June 25, 2009

Editorial

The question of what to do with the unused station house building on D Street, which once housed the Boston Police Department’s Station Six, has become heated.  Strong emotions surfaced at both of two recent meetings.  The first meeting was held in the St. Vincent de Paul Church Hall on May 19 and was sponsored by the South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation (SBNDC); the second was convened at the Condon School on June 3 by the City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development (the DND).

Two ideas for using the old station house have been suggested.  The first is to convert the station house into 30 veterans’ units – 15 apartments for veterans and their families and 15 for transitional veterans housing.  The second is to make a community cultural center out of the station house that might include a South Boston museum, a performance space, and art classrooms.  The DND says it is open to more ideas than these two, but so far, none has been suggested.

The first logical step is to determine priorities.  Let’s admit that veterans who have endured combat conditions and who have been wounded (physically or mentally) deserve our first priority.  They have needs, major needs, which must be met right up front – as soon as possible after they return.  Our understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is still developing – PTSD wasn’t even an official diagnosis until after the Vietnam War.  All we really know is that it’s a huge problem.

Therefore, in the opinion of South Boston Online, converting a local station house into a veterans unit of any kind is too small a step.  Returning veterans require (and are owed) major, multi-level facilities.  Based upon fragmentary previous figures regarding “shellshock” from combat conditions, perhaps up to 10% of returning veterans will need extensive psychiatric care.  Many, many others will need physical and mental therapy to recover from their wounds.  At least one major hospital and one major, multi-level facility like the one in Bedford may be needed.  To repeat, a small facility like what could fit into the station house is of little use. 

It’s true that many veterans will need assistance finding affordable family housing when they return, for the simple reason that they haven’t earned very much money while serving in combat overseas.  Locally, the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) will need to step up, assess exact veterans’ needs, and then take action to meet these needs.  Veterans should have priority within the BHA.  But however the housing needs are handled, they will be huge.  A piecemeal approach just won’t do.  Comprehensive, logical plans for veterans’ housing are a must.

At the June 3 meeting in the Condon School, the DND mentioned a two-month horizon on receiving requests for proposals (RFP) for use of the Station 6 property.  That is much too short a time.  Our local elected officials must ask for a moratorium on that timing.  The future of the station house structure, as well as the final “look” of the entire neighborhood along D Street, has to be carefully planned.  We even have to plan for a “green” future for any new or converted structures.  Remember, the City has already pledged to go “green” on all developments.

It’s time to take a long step backwards and a long, logical, unemotional look at alternatives before any decisions are made concerning the station house on D Street.