWRA, but has since acknowledged that the slow-down was caused by its own engineering failures.

According to Judith Forman, Assistant Press Secretary for the Executive Office of Transportation and Construction, the delays have been "the result of redesign of the existing granite block columns and the design of a support system for the granite block walls.

"Both are historic elements," Forman said. "Both were expected to be in good enough condition that they could be reused without any additional stabilization."

Forman also told the Reporter that the extra work orders are responsible for the $1 million cost overrun at the Roper bridge. According to Forman, the project was initially to cost taxpayers just over $3 million, but "additional work" orders have "pushed the project up to $4.1 million."

"Although the job is 48 percent done, that pricetag should stand through the end," said Forman.