Offered ​by ​Councillors Jackson and Pressley

CITY OF BOSTON FOR CITY COUNCIL A RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH A CULTURAL DISTRICT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ROXBURY

WHEREAS,

The City of Boston acknowledges the significant concentration of cultural facilities and assets in the historic Dudley Square and John Eliot Square; and

WHEREAS,

In 2010, the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Cultural District Initiative was authorized by an act of the Massachusetts State Legislature. Since it launched in 2011, 30 communities across the Commonwealth have established districts that reflect the unique assets and needs of their communities. The City of Boston currently has two cultural districts, Fenway Cultural District and Boston Literary Cultural District; and

WHEREAS,

The Roxbury Cultural District Advisory Committee represents a broad and diverse partnership of stakeholders committed to cultural, community and economic development and to creating an organizational structure for oversight of the Roxbury Cultural District; and

WHEREAS,

Designating a cultural district in the neighborhood of Roxbury will stimulate the local economy by attracting visitors to the various cultural assets that currently exist in this historic neighborhood; and

WHEREAS,

The Massachusetts Cultural Council will be petitioned in accordance with its guidelines and criteria to designate said cultural district; THEREFORE BE IT

RESOLVED, That the appropriate committee of the Boston City Council hold a public hearing regarding establishing a cultural district in the neighborhood of Roxbury and representatives of the Roxbury Cultural District Advisory Committee and other interested parties be invited to testify.