UPDATE: Curley Community Center Renovations
Update:
Looks like we’ll be waiting a little bit longer for the reopening of the Curley Community Center aka the L. According to an update from the Dorchester Reporter, the reopening is looking like February or March based on a statement by a spokesperson for Mayor Wu. Fingers crossed it’s officially open by the spring/summer 2023.
Here’s the statement from the City of Boston via the Dorchester Reporter:
“BCYF is committed to reopening the BCYF Curley Community Center safely, sustainably, and as soon as possible, and is expecting to get into the building by the end of this month. Staff will then need at least four weeks to prepare the building for opening, where it’s now the largest building in the BCYF network. BCYF is planning to formally reopen the building and begin programming in winter of 2023.”
Original Post:
The waiting is the hardest part…
Way back in the fall of 2019, there were a few meetings to discuss a multi-million dollar renovation to the BCYF Curley Community Center. The community center was closed in March of 2020 and construction began in October of 2020. The initial timeline for completion of this project was November of 2021. Needless to say, that date has come and gone and the project is still not complete – leaving valuable neighborhood services for families and seniors in limbo. So what’s the deal?
Well, Bill Forry from the Dorchester Reporter reported on Wednesday that the City of Boston and contractors are in a court battle over who’s responsible for the missed deadlines and costs over budget. Some involved believe that costs could exceed over half-a-million dollars. Yikes.
According to the article, the building was closed in March of 2020, thanks to the pandemic. Work then started in October of 2020.  If you look at the projects’s website, the hold up is blamed on “unexpected structural issues and delays in receiving materials.” The reopening was pushed to fall of 2022.
So will the Curley Community Center be opening any time soon – it does not appear that way – although the City of Boston released a statement to the Reporter that stated it hopes to be open by the end of the year….
You can get all the details of this “situation” here.Â
On the bright side when it does open, the new and improved community center will feature a “new dance studio, fitness center, senior space, locker rooms and three multipurpose rooms for community events.”
Maureen Dahill is the founder of Caught in Media. Once a longtime wardrobe and prop stylist for brands such as Rue La La, TJ Max & Hasbro, she is a devoted lover of vintage clothing, Martini Mondays, Castle Island, AND a 4th generation South Boston native.
This delay is the consequence of post-covid.
It seems naive and disingenuous to think there wouldn’t be asbestos. Asbestos was everywhere! Every school, every municipal building and almost every home built prior to WW11 had it. Lawyers!!
This is so pathetic. Get it together
Maureen Dahill is the best
thank you! I’m trying!
👍🏻
To all my L Street friends… hang in there….with some luck the facility will open soon…and our lives will be back to normal….I’ll see you opening day!
Probably the one thing this community needed most since 2020 for some mental sanity. Way to give the government its good name.
According to Wikipedia, the Empire State Building in New York began construction on March 17, 1930 and was completed on April 11, 1931. It opened for business on May 1, 1931. Using 1930’s construction technology, they went from shovels in the ground to asses in the offices in one year and forty five days. If we stood the L on one of its ends, I doubt that its1/8 of the height of the Empire State Building. Aside from placing HVAC units and some construction materials on the roof of the L , there was never a large scale use of cranes like there is when building a high rise.How does it take so long to refurbish a one-story building, so small in comparison to the once tallest building in the world, that was built from scratch? And I don’t want to hear about the “COVID” cop out. We’re going on three years here. Enough already. When the place is finally ready to open, please don’t waste our time making a big political show of the ribbon-cutting and long-winded speeches from people nobody wants to hear from anyway. With three years to prepare, I can only imagine how long those speeches would be. When it’s finally finished, please, just unlock the doors and put an “OPEN for BUSINESS” sign in the window.
Just the latest example of the demokrat kleptocracy that will be paid for by your children and grandchildren. Covid-Schmovid. How about accountability and professionalism instead of excuses.
Tommy, great post about the Empire State Building timeline. That’s when companies and great workers wanted to prove they could do the best work in the world and they did. What has happened with this rehab is criminal. I hope whoever is responsible pays through the nose for this ineptitude. Here we are on 1/25/23 and we still don’t have an opening date. As Tom Brady would say…LFG!!!! Tommy is right.. Just open it up and spare us from the political back slapping.
I simply don’t understand why people complaint so much about when the Curley Community building is reopening hey be thankful this is the best place in the city of Boston besides is not like you pay a fortune for the membership hang in there and think we are blessed .
It’s April. It’s still not open.
Im just wondering the cost of the new membership I have being there so many years hope they don’t raise the cost for the membership I will be so happy if they have more new machines and classes .
Boy,O,Boy,Hope for the Best, Keep Working Hard,Patience Southie, ✌🏋️‍♂️🏋️‍♂️👌
Hi Maureen Dahill, can we please get an update on when the L Street Bathhouse will reopen?
I would also love to know the current reason for why it is not opened now?
Thank you.
https://caughtinsouthie.com/news-politics/could-piping-plovers-be-causing-the-delay-of-curley-community-center-reopening/
Hi Maureen, thanks for keeping this updated and current. My question is whether they kept the 3 wall handball court that was “attached to the building” on the beach side. 1 front wall and 2 side walls and open to the back. I know there is another 3 wall court further out to the beach which has 1 front wall, 1 side wall and 1 back wall – that is not the one I am speaking of. If you know any info, please share. Thanks very much Alex
hi Maureen can you give me updates when you guys will reopen please