Upham’s Corner Comfort Station

AHF has issued a $250,000 loan to Historic Boston Inc. to support the rehabilitation of the historic Upham’s Corner Comfort Station in Dorchester, home to the new Comfort Kitchen restaurant. The loan, secured at a below-market fixed rate, refinanced the construction loan following the completion of the property’s successful renovation earlier this year.

One of several Boston-based projects benefiting from the equity derived from the proceeds of AHF’s sale of Boston’s Old City Hall, this low-interest loan is an example of AHF’s work to support community-based development and historic preservation projects in Boston’s neighborhoods.

ABOUT UPHAM’S CORNER COMFORT STATION

The former trolley system comfort station, a stucco 940-square-foot facility with full basement, underwent a $1.9 million historic rehabilitation with improvements that created Comfort Kitchen, a full-service café with dinner operations. The architect for Phase One of the development was Utile, Inc. Architecture + Planning of Boston. Phase Two, including the restaurant design, was by Supernormal of Cambridge. The contractor was  MJ Mawn, Inc.

The Upham’s Corner Comfort Station served Boston’s streetcar system and is near the MBTA’s Fairmount commuter rail line, as well as being within the City of Boston’s Upham’s Corner Main Street District. The building is a one-story stucco and tile “mission style” building built as a convenience station in 1912 to support the expanding streetcar system in Boston. It was designed by Dorchester architect William H. Besarick, who also designed the nearby municipal building at the corner of Columbia Road and Bird Street, as well as many triple-decker residences in the area.

The building is located on what was once part of the Dorchester North Burying Ground, which is listed in the State and National Register of Historic Places and within the cemetery’s Boston Landmark designation.