Neighbor News
Window Wrap Allows Residents to Visualize Roxbury High School
Vacant Roslindale auto repair shop is wrapped with a near full-size picture of what Roxbury Prep High School would look like if built there.
You might do a double-take the next time you pass by 361 Belgrade Avenue in Roslindale.
That’s because the vacant auto repair shop is now wrapped with a near full-size picture of what Roxbury Prep High School would look like if built there, giving residents an opportunity to see how the building will improve the community.
Roxbury Prep, whose students attend high school in two separate buildings located five miles apart, has proposed razing the dilapidated garage and constructing a state-of-the-art high school.
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But its plans have been held up by Mayor Marty Walsh, who hasn’t put the project on the agenda of the Boston Planning & Development Agency, even though the property is zoned for a school. Above the rendering is a question in large print that passers by can see: “Zoned for a school. Why not ours?”
The proposal has followed the Article 80 small project review process with more than 85% of the public comments filed in support of the high school.
Find out what's happening in Roslindalefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“We hope the renderings of the school will allow Roslindale and West Roxbury residents to visualize the possibilities of what can be,” said Shradha Patel, the founding principal of Roxbury Prep High School. “This location is perfectly suited for a school, it’s zoned for a school, so why not Roxbury Prep High School?”
Students and supporters have become increasingly vocal about the delays. In January, they rallied outside City Hall, calling on Mayor Walsh to urge the BPDA to put the project on its agenda. The next opportunity for the BPDA to hear the proposal is in March.
District 5 City Councilman Ricardo Arroyo, who represents the Roslindale district, along with other elected officials, also support the proposal. In an opinion piece in the Bay State Banner, Arroyo wrote that “the City doesn’t just fail the students of Roxbury Prep when they refuse, without explanation, to put the project up for a vote at their February board meeting. They fail all of us who believe government should work for everyone, and not just some.”