The toast of JP
Neighbors hope rehabilitation of a former brewery will bring new life to their long-neglected section
 An undated photograph of the Haffenreffer brewery, which once had a famous tap that poured out free beer day and night. The area was bustling, and on many days the smell of hops filled the air. |
(Correction: Because of a computer problem, a map accompanying a Feb. 17 City & Region story on the redevelopment of a historic brewery complex misstated the name of Jamaica Plain School of Dance.)
For the German immigrants who landed in Boston in the 1800s, Stony Brook was the equivalent of a pot of gold: The brook's clear, clean water was ideal for making beer.
By the late 1800s, as many as 25 breweries were using Stony Brook and other local water sources to make beer and ale.
The Roxbury and Jamaica Plain breweries provided more than jobs to the immigrants. They helped anchor the new community around them. On streets named Germania, Mozart, and Bismarck, the air was often filled with the pungent smell of hops.
The breweries were the stuff of local legend. It's been said that Red Sox players, including Babe Ruth, visited the Haffenreffer brewery after home games, seeking out the famous tap that poured out free beer day and night.
Michael Mulcahy, a retired nurse who moved to Jamaica Plain in 1960, heard so much about that tap that one day he walked to the Amory Street plant to see if it really did exist. He saw a group of people gathering in a cluster, holding mugs and pails.
''Sure enough, that spigot was there," he recalled this week.
Today, there is very little evidence that this bustling world ever existed.
But one of the few intact breweries, the former Haffenreffer & Co.'s Boylston Brewery complex, is undergoing big changes and rehabilitation, in a move that development officials hope will provide a new anchor to the section of Jamaica Plain long viewed as neglected.
When complete, they hope, the complex between the MBTA Orange Line and Egleston Square will hold 50 small businesses, from the neighborhood's first full-service gym to a cafe meeting spot where residents can linger over the newspaper, hold community meetings, and take in local art on the walls.
It's been a vision 30 years in the making, full of hurdles and setbacks. And even recent months have brought bumps in the road. But the developers, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, remain optimistic.
''Everyone kept telling me that space was impossible to renovate," said Richard Thal, executive director of the neighborhood development corporation. ''But we had true believers."
The brewery closed in 1964, and for the next 20 years, the sprawling complex fell into disrepair. Trees grew on the roofs, broken windows weren't repaired, and squatters took up residence. The idle Haffenreffer smokestack began to crumble.
The Neighborhood Development Corporation bought the complex in 1983 for $395,000, hoping to bring jobs back to the site. At that time, Jamaica Plain wasn't a desirable place for business, Thal said.
But the group was undaunted and began restoring 110,000 square feet of workspace.
''It was so hard to get financing," said Arthur Johnson, a lawyer and neighborhood group board member. ''People told us we were crazy."
By the mid-1990s, eight buildings were completely renovated, and some of the other buildings were partly renovated. Today, 40 mostly industrial businesses rent space in them.
The complex's best-known tenant is the
Most project supporters thought the job was done by the end of the 1990s. The most easily reused buildings had been renovated, and the remaining structures were just too difficult to convert, Thal said.
They were cavernous and confusing, having been built in phases, without a master blueprint. Corridors would suddenly dead-end, and floor heights varied from room to room.
Getting those structures to comply with current building regulations seemed impossible, Thal said.
But by 2003, things were looking up, thanks in part to state and federal tax credit programs. The neighborhood group is now spending $10 million to restore the 40,000-square-foot main building block, where a flurry of activity is underway. Work crews are installing historically appropriate windows, new floors, and contemporary lighting.
After several delays, Mike's Fitness of JP is expected to open on Saturday. On Wednesday, city inspectors approved the site, said Andy Waxman, the renovation effort's project manager.
Work crews are also sprucing up the complex's Amory Street entrance. Because the 10 new tenants will be open to the public, Waxman said, the long-neglected entrance is getting a pedestrian-friendly face-lift.
Johnson said he hopes that an inviting entranceway will spur other renewal efforts nearby.
Neighbors are definitely taking note. On Saturday, Warren VanWeese strolled up to the complex from his Chestnut Street home. VanWeese, a 41-year-old architect, braved the cold to get a close-up look at the renovations.
''It's great to see business coming back here," he said, ''and I can't wait to use the gym."
McConville can be reached at cmcconville@globe.com. 
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
