PROJECT OVERVIEW

Located on Western Avenue in Brighton, the history of the formerly state-owned Speedway property is long and storied. The buildings were originally built to house administrative functions of the new Charles River Reservation parklands in 1899. The property included offices, housing, storage, horse stables, a cow barn, and an industrial garage space. Over the years the state used the property for a slew of other uses: it was a former Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) police station, a state police barracks, and eventually storage and vehicle parking for the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). Mostly, though, it sat underutilized and neglected for years.

Thanks to the Architectural Heritage Foundation (AHF), The Speedway’s historic buildings and their central courtyard have been transformed into a marketplace where visitors can enjoy local food and drink, work and create, and shop for artisan goods.