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Since June, the City has been conducting a financial feasibility study to explore the possibility of adding housing to the Jackson Mann Community Center (40 Armington Street). In a recent interview, city councilor Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Breadon says that updates from that study are expected to come in early 2026.
The City is exploring multiple models for rebuilding Jackson Mann, which could feature a combination of housing, community center or a school. The new feasibility plan will test whether additional housing will be financially viable with a community center or school and follows an addendum to a programming and siting study conducted in October 2023, according to BCYF representative Sandy Holden. Both studies are being conducted by Utile Architecture & Planning as a planning consultant to the City.
Utile concluded in the former study that the Allston-Brighton neighborhood had an overall need for more public services, particularly more athletic facilities and a multi-use community space, and that Jackson Mann was the most suitable site for a community center.
Breadon estimates that the City will release updates about the feasibility plan in early 2026.
“They probably will have some schematic proposals or concepts to bring forward to community input on as well after the holidays, and in the winter of 2026,” she says. “So, I’m encouraged that things are moving along, but we don’t really have a firm proposal on the table yet.”
The plan comes at a time where the City is prioritizing a “Housing with Public Assets” approach, which involves the creation of housing while addressing public facilities needs. The City initiated this approach with plans to build public libraries with mixed-income housing in Chinatown, Dorchester’s Uphams Corner, and West End.
“If the study concludes that housing is feasible in combination with a community center, the next step would be to bring the findings back to the residents and likely begin a community process to co-design a Request for Proposal (RFP) to identify the parameters of the kinds of housing the neighborhood want,” says Holden.
The study is part of a multi-step process for the development of a public project. Following the RFP, the City can hire a developer and begin construction planning for the Jackson Mann site.
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In addition to the community center, formerly on the Jackson Mann site were two Boston Public Schools, the Jackson Mann School and the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which permanently closed in 2022 and 2023 respectively, due to deteriorating building conditions. The building is slated to be torn down.
Despite the building’s conditions and limitations, neighbors and staff continue to keep the Jackson Mann Community Center running.
“We have a responsibility as a human service provider, to be able to provide a space where people can socialize, where people can physically better their beings, right through the gym, the dance studio, and tremendous art programs. We have knitting, we have meditation,” says Rosie Hanlon, executive director of the Jackson Mann Community Center. “I foresee us to continue doing that and growing them, and listening to the community to find out … what excites them, and make sure that we have those programs here.”
“We’ll never stop doing that. We’ll never stop doing that. And you know, we’ll find a way to make it happen. And we haven’t stopped.”
Despite efforts to keep programming open, some neighbors have expressed displeasure at how long the fight for an updated community center has gone on. Allston-Brighton is the only neighborhood in Boston that does not have a fully-functioning community center.
Brighton resident and board member of the Jackson Mann Community Center Kelly McGrath says that what is currently the “community center” aspect of the Jackson Mann site is not sufficient.
“We can’t continue another five, six, ten years down the road with no community center for our neighborhood. It’s just not fair, and it’s sort of unacceptable. A definitive timeline would be nice,” says McGrath. “These meetings started back before COVID. I mean, we’re going into 2026, and we still don’t have an answer, right?” ■
