Ferdinand Building

Ferdinand livecam.

The Dudley Square building is being turned into the new headquarters of the Boston school department.

Via Both Ends of Dudley.

Both Ends of Dudley posts photos from yesterday's groundbreaking for the Ferdinand project in Dudley Square, which will become the Boston Public Schools headquarters. The ceremonies included a cake in the shape of the rehabbed building and the new office building next to it.

Roxbury Wakeup is a site dedicated to the premise that the city's plans to renovate the Ferdinand building as the new BPS headquarters is just a plot to gentrify the Dudley Square area:

This project will essentially put a stop to any future retail and social growth, as well as any possible wealth building within the community. It is a CIVIC MUNICIPAL BUILDING. It is a static linear placeholder for the city’s use. Relocating the Boston Public School headquarters’ 500 employees does not GENERATE local jobs. The jobs are already filled! It is not an organic revitalization component and does not ADD to the fabric of this creative, artistic, historic community, and will systemically drain its energy. It is a micro filler, and not a solution that will successfully address the macro issues of this community. It is GENTRIFICATION.

Proposed alternative: Turn the Ferdinand into a hub of social and multimedia networking that would generate new jobs.