For nine years, Washington Gateway has worked to accomplish the goals of Mayor Thomas Menino’s original Washington Street Task Force - to transform Washington Street from a desolate and deteriorated street into a vibrant retail/residential boulevard. Now that those goals have been mostly realized, the Board of Directors of Washington Gateway Main Street would like to bring to the Board new members who will take a fresh looks at the goals and needs of the neighborhood and tailor the Gateway organization as this examination dictates. The process of Board member selection will be a public one that will be undertaken via a committee selected by the current Board with guidance from Boston Main Streets.

Along with changes to the Board of Directors, Executive Director Sheila Grove and Associate Director Ellen Witt will be moving on from the organization. They will be begin winding up Gateway business on December 15, 2006. It is no understatement to say that Washington Gateway would never have achieved its phenomenal level of success without the leadership and diligence of Sheila and Ellen. The organization has received both local and national recognition for its revitalization, none of which would have been possible without their dedication to the Main Street District and the greater community. They have decided that now is the appropriate time to leave the stewardship of the organization to others and relish their personal accomplishments. The newly formed Board will undertake the process of finding staff to continue the day-to-day management of the organization.

Since Gateway's inception in 1997, Washington St. in the South End/Lower Roxbury, has been revitalized from a deserted street into a vibrant commercial/residential district. Twenty thousand volunteer hours have been given over the last 9 years, working with the public and private sector to bring our historic street back to life. Five hundred and sixty-six million dollars worth of development has been attracted to the street (only $140 million of it from public funds), including a new rapid bus transit system and a rebuilding of the streetscape and infrastructure. Nearly every building on the street has been newly constructed or renovated and the continuity of our business district has been restored. With the addition of 158,700 square feet of retail space, fifty-seven net new businesses have opened, yet nearly all our older businesses have remained. Over 40 existing businesses have received storefronts improvements from Gateway. 1,734 new or rehabbed housing units have been built with 1,094 of them affordable. 1,098 new underground parking spaces have been built for the area. And, with its promotions, Gateway has brought attention to the street and new customers to our businesses.

The Gateway board has worked very hard to make this a successful shopping and residential district. Once again, this is the grand boulevard that is proud and important to our City.

Sincerely yours,

Randi Lathrop, President Gerry Vann, Vice President.

Working with all of you for more than a decade to transform Washington Street from a desolate, deteriorated swath that divided our neighborhood into our vision of it as a desirable place to live, work, shop, and dine has been an exciting and edifying experience. Having mostly accomplished what we set out to do, we are moving on and will not be conducting any new Gateway business as of December 15th.

Thank you for everything you have done. Our warmest appreciation goes to:

Mayor Menino whose vision set the Gateway project in motion and provided it with the credibility and resources necessary to accomplish its goals.

Gateway’s board of directors without whose wisdom, guidance, and fundraising support this organization could not have thrived and accomplished so much.

The hundreds of volunteers that clocked more than 20,000 hours to make the dream a reality: You were there to review 80 projects to make sure that the buildings have a strong presence on Washington Street, parking in excess of a building’s needs, and that most have the ground floor retail space that restored Washington Street as a social center and a source of jobs for our neighborhood. You have helped businesses, old and new, to thrive and understand the importance of working together. You have improved every project and solved problems amicably. You have helped fund our efforts through memorable events such as the Neck Ties Dining events and the Balls at the Allen House, Cyclorama, and Minot Hall.

The developers, architects, real estate brokers, and construction personnel who cooperated with Gateway’s principles to build a beautiful and sustainable street where new middle-income housing, much of it reserved for artists, has been built and where low income people were not only not displaced but have over 1000 unit of new or renovated housing. You also supplied a large proportion of the funding that kept Gateway’s doors open.

Gateway’s major financial supporters, Banknorth, GTI Properties, Mellon Trust, R.F. Walsh Company, Stonegate Group, and Teradyne: Without your financial assistance for our operating expenses, we could not have continued our work.

Everyone at Boston Main Streets, Department of Neighborhood Development, and the Executive Directors in the 20 other Main Streets across the City: You provided us with the structure, technical assistance; storefront improvement grants, network, and baseline funding that kept us on track and informed.

The City of Boston and MBTA personnel who listened to us and supported our needs for a new infrastructure, parking, and transit. Neighborhood- building is, of necessity, a partnership between the government and its citizens and you did your share. The Boston Redevelopment Authority deserves special recognition here for development of its eight acres of vacant land and two historic buildings, and for its coordination of the City’s efforts in the Gateway district.

The businesses, old an new, who work together to make the Gateway district an attractive destination for the unique and affordable. You have added 560 new jobs, many of them held by local residents.

The neighborhood organizations and institutions that adopted and reinforce the Gateway design and community goals. While new residents have swelled your membership, your wisdom and effectiveness have likewise increased.

District 4 Boston Police and Project Place because a neighborhood cannot be successful unless it’s safe and clean.

The many friends of Gateway who wrote letters of support, joined our Circle of Friends, and partnered with Gateway on projects that strengthened our community. On the Urban Trail project alone, there were hundreds of you that contributed expertise, pictures, stories, fact checking, and artistry so that the neighborhood’s history is publicly available on the kiosks and medallions of the Silver Line.

Our families and yours who pitched in when needed and backed us, even though it meant that we were out many evenings and weekends.

That Washington Gateway Main Street is an outstanding community effort was recognized when we received the highest award for our type of organization, the 2005 Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Our accomplishments have been touted in national publications such as the New Your Times, airline magazines, travel and food publications. And our local publications were invaluable in keeping everyone informed of our progress.

Gateway has been studied by universities and urban planners from around the globe. All are impressed by your vision, commitment, hard work and, mostly by what you have accomplished by working together.

Each one of us can look at Washington Street and know that it is better for what we have done. It has been a rewarding, fun, and significant experience working with all of you.

Sincerely,

Sheila & Ellen