26 Dec Historic Boston Inc. Begins Restoration Of Vertullo Building
Work Under Way on mid-19th-Century Structure in Logan Square
HYDE PARK, December 26, 2013 -?Historic Boston Incorporated has begun rehabilitation of the historic Vertullo Building, a mid-19th-century commercial and residential building in Hyde Park?s Logan Square .
The Vertullo Building at 74-84 Fairmount Avenue dates to 1868 and is likely the oldest surviving wooden commercial building in this district. It is a good example of the Second Empire style, popular in the 1860s when Hyde Park was incorporated as a town, and is one of only two such remaining mixed use structures in Cleary and Logan Squares.
Historic Boston Incorporated, a 53-year-old non-profit real estate development firm that preserves historic buildings and determines new uses for them, purchased the Vertullo Building in 2011.
?We?re now moving forward with a substantial storefront renovation project,? said Jeff Morgan, development director for Historic Boston Incorporated, following a recent tour of the site. ?The first floor commercial storefront will go through a complete reconstruction with historically appropriate detailing.?
The new design increases the display window areas for greater visibility into shops and a more pedestrian-friendly shopping experience.
The two existing tenants will remain, and HBI anticipates three new retail tenants in the building by spring of 2014.
The rehabilitation project is estimated at $250,000 in cost and is being done by contractor M.J. Mawn. The architect for the project is Chris Brown of bArchitecture Studio. Certified Property Management manages the building.
For the time being, no work is being done above the first floor, where there are four apartments above the commercial space rented to tenants who include the former owner of the building, Carmela Vertullo Pearce. Her father, Pasquale Vertullo, purchased the building in 1932 and ran a shoe repair and shop in the building for almost four decades.
?We are looking forward to completing this work and to putting down deeper roots in Hyde Park, a neighborhood rich with historic resources and many opportunities for both preservation and economic reinvestment,? said Kathy Kottaridis, Executive Director of Historic Boston Inc.
For the Roxbury-based HBI, the Vertullo project represents the third project in its Trilogy Fund, a $1 million capital campaign that HBI undertook this year for this project and two others: the 1875 Hayden Building in Chinatown, completed in early 2013 and the 1836 Alvah Kittredge House in Roxbury, currently in construction.
To learn more about the Vertullo Building and HBI?s projects, please visit www.historicboston.org.
ABOUT HISTORIC BOSTON INC.
Historic Boston Incorporated is a nonprofit preservation and real estate organization that rehabilitates historic and culturally significant properties in Boston?s neighborhoods so they are a useable part of the city?s present and future. HBI works with local partners to identify and invest in historic buildings and cultural resources whose re-use will catalyze neighborhood renewal. HBI acquires and redevelops historic structures and provides technical expertise, planning services and financing for rehabilitation projects. HBI projects demonstrate that preserving historic properties is economically viable and that they can be useable and functioning assets in a community. For more information, please see www.historicboston.org.
For more information, please contact:
Kathy Kottaridis, Executive Director of Historic Boston, Inc., 617.442.1859, kathy@historicboston.org
Or
Tom Palmer, Tom Palmer Communication, 617.755.7250, tompalmer@rcn.com
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