Urban Edge Launches Campaign to Build Jackson Square Community Center

WHO: Mayor Marty Walsh, City of Boston

State Representative Jeffrey Sanchez, Jamaica Plain

State Representative Elizabeth Malia, Jamaica Plain

Mike Eruzione, Olympic Gold Medal Winner (U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey)

Kristine Lilly, Olympic Gold Medal Winner (U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer)

Chris Tierney, New England Revolution

Frank Shea, CEO, Urban Edge

Members of Mayor’s Youth Council

WHEN: Monday, March 21st

2:30 pm

WHERE: DCR Kelly Outdoor Rink

1 Marbury Terrace

Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

WHAT: Boston Mayor Marty Walsh will join Olympic gold medalist Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey team, New England Revolution player Chris Tierney, World Cup player and U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer team member Kristine Lilly, and other elected officials and civic leaders to launch a campaign to build the Jackson Square Recreation Center in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.

Urban Edge, Inc., a community development corporation based in Jamaica Plain, is in the process of building the Jackson Square Recreation Center as part of the redevelopment of the Jackson Square neighborhood. The two story center, which will provide recreational and after school activities for the young people of the neighborhood, will have a regulation-size ice rink on the first floor, a turf field of equivalent size on the second floor, and academic and social service space. Young people in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain will be able to use the facility year-round for organized and unstructured recreational activities.

Research shows that a community benefits when young people have access to recreational and afterschool activities. School attendance and grades are improved, incidences of risky behavior decrease, life skills and lifelong healthy habits are acquired. There are 26,000 young people between the ages of 5 and 18 who live within 1.5 mile radius of Jackson Square. But only 10 percent of these students participate in after school sports, arts, or recreation activities, in large part because they do not have a recreation center that is accessible and affordable.

The idea for the recreation center came from the community, who recognized that the young people in their neighborhood did not have the same access to recreational activities, especially in the winter months, as their peers in suburban communities. In addition to the community support, the $21.5 million project has backing from public officials. A recent state bond issue included $5.69 million in state bond financing to help build the facility. Furthermore, it is likely that the project will qualify for an additional $4 million in net New Market Tax Credit equity. In addition, to date Urban Edge has raised over $1 million in other funds, including a $200,000 Brownfields Cleanup Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Urban Edge needs to raise another $10 million to complete the center.

Olympic gold medalist Mike Eruzione is a part of the campaign committee to raise the funds needed to turn the vision of this project into a reality. He will join Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and other elected officials who support the project.

About Urban Edge

For over 40 years, Urban Edge has offered a range of innovative programs that help low and moderate income families in and around Boston become economically resilient, establish homeownership, and access needed community resources. Throughout its history, the organization has developed nearly 1,500 units of affordable housing, making it one of Boston’s largest nonprofit developers of affordable units. Most recently, the agency has been a prime mover in the redevelopment of the Jackson Square neighborhood, creating new affordable housing and commercial space along eight acres of land that border Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. For more information on Urban Edge, visit http://www.urbanedge.org.