Fort Hill residents called 911 today to summon police when they saw a contractor tearing down the garages at the home where filmmaker and activist Henry Hampton lived as he produced the award-winning documentary series, "Eyes on the Prize" and created one of the larges minority-owned production companies in the country.
The garages at 88 Lambert Ave. have been at the center of a battle between residents and Michael Winston and Claudia Robaina, who own and live at 88 Lambert Ave., over the future of the two-thirds acre site. In 2017, Winston and Robaina announced plans for eight townhouses in two buildings around the historic house, built in 1834 by architect Richard Bond and later owned by Hampton as he produced his civil-rights series in the 1980s.
The garages, which once could house 30 cars, were built in 1910.
To make way for their townhouses, Winston and Robaina want to tear down the garages - which a contractor started doing this morning. But residents who noticed the demolition early this morning went outside to protest and then called police, who arrived and ordered the workers to stop. Residents then gathered online, on the Highland Park Neighborhood Watch mailing list, to complain about the work, on Martin Luther King Day, no less.
At issue is whether the Boston Landmark Commission has approved the destruction of the garages. At a Sept. 22 hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeal, Winston and Robaina's attorney, Derric Small, said the commission had approved the work. Residents say the commission is still considering the historic nature of the garages. A a landmarks-commission list dated Oct. 1 says the property is still under consideration.
On Jan. 4, however, ISD issued a permit for the roughly $75,000 demolition project.
The overall project also needs approval of the zoning board, because the proposal would violate several sections of the neighborhood's zoning otherwise: It's too close to the sidewalk and the rear and side property lines, it is too dense and the parking would not be on the two new lots created for the new buildings.
At the Sept. 22 hearing, Small asked for a deferral to continue talks with neighbors and was granted a new hearing of Dec. 1. But at that hearing, Winston asked for another deferral, saying "we are at the verge of a really incredible agreement with the community around how to honor Henry's legacy." The board then set a new hearing time of 12:30 p.m. on March 9.
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Comments
You know what's very helpful
By anon
Tue, 01/19/2021 - 12:44pm
You know what's very helpful in this thread? Having white guys who only hang out with other white guys, who only grew up around white guys, who don't live in the city, add their two cents to an issue that affects black people in a black, urban neighborhood.
That said
By Waquiot
Tue, 01/19/2021 - 2:57pm
Events like this (outsiders buying in a neighborhood, pushing luxury development that affects the character of the neighborhood along with, of course, displacing long time residents) happened in lilly white urban neighborhoods like Charlestown, Somerville, and South Boston for decades before black people discovered what gentrification is.
Orly tell that to the south
By BannedFromTheRoxy
Thu, 01/21/2021 - 5:20pm
Orly tell that to the south end
Exactly
By eeka
Tue, 01/19/2021 - 3:57pm
This is a very different discussion than the one taking place on our neighborhood listserv, which is mostly voices of long-time Black residents, as well as containing considerable additional information about how this developer has repeatedly lied to and misled the neighborhood association and hasn't cooperated with the developmental approval process, in addition to, yes, being a white guy who is completely ignoring the concerns of Black residents about a Black historical site. Might I remind you that Black folks get to decide whether something is culturally significant to Black history? White folks don't get to say that it's not a significant Black historical site.
But sure, white UHub commenters, go ahead and dismiss all of those people and their experience and knowledge with your "those people don't know what's good for them" comments.
Bad look for you
By Bostonwoke
Tue, 01/19/2021 - 8:18pm
Bad look for you whitesplaining to a POC - a POC that fought for years for that neighborhood before it was trendy - and hiding under the guise of fighting racial injustice when you just don’t want condos being built in your neighborhood.
It delegitimizes the other all too frequent instances where zoning regulations are unfairly used to hurt poor and disenfranchised people.
To hell with identity politics
By Bob Leponge
Tue, 01/19/2021 - 11:12pm
Might I remind you that ideas and historical scholarship ought to be evaluated on the basis of the content of those ideas and the quality of the scholarship, without regard to the skin color of the author?
Incorrect. If we were to
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2021 - 6:13am
Incorrect. If we were to say, gather a panel of people to decide this issue and we had no black people on it, it would be a failure.
A black person has a lifetime of relevant experience to this problem. You have 0 days experience. Your ideas are of little value.
You know what's very helpful
By StillFromDorchester
Wed, 01/20/2021 - 9:08am
You know what's very helpful in this thread? Having black guys who only hang out with other black guys, who only grew up around black guys, who don't live in the suburbs, add their two cents to an issue that affects white people in a white, suburban neighborhood.
That doesn't sound racist at all, does it?
That landmarks commission list
By ScottB
Tue, 01/19/2021 - 1:53pm
Notes the property is "Under Study as of 6/27/17." It also calls the property the "Richard Bond House" which would seem to encompass the house, but not the garages. I don't really see how over 3.5 years of study would be insufficient to determine whether the property would be considered historic -- and the petition was initiated by a whopping 10 voters.
According to neighborhood association minutes
By eeka
Tue, 01/19/2021 - 4:00pm
it was not yet complete as of a few weeks ago. I agree it shouldn't take that long. It does include the whole property.
And nobody has yet answered the key question
By roadman
Tue, 01/19/2021 - 4:15pm
Exactly what is so special or unique about these garages that deems them worthy of historic preservation?
If you are actually interested
By eeka
Tue, 01/19/2021 - 5:05pm
you are welcome to come to the frequent meetings about it, where this is discussed in detail.
If you've already decided that Black folks don't get to decide what constitutes Black history, then feel free to keep commenting about that.
I worked for Henry
By Turlach MacDonagh
Fri, 01/22/2021 - 7:16pm
I worked for Henry at Blackside during his last months of life.
It bums me out that they are tearing down the house but it's just life. The building which housed Blackside until 1999 or 2000 was sold off by his heirs forcing the company to rent a pretty expensive space. That was really the bigger hit of the history connected to Eyes on the Prize.
What is also not commonly known is that the house on Fort Hill was at one point re-financed to keep production going on Eyes on the Prize or another month. That extra month was crucial. That extra month got them the time they needed to secure additional funding to finish the documentary that would become a first. The first documentary on the civil rights movement and still the bar to meet.
Also a side note, Callie Crossley was one of those original Eyes on the Prize producers.
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