The Boston Preservation Alliance has named six outstanding preservation projects for their 34th annual Preservation Awards – and the Charles River Speedway is one of them! AHF is incredibly honored to be part of this group of award winners. 

As the BPA so eloquently described this class of award-winning projects: 

The best way to preserve a space is by making it useful. This collection of six outstanding preservation projects does just that. Each one brings life to tired corners allowing a new generation of Bostonians to create memories of these historic places and spaces. Crumbling parking lots host neighborhood events. Old utility buildings foster entrepreneurship. A gutted neighborhood home is reimagined to serve as a dwelling of the 21st-century. These projects are not only useful spaces but are useful in telling the story of Boston.

Along with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, we are immensely proud to have made the Charles River Speedway useful again. We believe that the line about old utility buildings fostering entrepreneurship is about The Speedway, and it could not be more true. The Speedway’s tenants are all entrepreneurs – they are brewing beer, styling hair, making empanadas, churning ice cream, fostering community art, hand-crafting candles, perfecting hummus, and taking over the world with sake education. It is heartening to see all this creative energy taking place in the midst of a revitalized historic complex that sat vacant and unused for so many years. 

We look forward to celebrating historic preservation, usefulness, and the city of Boston this fall with the rest of the awardees – and welcoming them to The Speedway and Garage B for the big event. For more information about the award winners and the Boston Preservation Awards to be held on October 22, 2022 – please visit bostonpreservation.org. 

Take a look at each winner below, each project tells a  great preservation story. Congratulations to all! 

Dorchester Victorian 

Charles River Speedway 

Robert Gould Shaw monument

Landmark Center (401 Park)

SoWa Power Station 

Christian Science Plaza