Last month Mayor Martin Walsh and the City’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) recommended that several projects in Beacon Hill and across the city, totaling more than $34 million, be included in the fall funding round for the Community Preservation Act (CPA).
The last hurdle in the process was a vote by the City Council to appropriate the funds and that moment came during last Wednesday’s Council meeting.
The Council voted unanimously last week to release the $34 million in recommended funding to the projects here in Beacon Hill and citywide.
“It’s an exciting day in Boston,” said At-Large Councilor Michael Flaherty who chairs the Council’s CPA Committee. “Whether it is the affordable housing opportunities or the beatification of our parks this round of funding will continue to benefit Boston residents for generations to come. This is why we supported the CPA and now voters and the residents are finally seeing these projects come to fruition.”
In Beacon Hill $27,000 was approved for a seed grant that will support the planting and management of the Esplanade trees, a key component of the City’s effort to support and expand the its tree canopy.
In the neighboring West End $400,000 will go to the Old West for tower restoration of 1806 building designed by Asher Benjamin.
Also CPA funding went to a few Downtown projects close to Beacon Hill.
An approval of $350,000 will help with major repairs to HVAC and other systems at the Old State House, one of the oldest and most visited sites on the Freedom Trail.
There was also an approval of $315,000 to restore 17th-and 18th-century artifacts from beneath Faneuil Hall showing Boston’s role in the transAtlantic slave trade, works of local artisans, and an emerging global marketplace. By adopting the CPA in November 2016, the City has created a Community Preservation Fund. This fund is capitalized primarily by a one percent property tax-based surcharge on residential and business property tax bills that began in July 2017. The City will use this revenue to fund initiatives consistent with CPA guidelines: affordable housing, historic preservation, open space and public recreation.