In a ceremony filled with memories from Boston Herald employees and hope for the future development of the neighborhood, Mayor Menino, state reps and city officials gathered in the South End on Thursday to say goodbye to the old building and welcome the new Ink Block development.
Menino said he was happy to see a bridge built between the South End, Chinatown and South Boston with the new development, and the first full-sized grocery store come to the South End.
“The South End deserves this type of development,” he said. “As part of the ongoing transformation of the South End, this project will grow the neighborhood’s vitality with its diverse housing mix, new pedestrian activity and retail energy.”
The new development, situated at the corner of Harrison Ave and Traveler Street, will feature 475 units of housing in five buildings and 85,000 square feet of retail space, including a 50,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market, which will be the chain’s largest location in Boston.
“We are thrilled to officially begin construction on what we are proud to say will become the new center of gravity for life in the South End,” said Ted Tye, managing partner of the development firm on the project, National Development. “Ink Block will transform this currently underutilized block by adding stylish neighborhood-focused, trend-setting housing, restaurants, exciting shops and entertainment options, making this the newest location for 18-hour living in Boston.”
But not everyone at the ceremony was excited to see the building be torn down. Joe Fitzgerald, a 43-year veteran of the Boston Herald, reminisced about the days and long hours spent at the building, the time in 1982 when the paper was almost shut down, and the daily rumbling of the newspaper presses doing their work late into the night.
“From all of us at the Boston Herald, I hope you’ll be as happy living here as we were working here,” he said.
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