Columbia Village
Dorchester Illustration 2635
The Boston Globe reported on May 14, 1950, that the families residing on Columbia Point in the former World War II Italian prisoner-of-war barracks complained about the conditions “unfit for human Habitation.” The families had been assured that the housing was temporary, but at that time, some of them had been in the barracks buildings for four years. On May 15, 1951, The Boston Globe printed a report citing statements that a 1500- new low-rent-housing project should be completed by July, the largest federally-aided project in New England. In 1953, the project was expected to be ready for occupancy in the spring of 1954.
Today’s illustration shows Columbia Village in March 1956.
After a few decades of neglect, the housing project was due for renovation in the 1980s at a projected cost of $500,000 per unit. A new development was constructed in the 1980s as a waterfront luxury development, with 400 of its almost 1,300 apartments subsidized for low-income tenants. The project acquired a new name, Harbor Point. All the residents of Columbia Point who wished to live in Harbor Point were provided new apartments (The Boston Globe, August 2, 1991).