20 Years of Grove Hall

Usually when I write about Roxbury my posts focus on Fort Hill or Dudley Square since those areas seem to receive the most media attention. But, as I've been compiling a list of videos featuring Roxbury, I came across two which show how Grove Hall has changed over the past 20 years. The first is an old Ten O'Clock News clip from WGBH from 1988. Walter Little, Executive Director of the Neighborhood Development Association of Grove Hall, walks a reporter through an area still full of boarded up buildings and struggling businesses. A revitalization program is about to be launched and Mr. Little voices his thoughts on what the program might accomplish.

The more recent video is from Neighborhood News Network. (Note: you'll need Windows Media Player and a lot of patience. The link is a little fickle about playing). It looks like it was filmed just last month and focuses on Touch 106.1-FM and its attempt to continue broadcasting as a low watt station. There are only a few shots of the neighborhood, but even those snapshots show how the area has improved. The streets and buildings are in better shape and there's a vibrancy and energy in the second video clearly lacking in the first. It's also interesting to contrast Mr. Little's concern about having more activity and institutions return to Grove Hall to the female passer-by's concern about losing an institution in the second video. 

Personally, I'd hate to see the community become the victim of its own success by losing the radio station. Despite Touch's imperfect means of going about its business, the station's contribution to the community far outweighs its "pirate radio" status.

Images clipped from each video.