Restoration work is well underway at the vacant St. Gabriel’s Church and monastery in Brighton Center. The monastery is a Boston Landmark Building and one of New England’s few Mission-style buildings.
The monastery, built in 1909, will host 27 new residential homes with views of the Boston skyline while the church, built 20 years later, will feature 22,000-square-feet of amenities and community space. Altogether, the space will be transformed into The Overlook at St. Gabriel’s
The renovations are a part of an 11.6-acre redevelopment project that will feature three new residential buildings, more than 7 acres of green space, and 45,000 square feet of amenities, including parks, residential lounges, and a fitness center. Plans call for 555 residential apartment units and more than 100 condominium units.
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The buildings have sat vacant for more than a decade, with most of the site paved over and used for parking. St. Gabriel’s closed in 2006.
“Because of a declining number of priests, the Passionists say they are no longer able to staff St. Gabriel’s, which was their only parish in the state,” the Globe wrote at the time.
Representatives of the developer behind the project, Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, say they hope the renovation of the buildings will increase connectivity in the community through parks and refurbished public spaces.
Workers have taken special care to restore and reuse the buildings while preserving their original design elements and materials. The church’s stained-glass windows will be repaired and reinstalled and its original terrazzo flooring, along with the building’s details and fixtures, will be fully refurbished.
The project began last April and is expected to be finished by year’s end.
