Months later, Mission Park reeling from firetruck crash
Programs on hold, library looks ahead
One moment the children were sitting at their keyboards, working on computers, as they did every afternoon. The next moment, windows shattered, walls turned to rubble, and a firetruck catapulted into the room.
The horror of that January day in Mission Hill has been well documented: the death of a veteran firefighter, the reports of brake failure, an investigation, and calls for reform.
But in the months since the crash, little has changed at the Betty Powers Library and Computer Center, which had long been a hub of activity within Mission Park, a development that many low-income families and senior citizens call home.
A host of programs - such as computer classes for seniors, job training for adults seeking a new livelihood, and cultural events for the diverse resident population - have been suspended until the center reopens.
Until early this month, plywood covered the shattered facade of the computer center, located on the first floor of one of the complex’s high-rises. A chain-link fence stands in place of the smashed brick wall. Piles of rubble have become part of the landscape, like cairns on a mountaintop.
“It is a scar in that neighborhood right now,’’ said the City Council’s president, Michael P. Ross, whose district includes Mission Hill.
Work began far earlier on repairing the emotional trauma inflicted on the children and staff who lived through the crash, after which four children were sent to the hospital with minor injuries, said Girma Belay, executive director of Roxbury Tenants of Harvard, the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the housing development.
Some of the children have received counseling through their schools, and many of the staff and children turned to nearby Brigham and Women’s Hospital for help.
“That took some time,’’ Belay said. “It was really tough for them to recuperate.’’
It was a miracle, he said, that no one inside the center was seriously hurt Jan. 9, when Ladder 26 barreled down Parker Hill Avenue, across four lanes of traffic on Huntington Avenue, and into the Mission Park building.
A veteran firefighter - Lieutenant Kevin M. Kelley, who was in the passenger seat of the truck - was killed on impact. Kelley, of Quincy, was the fourth most senior lieutenant in the Boston Fire Department and was remembered by fellow firefighters as a friend and mentor.
The investigation into the crash pointed to brake failure and less-than-rigorous maintenance of the city’s aging fleet of firetrucks.
The center hosted a daily after-school program for local children, now relegated to a common area on the seventh floor of one of the development’s apartment towers. The other programs remain in limbo, with nowhere else to go.
“Essentially, the library is on hold,’’ said Belay. “And the computer training, both for adults as for young people, that is on hold until it’s completed.’’
The center’s physical restoration finally began this month, when crews began reconstructing the damaged foundation. The work, which includes rebuilding walls and replacing windows, is expected to be finished next month.
There have not been specific delays in rebuilding the center, said Belay, but the work is slow. It is being financed by Mission Park’s insurance company, and getting permits, scheduling construction, and navigating miles of red tape has meant that the desperately needed repairs and renovations will take time.
By the time work is completed next month, it will be almost half a year after the crash. Belay declined to disclose the cost of the work.
The new center will be an upgraded version of the original, which was built when the development was constructed by Harvard in the mid-1970s, said Belay. It will have new facilities and better technology to serve Mission Park’s residents, many of whom do not have computers of their own.
Stephen Klune, a 54-year-old Navy veteran who in the 1970s was one of the first Mission Park residents, said he was near the library and heard the crash. Knowing children would almost certainly be inside, he ran toward the crash to assist.
“It’s a good thing they can get back on track,’’ Klune said. “It’ll be nice to get them off the seventh floor and back in there.’’
Klune said his daughter, now a college student in North Carolina, attended after-school programs as a child. Before he bought his own computer, he relied on the center for Internet access.
Steve Gomez, an 18-year-old who grew up in Mission Park and now lives in an apartment across Huntington Avenue, said he was glad residents would again be able to have the center as a resource.
“For the community, especially a lot of kids in middle school who go do their homework there, I think it’s a good thing they’re putting it back together,’’ Gomez said. He said he no longer goes to the center, but valued his time there while a student.
Despite delays, residents have not been dwelling on the slow pace of progress, Ross said. Instead, they are looking forward to a new beginning for the Betty Powers Library and Computer Center, which when completed will include a memorial to the fallen firefighter.
“This is a community that moves on,’’ Ross said. “This is a community that looks forward, not back. This is a community that many a wrecking ball, many a bulldozer has knocked down, and we’ve got through it.’’
Matt Collette can be reached at mpcollette@globe.com. 
