hpna letter on the Jackson Mannn

[Kevin M. Carragee]

To All:

The following letter was sent to Mayor Wu by the Hobart Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) to Mayor Wu concerning the Jackson Mann Community Center.

HPNA encourages other community groups and non-profit organizations to advance their views on this issue. We also urge people to 

to join Councilor Breadon, State Representatives Kevin Honan and Michael Moran, and State Senator Will Brownsberger at a rally on Tuesday 14 April at 5:30 pm at the Jackson Mann building in Union Square in Allston.

Mobilize Allston-Brighton!

Cordially,

Kevin

11 April 2026

 

Dear Mayor Wu:

 

As members of the Executive Committee of the Hobart Park Neighborhood Association, a neighborhood group established in 1992, we urge you to revise the city’s capital budget to financially support a multi-year commitment of $65 million to fund the construction of a new Jackson Mann Community Center. We fully support City Council President Liz Breadon’s position on this issue.

 

As you well know, Allston-Brighton residents for many years have sought a significant capital budget commitment for the construction of a new BCYF community center in their neighborhood. For example, hundreds of residents attended a City Council hearing at the Jackson Mann last year on this issue.

 

City leadership has long been aware that the Jackson Mann complex needs to be replaced, given years of deferred maintenance. Its current disrepair severely limits the range of programs offered at the center and sends as symbolic message to Allston-Brighton residents, including children, that the city neglects their needs and desires. Sadly, several Mayors repeatedly have “kicked this can down the road” and as the result the Jackson Mann complex has fallen into increasing disrepair.

 

We know that you inherited this problem. However, in your fifth year as mayor it is time to resolve this longstanding concern.

 

Significantly, we view this problem as an equity issue. Given the City’s lengthy inaction on this problem, Allston-Brighton residents lack a fully functioning BCYF community center that would provide programs that serve the needs of children, families, immigrants, younger residents, and seniors. All other Boston neighborhoods enjoy BCYF centers with these programs.

 

To put it simply and bluntly, a comparison of current programs at the Jackson Mann with programs at other BCYF centers is an embarrassment for your administration.

 

Based on your public statements and your policies, we know that you fully recognize the role that BCYF community centers play as vital civic meeting places. The bonds of community are forged and sustained at these centers, linking Bostonians of different ages, races, ethnicities, and religions. By providing the needed financial resources, your administration can create a new and vibrant Jackson Mann Community Center that fully realizes these ambitions. When that happens, HPNA members will join you in celebrating that moment.

 

Sincerely,

 

Kevin M. Carragee, Co-President, HPNA

Jeff Klein, Co-President, HPNA

Loretta Talios, Event Coordinator, HPNA

Amy Fallon, Executive Committee Member

Ellen McCrave, Communication Coordinator HPNA

 

Background on HPNA

 

HPNA has helped to fully renovate and then maintain Hobart Park for more than three decades and organizes events at the park to sustain a sense of community. HPNA also has worked on improving access to the Charles River and on other neighborhood issues. HPNA members have been civically engaged on a variety of issues, including creating additional housing to respond to the housing crisis, improving the Boston public schools, and serving on the boards or committees of neighborhood organizations (for example, the Presentation School Foundation, the Friends of the Faneuil Library,  and the Allston-Brighton Little League).

 

cc.

 

Boston City Councilor Liz Breadon

State Representative Kevin Honan

State Representative Michael Moran

State Senator Will Brownsberger

City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune

City Councilor Henry Santana

City Councilor Julia Mejia

City Councilor Erin Murphy

Clare Kelly, Chief of Staff

Ricardo Patron, Chief of Intergovernmental Relations

Mohammed Missouri, Executive Director Office of Neighborhood Services

Brianna Millor, Chief of Community Engagement

Jennifer Roberts, Allston-Brighton Liaison Office of Neighborhood Services