The National Housing & Rehabilitation Association (NH&RA) presented its 2009 J. Timothy Anderson Awards for Excellence (Timmy Awards) earlier this month to 10 projects nationwide that involved the rehabilitation of older, historic buildings using the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit. Among the recipients was TILL Inc., a Dedham-based human service agency that earned first place for best historic rehabilitation project utilizing low income housing tax credits. The honor recognized TILL’s work on the former 100-year-old Bloomberg building in Chelsea.
The three-story structure at 241 Broadway has been transformed into a mixed-use development featuring a café, a day habilitation program for people with developmental delays, and 23 fully occupied affordable housing units. “TILL is thrilled to have received this prestigious Timmy Award for historic rehabilitation,” explained Dafna Krouk-Gordon, president and founder of TILL and developer on the project. “Our Chelsea project is an anchor piece which enhances the revitalization of the Chelsea community.” The project team included Mostue & Associates Architects of Somerville as architects, Vertec Corporation as general contractor, and Dan Violi as housing consultant.
The building’s history spans multiple uses over its century of existence—it has functioned as a bowling alley, ballroom, movie theater, and the city’s premier furniture store before deteriorating. TILL acquired the building in 1998 and undertook a comprehensive program to professionally rehabilitate it while preserving its historic character and adapting it to current community needs.
Established by NH&RA in 2005, the “Timmy” Awards commemorate the late Boston architect and preservation advocate J. Timothy Anderson, a pioneering figure in historic rehabilitation. Anderson’s career achievements include the Prince Spaghetti Building conversion into housing, the adaptation of Old City Hall for mixed-use development, and the conversion of the old Central Grammar School in Gloucester into elderly housing—a project that became a national model for repurposing surplus schools in urban areas.