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The mayor will make a decision on the center’s three options by the end of the year.
Exterior of the Jackson Mann School in 2019. Barry Chin/The Boston Globe
A city survey found no clear consensus over the future design of the Jackson Mann Community Center in Allston, with respondents divided over whether the redeveloped site should include housing, a school, or both alongside a new community center.
The survey, which ran from June 1 to July 13, received 553 unique responses. Among respondents who selected one of three proposed redevelopment options, 190 favored housing with no school, 171 favored a school with no housing, and 124 favored both housing and a school.
“There’s not a clear winner,” said Trish Cafferky, the city’s deputy chief of operations. “Yes, the option for the community center and housing came out on top, but the neighborhood’s very clearly divided.”
The survey results were discussed Wednesday afternoon during a virtual community meeting, where city officials presented the findings and solicited additional feedback. Cafferky said “complete universal agreement” on the project is likely “not possible.”
Mayor Michelle Wu has committed to making a final decision on the center’s three options by the end of the year, Cafferky said.
A new survey, which opened for responses Wednesday, will continue to gather community input through Sept. 10, with another public meeting planned for the fall to discuss its results.
The debate over the site comes after years of advocacy surrounding the Jackson Mann Community Center. The facility, which opened in 1975, was deemed not viable for long-term use in 2019.
The campus formerly housed the Jackson Mann School, the Horace Mann School for the Deaf, and a community center operated by Boston Centers for Youth & Families. BCYF has continued to offer limited programming as the site continues to fall into disrepair. In May, however, Wu committed to rebuilding the facility at 500 Cambridge St.
“I just want to encourage everyone to stay engaged,” Council President Liz Breadon, who represents Allston-Brighton, said during Wednesday’s meeting. “This is a journey that we’re all on together, and I hope that you’ll continue to participate and invite other people to participate.”
Residents with attended the online meeting expressed varying opinions regarding the development timeline and proposed options for the site.
Thomas Lally, who said he worked at the Horace Mann School, called the discussion of housing “counterproductive.”
“Allston-Brighton, as a community, has seen a massive amount of development, and I believe that we’ve done enough for the city as far as housing goes,” Lally said. “Let’s just focus on getting us a prime community center with all the bells and whistles that every other community, every other part of Boston has.”
Other residents said combining uses could provide an opportunity to address multiple neighborhood needs.
Kevin Carragee described having both housing and a school alongside the community center as a potential “synergy.”
“Let’s seize the opportunity that we have here for a robust community center, a large community center, and also considerable affordable housing, given the significance of the housing crisis,” Carragee said.
Anthony D’Isidoro, president of Allston Civic Association, said the city should consider ways to maximize the center’s site. He noted that 500 Cambridge St. lacks a uniform layout and includes additional parcels behind it.
“You could approach our stakeholders about the possibility of helping the city over time acquire those remaining lots behind the 500 Cambridge St. site, which would square off that site, enhance its use, allow for more open space, or even to accommodate the pool,” D’Isidoro said.
Regardless of which of the three options the city ultimately chooses, construction on the new community center would not begin until 2030, Cafferky said. That timeline, she said, gives the city time to plan for the relocation of programs and services.
Under the current plan, the community center could relocate to the Taft Building, located at the corner of Warren Street and Cambridge Street in Brighton, after 2028. The existing Jackson Mann facility will continue to be used as an election site this fall.
Jo-Ann Barbour, executive director of Charlesview, Inc., a nonprofit organization aiming to provide affordable housing to support the Allston-Brighton neighborhood, said she is concerned that focusing too heavily on debating specific project needs is delaying progress.
“I hope that we can come to some sort of a conclusion about moving forward on Jackson Mann now,” she added.
For now, city officials say they plan to continue gathering input before bringing the recommendation to Wu.
“We need to do more outreach,” Cafferky said. “The answer might be that the neighborhood continues to be divided, in which case we will bring forth all of the opinions that we’ve heard to the mayor.”
But, Cafferky said the city also wants to allow time for opinions to change as residents learn more about the proposals.
“There is a real chance that, based on the information that we shared tonight, the needle moves on opinion and we see a shift,” she said. “And so, we need to leave open the possibility that that happens before bringing down a determination.”
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