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Will Doyle’s Be Revived? Community Meeting to Discuss Upcoming Project

While it won’t be the Doyle’s Pub that you, your father, your father’s father, and his father, grew up with — there is a proposed project to revive the pub that closed last year after 137 years of serving the community.

Doyle’s has open in Jamaica Plain since 1882, and announced it will be closing by the end of 2019.

The Save Doyle’s Cafe Facebook page posted an update with a flyer for an Oct. 1 community meeting.

“Priorities have shifted these past few months as we struggle through this pandemic and all of us take stock of what is dear. While we know there are more pressing issues at this time, we also know that our community will recover and life will resume some day.

When that day comes, we hope that our beloved pub will be once again part of our community. And on this front, there is a glimmer of hope and possibility…” said the post.

The post says there is a proposal for a revived Doyle’s that would include a pub/restaurant with a community room. They said there’s even a possibility of the very popular Doyle’s Road Race being revived, too.

The community meeting flyer includes the logos of WaterMark Development and Scales Architecture. WaterMark Development is a Roxbury-based (so they’re local) company, and company owner Jeff Goodman is a longtime JP resident.

Jeff Goodman’s son, Lee Goodman of WaterMark Development told Jamaica Plain News that the company has the property under agreement, and has a plan to restore the restaurant, which would include a community room.

In recent years WaterMark purchased three MassDOT parcels, and built a Victorian style nine-unit million-dollar condo building on Everett Street on one of the empty parcels. WaterMark then sold the other two parcels at Call Street and Carolina Avenue for $1 to help Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) achieve the funding for eight affordable units, said Lee Goodman. WaterMark also agreed to provide $150,000 toward construction costs.

Another local project is 73 Sheridan St., which WaterMark proposed several iterations to restore the Victorian house. But a direct abutter sued to block the project because it violated zoning regulations, said Goodman.

“We were forced to submit a project which could be built as of right – this sadly meant tearing down the existing home. Something we resisted for years to no avail,” added Goodman. The new building will have eight condos.

While it may still be called Doyle’s, it will be tough to replicate the historical nature of the pub because much of the memorabilia that adorned the walls were auctioned off last year.

The community meeting is scheduled for Oct. 1 at 6:30 pm in Doyle’s parking lot (3484 Washington St.). Social distancing and masks are required to attend. The development team will be present to discuss the proposed project and answer any questions.

Editor’s note: The original version of this article said 73 Sheridan Street has been restored. The original version did not include comment from WaterMark Development.

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