Rebuilt to last

Putting a new face on 147 Bowdoin Street

by Sarah McNaught

In the distance, ominous black clouds rolled in slowly from the west and hovered threateningly over most of the city as the steamy 95-degree heat refused to waver. But along Bowdoin Street in Dorchester's Meeting House Hill neighbor-hood, the sun continued to stream through puffy white clouds. The bright rays glinted off the skin of children jumping in and out of a round plastic pool with surfing-penguin decals on its side.

The atmosphere was very different from the climate of fear, murder, and blood-stained sidewalks that plagued the intersection of Bowdoin Street and Geneva Avenue several years ago. Crime is down, big-time drug dealers have been chased away, and wary parents are once again letting their children play on chalk-drawn hopscotch grids along the sidewalk in front of 147 Bowdoin.

Around the corner is a playground with a wooden jungle gym, swings, colored slides, and rubber tires cut in half and lined up to make an obstacle course. Right beside the house is an open lot maintained by the Dorchester Gardens Land and Preserve. Enclosed by a black wrought-iron fence, the grounds are manicured; there are flowering trees and a dirt path edged in stone.

For many years, 147 Bowdoin Street was nothing more than one of the city's typical dilapidated triple-deckers -- burned beyond repair on its left side, spattered with graffiti, dubbed a drug den.

But today, 147 Bowdoin is well on its way to becoming one of the most beautiful buildings in the neighborhood. Taupe siding is set off by white insulated casement windows and brand-new wooden porches. The sidewalk in front is now clear of debris; it was once spray-painted with the words porky we will always love you, a eulogy to 19-year-old Duane "Porky" Banks, a first-floor resident gunned down on the front porch in 1995 in retribution for a rival gang member's murder. Porky's death was a sign of the times.

But those times have changed, says Juan Carlos Ferrufeno, executive director of the Bowdoin and Geneva Main Streets Initiative, a city-funded agency established by local merchants to help revitalize the neighborhood. Main Streets -- which has an agenda encompassing everything from refacing old storefronts to building a state-of-the-art four-story health center -- worked with the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation to make 147 Bowdoin Street the 50th urban drug house to be turned into an owner-occupied, modern living space for low-income families.

"For many years, people who live here had hopes and dreams that someday this neighborhood would once again be free from crime and thrive as a vibrant community -- but no one knew how to change it," says Ferrufeno, nodding to a group of boys sitting on the front steps of a home across the street from 147 Bowdoin. "Main Streets has made it easier for everyone to collaborate their thoughts into one coherent plan. And this is the end result."

After Porky Banks's murder, the city tried numerous ways to rid the house of drug dealers. Then, three years ago, the first floor burned. Two years ago, says Jean Dubois, executive director of Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation, the city finally found a way to take over the building. The mortgage agreement stipulated that the owner must live in the building, which he would not do. So the bank repossessed it, and the city made its move. But the building remained vacant until renovations began two months ago.

"You could stand on the first floor and look right through the floors above and see the sky," says Matthew Sobocinski, one of the contractors who helped start the renovations. "When I first arrived here, I couldn't believe how much work needed to be done."

The city bought the building from the bank for $20,000, and through a series of loans, city and state grants, and Dorchester Bay's own money, $341,000 was raised for the renovations. The inside remains unfinished, with just the studs in place, but the renovations are scheduled to be complete by mid-September.

"We are already accepting applications from people who want to buy the building, which will go for $160,000," says Andrew Sedensky, project manager for the site. "There are some guidelines -- the owner must occupy one of the apartments -- but it's open to anyone who is interested."

And many are. Behind the building is a big blue apartment complex where one resident who witnessed the Banks murder has decided she wants to buy the property.

"There are other neighbors who are also interested, which says a lot for the changing atmosphere in this neighborhood," says Ferrufeno. "We have even brought people in by trolley from the North End who are being displaced by the Big Dig and showed them there is somewhere for them to live. It's like our banners say: 'We have it all.' " Ferrufeno stops and looks up to admire the bright blue-and-yellow Main Street flags attached to streetlights all along Bowdoin Street.

"Yes, finally, we have it all."