To the Editor:

I’ve known Mike Prokosch for over 50 years, and have tremendous respect for his contributions to the Dorchester community over many of those years, so I want to take his question seriously: what is the character of the Melville Park community, where the proposed Fitzpatrick Motors development is located. In a few words, it is a community with a preponderance of Victorian architecture with lots of trees and gardens surrounding the houses. It is very diverse in race, gender, and sexual orientation, and even to a lesser extent in income.

I live on Lyndhurst Street, with home for single mothers directly across from me, a double three-decker (that is, a 6-unit house, now condominiums) next door, and a large single-family house now converted into multiple apartments diagonally across. None of these threaten the neighborhood character because they blend in architecturally and have gardens. 

Mike has taken five pictures of nearly all the different-looking buildings in the neighborhood. Two of them are schools, which no one expects to look like houses (and the Epiphany School is shot at an odd angle, it is much more attractive than that). Fitzpatrick Bros. and the small brick building on Clementine Park are old commercial buildings in an attractive school; and the latter has a beautiful mural on the side and a lovely garden in the summer. The apartment building on Melbourne Street is ugly, and what we are trying to avoid.

Anyway, the issue is not housing. The community supports development of housing on the site by the Epiphany School, but does not trust the intentions of Trinity Financial. Perhaps Trinity should sell its interest to the school, so that this project could move forward.

-John Berg
Lyndhurst Street