Charles River Speedway Headquarters in Boston Listed as One of Massachusetts’ Most Endangered Historic Resources

Following nomination by the Boston Preservation Alliance, the Charles River Speedway Headquarters in Boston has been named one of Massachusetts’ “Most Endangered Historic Resources”.  Since 1993, this list is compiled annually by Preservation Massachusetts, the state’s historic preservation advocacy organization.

The Charles River Speedway Headquarters, located at the intersection of Western Ave. and Soldier’s Field Road in Brighton, has been a pending Boston Landmark since 2002 and was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the Massachusetts Historical Commission. The complex consists of six buildings built between 1899 and 1925. A prominent Shingle and Colonial Revival Style building, the Speedway Headquarters was designed to support horse and buggy racing at the adjacent Speedway, a scenic drive with a bicycle path, and a pedestrian promenade. It represents the earliest development on the Charles River Basin for recreation by the Metropolitan Parks Commission, which was the first public agency in the country to create a regional park system.

“The Speedway Building is a unique reminder of the beginnings of Boston’s regional parks and recreation systems created by the Metropolitan Parks Commission,” said Jim Igoe, President of Preservation Massachusetts, “These buildings are an integral part of the landscapes and parks they were built in and just as we strive to maintain our open spaces, we must not forget them.  It is important to promote the building as a resource and work together to find possible new uses for the building that encourage rehabilitation and restoration and not demolition.”

DCR has made efforts over the past years to weatherize the buildings, but the property has continued to deteriorate. Following listing as a Most Endangered Resource, the Alliance has been actively discussing potential next steps for the building with public agencies, like-minded advocacy groups and neighbors, with a goal of facilitating an effort to find feasible re-use scenarios.