Video: Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library Renovation receives 2021 Preservation Achievement Award!

Utile is honored to announce that the Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library Renovation has won a 2021 Preservation Achievement Award from the Boston Preservation Alliance! The Alliance summarizes the project as “reimagining the challenging 1978 Brutalist Roxbury Branch Library to engage and welcome Nubian Square residents required bold, thoughtful, and respectful interventions.”

Additionally, Greg Galer, Executive Director of the Boston Preservation Alliance, commented “The successful transformation of the Roxbury Branch Library from a challenging, unwelcoming, and tired Brutalist building into a welcoming hub for Nubian Square demonstrates a sensitive approach and level of craft that few buildings of this vintage receive, Informed by extensive community engagement balanced with recognition of the value of the original design, the team has given the library a new lease on life and provided a new perspective and appreciation to the fact that this style can evolve to meet today’s needs. Kallman and McKinnel would be proud to see their work transformed to match the evolving neighborhood — welcoming change rather than demolition.”

This video captures thoughts from our project partners at the City of Boston and the Boston Public Library. Thank you to our contributors, including Boston Mayor Kim Janey, Maureen Anderson with the City of Boston Public Facilities Department, Boston Public Library President David Leonard, and Utile’s Michael LeBlanc and Brett Bentson.