Twelve projects in Dorchester and Mattapan will receive more than $10.1 million in funding through the taxpayer-funded Community Preservation Act (CPA) after approvals from Mayor Wu, the City Council, and a city-appointed committee in the last month.
A total of $38 million will go to fund 52 approved projects across the city, according to Wu, who announced the list of winners on May 1. In Dorchester, the list includes the Fieldhouse+, which will get an additional $750,000 grant to create an outdoor “recreational space” next to the large indoor facility on Mount Vernon Street that is now under construction.
Other notable grants include $2 million to help subsidize a project to build affordable housing above a new branch library in Uphams Corner and $3.5 million to “partially fund” a planned four-story, 52-unit addition to the Olmsted Village development in Mattapan.
CPA funds are raised through a 1 percent state surcharge on property taxes in communities that opt-in, as Boston voters did in 2016. The funds — $230 million so far since 2017— go to eligible affordable housing, historic preservation, and open space and recreation projects that must apply for the funds each year.
“The investment in these projects emphasize our dedication to continue to listen and collaborate with our community members to keep Boston innovative and vibrant,” said Wu.
Other local projects funded in this latest round include $91,300 to preserve the Dorchester Historical Society’s Lemuel Clap House for “essential structural work”; $174,570 to rehabilitate the Caribbean Sports and Culture Club building on Dunbar Aveune in Dorchester; $314,353 to rehabilitate the historic Walter Baker Artist Lofts building in Lower Mills with “repointing of masonry and replacement of the failed roof.”
Also announced: $289,000 for the Second Church Dorchester’s ongoing restoration work in Codman Square; $235,797 to rehabilitate the historic First Parish Dorchester including “rebuilding of the side porch and providing access to social services”; $281,893 for Greater Love Tabernacle for renovations “including the replacement of failed non-original doors with historically appropriate replacements.”
In Mattapan, a new community garden planned for 150 River St. will receive $161,434 to create a “new pathway, permanent site furnishings, raised garden beds, landscaping, and improved accessibility.”
The grants also include $1,866,741 to complete the second phase of rehabilitation to the schoolyard at the Holmes Innovation School in Dorchester. A sum of $465,148 will be put towards rehabilitating the current pathway along the eastern edge of Harambee Park in Dorchester. The work at Harambee will include “decorative paving, adjusting bollards and boulders, a seat platform, granite blocks, new lighting, drainage improvements, and new fencing,” according to the mayor’s office.
