Former Malden "Poor Farm" Receives Historic Preservation Tax Credits

The re-development of the former McFadden Memorial Manor Nursing Home in Malden has been selected to receive $300,000 of Massachusetts Historical Rehabilitation Tax Credit Funds.

The funding will be used to assist the non-profit Volunteers of America Massachusetts in redeveloping the former nursing home into Forestdale Park Assisted Living, an 80-unit, 86-bed assisted living and Alzheimer’s care community.

This site, located at 341 Forest St, was once the Malden “poor-farm” which provided food to those who lived on the farm. In 1955, the farm evolved into the city run McFadden Manor Nursing Home. The nursing home was eventually closed in 2009.

“Forestdale Park Assisted Living will be a warm and family-like environment that provides seniors with gracious and attentive care. The project has been years in the making and we’re excited to get underway,” said Thomas Bierbaum, President and CEO of VOAMA, in a statement.

Forestdale Park will include 59 studio and one bedroom apartments for assisted living which will offer residents a multitude of services and supports based on each resident’s needs. The 18 bed Alzheimer’s Memory Care Support unit will provide round the clock care to individuals with memory disorders. Forestdale Park will also include three independent living units. Forestdale Park is designed to provide residents with all the comforts of home in addition to an array of activities and care options.

State Representative Paul J. Donato, whose constituents will be served by the new Assisted Living Program, was instrumental in working with the Massachusetts Historic Commission.

“I am very pleased that the Massachusetts Historic Commission awarded these funds to Volunteers of America to develop this site which will provide much needed assisted living units”, Donato said in a news release. “I look forward to the completion of the project and the benefits that it will bring to our community.”

The Massachusetts Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit is a preservation program that provides revenue-generating property with up to 20% of the cost of certified rehabilitation expenses in the form of state tax credits. The program is administered by the Massachusetts Historic Commission, an office under the jurisdiction of Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin.

About Volunteers of America Massachusetts: Volunteers of America Massachusetts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving those most in need, especially the vulnerable, the hardest to serve, and those facing multiple challenges. Our work touches the mind, body, heart, and spirit of those we serve. Volunteers of America Massachusetts provides comprehensive programs for veterans, at-risk youth, adults and youth in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, elders in need of housing and health services, and those in need of mental health treatment.