The brouhaha over the redevelopment of the old Sullivan Courthouse in East Cambridge is one of the summer's big, big real estate stories. Developer Leggat McCall recently agreed to pare back the scope of the project to appease residents. Still, bitter memories remain.
You'll find this gem tucked into a Casey Ross piece in today's Globe:
Opened in 1974, the Brutalist-style courthouse is a forbidding presence in a neighborhood of mostly low-rise commercial and residential buildings. Not only is the building ugly by just about any standard, it's filled with asbestos, and neighbors said they often had to put up with the profane rants of prisoners. "It was horrible," said Barbara Broussard, president of the East Cambridge Planning Team, a neighborhood group. "People would be getting married at the arts center and they'd be yelling obscenities. The building reminds me of Warsaw. I just don't like it."
We assume she means the Polish city under the czars, the Nazis or the Communists, and not present-day.
· Developer Alters Look of Middlesex Courthouse Site [Globe]
· Sullivan Courthouse Redevelopment Kind of Moves Forward [Curbed Boston]
· What to Watch This Summer in Greater Boston Real Estate [Curbed Boston]
· Our complete Sullivan Courthouse coverage [Curbed Boston]