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Updated: April 14, 2026 at 11:37 A.M.
When Mayor Michelle Wu unveiled the capital budget, the Jackson Mann Community Center was allocated a fraction of the amount that local leaders and residents were calling for.
The Jackson Mann had been allocated ten million dollars — less than a sixth of the 65 million dollars that residents and City Council President Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Breadon, who represents Allston-Brighton had been advocating for.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, Breadon wrote that the current budget allocation, which only funds a programming and siting study, indicates that there is no long-term timeline for the project’s building and completion.
“I’m almost speechless in terms of my disappointment that we’re not getting the money for the Jackson Mann,” said Breadon.
Alongside Councilor Breadon, multiple city councilors at-large have said that the current funding allocation for Jackson Mann is not sufficient.
Councilor Erin Murphy wrote, in a statement to Allstonia, that she does not believe the ten-million-dollar allocation “alone represents a sufficient commitment to a clear timeline for rebuilding and reconstruction.”
“Residents have already waited years for progress, and a study without a defined path forward risks further delay. What the community is asking for, and what I support, is a firm commitment to rebuilding Jackson Mann as a modern, fully accessible community center, along with a transparent timeline and accountability from the administration,” wrote Murphy.
In an interview with Allstonia on Friday, Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune said, “Allston-Brighton definitely deserves more to be further along in the process of getting a completely rebuilt community center.”
“I pledge my full support for there to be a completely renovated Allston-Brighton Jackson Mann Community Center. I’m going to continue to do that throughout the budget process alongside Councilor Breadon,” said Louijeune.
Councilor Mejia sent a statement to Allstonia on Monday, writing that the current allocation falls short of what residents are advocating for. Mejia voted against the capital budget for the past two years in part due to concerns that it fails to prioritize projects like the Jackson Mann.
“Residents need a firm timeline and a clear commitment to rebuilding. Instead, we continue to see delays through additional studies without a clear plan forward,” Mejia wrote. “We need to move beyond planning and commit to rebuilding this community asset with urgency.”
Councilor at-Large Henry Santana, did not respond to a request for comment. Santana had previously signaled support for prioritizing rebuilding and reopening of Jackson Mann for the upcoming statement during the November 2025 election season.
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Even before Wednesday’s budget release, some residents questioned the necessity of more studies in a community center for Allston-Brighton.
“I highly disagree on spending any money on another study. I don’t think we need another study. I think we just need a building. And the priority should really be on the capital planning of a new building,” said Lizzie Torres, an Allston resident and community advocate on Monday. “I think they keep relying on studies to just snooze and postpone so that they don’t really have to deal with the problem directly.”
The city has conducted several studies on the Jackson Mann. In 2023, it completed a preliminary programming and siting study. A financial feasibility study, whose release has been delayed since this past February, will test the costs of building housing in combination with a community center and potential school at the site.
Breadon says that she had been receiving regular briefings regarding the feasibility study from City of Boston’s Public Facilities in recent months, but so far, “everything has gone quiet” although she has not recently reached out to the department herself.
Public Facilities did not respond to a request for comment.
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Though a city official told residents last Friday that Boston Public Schools may relinquish its ownership of Jackson Mann, the capital budget also suggests that it has not made a final decision. The budget allocates 500,000 dollars for a programming and siting study on a pre-K-6 school at Jackson Mann; however, the money is not marked to be spent until FY2028 at the earliest.
In an interview with Allstonia on Friday, Breadon reiterated that she did not believe BPS will build a new school at the Jackson Mann. The city councilor said that she met with Superintendent Mary Skipper earlier this week to ask BPS to release the school to the city as surplus to repurpose it to a community center. According to Breadon, Skipper did not make any commitments other than to say they were “working on it.”
It is unclear whether BPS needs the programming study in order to make a decision to release the building. Breadon said that the BPS’s allocation in this year’s budget is likely a placeholder. BPS has received capital investment to conduct a study to explore a preK-6 school as early as 2023. Based on actual expenditures from capital budgets between FY2023 and FY2027, none of the money allocated was actually spent.
BPS did not respond to a request for comment.
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In the same vein, only a small fraction of the money allocated in previous budgets to the Jackson Mann has been spent. Prior to this fiscal year, 102,193 dollars have been spent while 100,000 dollars were allocated in FY2026 to be spent. For the upcoming 2027 fiscal year, the city plans to spend 200,000 dollars while the remaining 9.5 million dollars will be spent between FY2028 and FY2031.
Greg Maynard, executive director of the Boston Policy Institute, says that budget allocations on the capital budget do not necessarily translate to actual money spent. Once the 4.4-billion-dollar capital budget is approved, it represents the maximum amount of money that the city can borrow for capital projects, but Maynard says that the specific allocations in the capital budget are not binding.
“Many of the projects that you see every year — money doesn’t actually get spent on them. And you’ve seen projects — a good example is the Jackson Mann project — where you have millions of dollars that’s going to be spent in the future, but it just keeps being pushed off year after year after year,” Maynard said.
In order for money to materialize, the city must issue bonds and pay debt service to appropriate funds for the capital projects. In a hearing agenda for the most recent city council meeting on April 8, Mayor Wu filed two requests for almost 400 million dollars to fund different capital budgets across the city departments and Boston Public Schools.
The motions have been referred to the Ways and Means Committee, which will consider them starting Tuesday, April 14.
According to Breadon, once budgets are approved and funds are issued, the power primarily lies within the Mayor’s Office and the Finance Department to decide on what projects to prioritize.
“We really need to start paying more attention to what they’re borrowing money for. Because in all good faith, I assume that, erroneously, that the project was moving forward,” she says, referring to the Jackson Mann Community Center. “I was assured last year that it was moving forward, but it’s not moving forward in my estimation right now. And I don’t understand why not.”
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Moving forward, Breadon says that she hopes to talk to Mayor Wu and her Mayor’s Office along with the at-large councilors to emphasize the importance of the Jackson Mann.
Breadon will also host a rally on April 14 at the Jackson Mann.
“I hope that some folks from the administration are there to see just that there’s support for this,” she says. “There is huge support for this across a broad spectrum of our neighbors.”
City Council will also host meetings with departmental staff beginning Monday through the end of May before taking the vote to review the budget. BPS’s budget hearings will be held from April 16 and April 17. Public Facilities, which is currently revising the feasibility study, will have its budget hearing on May 4 at 2:00 P.M. The budget hearing for BCYF will occur on May 18 at 2:00 P.M.
“It’s not over until we take the final vote on the capital budget. I have voted against the capital budget in the past, and you know it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that I would vote against it again, but I really want to see progress on this issue,” Breadon says.
