by Eric Zuerndorfer
CHINATOWN – Alex Zhang does not remember the first time his mother took him to the construction site, but he recalls his mother’s bitterness, how the city took her home away.
“They didn’t care if my family had anywhere else to go,” Zhang said. “The land was important to my family and the community, and they just took it.”
The construction of the Central Artery Parcel 24 in Chinatown has caused rifts in the community. Resident cannot agree on how to use the land.
“There is a limited amount of space in Chinatown,” said Jacob Baker, a staff member of the office of Sam Yoon, city councilor at-large. “This means that any available space must be used efficiently.”
Chinatown took the Parcel 24 land away from residents in 1962, but organizations and politicians are working to get it back.
Parcel 24 is located on the east side of residential Chinatown where the Hudson and Albany street area was once a vibrant neighborhood. Construction of the Turnpike Extension has caused many homes and businesses to be destroyed.
“Three hundred residents were forced to move,” said Tim Doherty, real estate project manager at the Asian Community Development Corporation. “The displaced residents were neither properly relocated nor reimbursed for their losses.”
For 40 years, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority owned Parcel 24 for construction of the “Big Dig.” Former residents of the land came together to form the Hudson Street Coalition.
In 2004, the Hudson Street Coalition group held a series of meetings to create their vision for development of Parcel 24, said Janelle Chan, a real estate project manager at ACDC.
The objective of the restoration was to provide mixed-income housing and community space, according to the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s development guidelines for Parcel 24.
ACDC will own a set of apartments on the land and there will be privately owned condominiums for sale. The mixed income apartments will be sold by lottery.
ACDC is working with the Hudson Street Coalition to begin the new construction in the near future.
“It’s our responsibility to bring an important part of Chinatown back to the people,” Chan said.
Zhang says his mother would be happy with the progress.
“It’s hard [for the city] to deal with something that happened 45 years ago that you weren’t involved with at all,” Zhang said. “At least they’re doing what they can to help.”