NEMPAC AND NEW HEALTH TO JOINTLY RUN NAZZARO CENTER
March 22, 2023
Dear Neighbors:
NEW Health and the North End Music and Performing Arts Center (NEMPAC) both tremendously support the Wu Administration’s recent announcement of plans to build a brand-new youth and community center adjacent to the Mirabella Pool. A new center will provide our children and the community at large the space and programming they require and have long deserved. Mayor Wu’s commitment to maintain and refurbish the existing Nazzaro Center as a place for community use is especially critical. We applaud Mayor Wu and our state delegation led by Representative Michlewitz for securing unprecedented funding from the Commonwealth and significant capital investment by the City of Boston.
Our two organizations welcome the opportunity to be an integral part of the city’s efforts to revitalize and modernize the current Nazzaro Center building so that it can meet the future needs of our fellow residents. We envision a partnership to transform the building into an accessible, modern space dedicated to health, wellness, creativity and the arts. NEW Health and NEMPAC are committed to enhancing the existing senior space at the Nazzaro Center with expanded programming and activities for our seniors to include health and wellness, exercise, music, cooking, nutrition classes, and other social services.
NEW Health is uniquely positioned for this community project as the largest nonprofit employer in the North End and the neighborhood’s primary health care provider for over 50 years. We have outgrown our current footprint on Hanover Street. The number of patients served by the health center has increased 20 percent since 2018 and we need additional space to accommodate this growth. We are excited about the possibility to expand our adult and pediatric primary care, vision, dental, behavioral health, podiatry, senior care, acupuncture, obstetrics and gynecology, lab services, and radiology services. The second floor of the current Nazzaro Center could be transformed into additional clinical space to meet the needs of the community and expand access to health care services for all North End and Waterfront residents.
NEMPAC has been seeking space to create a performing arts center that can serve the needs of the neighborhood as well as the needs of individual artists and arts organizations across the City of Boston for the past decade. The third floor of the Nazzaro Center provides a unique opportunity to realize that vision while maintaining the Nazzaro Center as a space that serves the North End community. Establishing a public rehearsal and performance space at the heart of Boston for both artists and audiences will not only help NEMPAC achieve its vision of building community through the arts, but also help Boston realize its goal of being a city that loves and fosters the arts. We imagine a venue where youth could perform musicals and recitals, seniors could watch classic films, teens could play in neighborhood concerts, professional artists can thrive, and the whole community could come together. The neighborhood deserves resources that provide a wide breadth of services for the community’s diverse needs. Our organizations are uniquely qualified to meet these objectives.
Our organizations look forward to working with our fellow residents of the North End and Waterfront, our elected officials, and the City of Boston in this once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure that a new Nazzaro Center embraces the diverse interests and needs of the community and provides a gathering space that promotes health, wellness, and the social and artistic spirit of the neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Vincenzo Scibelli, CEO, NEW Health
Sherri Snow, Executive Director, NEMPAC
Jason A. Aluia, Board Chair, NEW Health
Doug Bowen Flynn, Board Chair, NEMPAC
