The Old Colony Housing Project is a 16.7-acre public
housing project located in
South Boston, Massachusetts. First built in 1940 as a cluster of 22 three-story brick buildings housing 873 low-income units, it is one of the
Boston Housing Authority
The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) is a public agency of the city of Boston, Massachusetts that provides subsidized public housing to low- and moderate-income families and individuals.
In the federal government model of the United States Depart ...
's oldest developments.
Location
Old Colony is roughly a triangle, bordered by East 8th Street, Dorchester Street, Old Colony Avenue and Columbia Road. It adjoins a traffic circle to the southwest, and Babe Ruth Park, a youth park with baseball fields, to the south.
Across the street from Old Colony, on the rotary to the southwest, is where
James "Whitey" Bulger
James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. (; September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018) was an American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, a city directly northwest of Bos ...
owned a liquor store and headquartered his organized crime ring.
He grew up in the nearby
Old Harbor Village housing project, later renamed the Mary Ellen McCormack housing project. The liquor store, formerly South Boston Liquor Mart, later became Kippy's Wine and Spirits and as of 2017 is Rotary Liquors.
Prominent residents
* U.S. Representative
Stephen F. Lynch
*
Michael Patrick MacDonald
Michael Patrick MacDonald (born March 9, 1966) is an Irish-American activist against crime and violence and author of his memoir, ''All Souls: A Family Story From Southie''. He helped to start Boston's gun-buyback program, and founded the South B ...
, grew up there and later chronicled his Old Colony experiences in his memoir ''All Souls: A Family Story From Southie''.
*
Joseph M. Tierney, the late Boston City Councilor and father of actress
Maura Tierney
Maura Therese Tierney (born February 3, 1965) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on the sitcom '' NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), Abby Lockhart on the medical drama '' ER'' (1999–2009 ...
of ''
ER'' and ''
NewsRadio
''NewsRadio'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from March 21, 1995 to May 4, 1999, focusing on the work lives of the staff of a New York City AM news radio station. It had an ensemble cast featuring Dave Foley, Steph ...
'' fame.
[
*]Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks (born March 21, 1956) is an American former mobster and longtime friend and mob lieutenant to Whitey Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based in the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachuset ...
, Winter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a loose confederation of organized crime figures in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. The gang members and leadership are predominantly Irish-American and Italian-American descent.
The organization itself derives its ...
, mobster and bodyguard of Whitey Bulger
James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. (; September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018) was an American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, a city directly northwest of Bos ...
Redevelopment
Old Colony is currently in the middle of a three-phase redevelopment that is moving most of its tenants from the original large multi-family complexes to mixed housing in newly constructed townhouse rows and apartment buildings that will replace the 1940s structures. Phase I, which replaced rows of brick buildings containing 164 units with 116 new affordable townhouse units along Old Colony Avenue and Columbia Road, commenced in late 2010 and was finished in March 2012.[ Phase II, which was partially financed by a $22 million ]HOPE VI HOPE VI is a program of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is intended to revitalize the worst public housing projects in the United States into mixed-income developments. Its philosophy is largely based on New Urban ...
Revitalization grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...
, was completed in 2014. The groundbreaking for Phase III, which will replace 250 original housing units with 305 new housing units, was held on February 14, 2019.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Boston Housing Authority page for Old Colony Housing
Public housing in Boston