Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…

Following the release of the survey results on the future of the Jackson Mann, the City of Boston is holding its third planning meeting this upcoming Tuesday.

The meeting will take place at the Jackson Mann auditorium (500 Cambridge Street) on Tuesday, October 27 at 6:00 P.M. During the second meeting in August, Deputy Chief of Operations Patricia Cafferky told residents that this upcoming meeting will be the final community meeting. She had also said that the City will bring a proposal to this meeting.

In an email sent by Deputy Director of the Office of Neighborhood Services Frank Mendoza-McCarthy on September 30, the meeting agenda will include “results of the most recent survey about the future of the site, recap data on BPS enrollment and Allston-Brighton demographic trends, and collect feedback on a proposal for the future of the site.”

Results from the survey conducted between August and September were released earlier this month and garnered 473 responses, which hovered just under the city’s goal of 500 responses stated during the previous meeting and was a slight decrease from 553 from the initial survey in July.

The results from the survey showed a preference for a Jackson Mann community center with housing. Compared to the initial survey in June, the most recent survey asked respondents to rate their preference for a community center with a BPS school versus housing each on a scale of one to five.

Sixty-seven percent of respondents rated four or five for a community center with housing while 25 percent gave those ratings for a community center with a school. Comparing ratings within the same respondent, 64% gave a higher rating to housing while 23% gave a higher rating for school. 13% of respondents provided equal ratings for both. Citing enrollment gaps, Boston Public Schools indicated on the survey that it did not believe there was a need for a school in Allston-Brighton.

Despite the preference for housing over a school, early child education was rated especially highly on the additional uses for the site: 82% of respondents indicated that they were at least “interested” in an early child education center at the Jackson Mann. During the August meeting, BPS reported that Allston-Brighton has experienced a modest but steady increase in the number of children from 0 – 4 in the past 20 years whereas the city has seen an overall decline.

Other highly-rated uses for the Jackson Mann include a redesigned Union Square plaza (77% respondents reported at least being “interested”), community garden (76%), community fridge (76%), and performance/rehearsal space (75%).

Seventy percent of respondents gave favorable ratings (4 or 5) to the Taft Building (20 Warren Street) serving as a temporary space for programming while the community center undergoes reconstruction. The Taft Building is currently the site of the Boston Green Academy, which will vacate the building as it moves to South Boston starting fall 2028.

Following Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Michelle Wu is expected to make a decision regarding the site by the end of the year.