It all started with a phone call. And the rest, they say, is history. Board liaison Leah Emerson was looking for resources online for capacity building and support of FoFH's mission to bring community-based redevelopment options and planning expertise to the former Malden Hospital. Joy Pearson of FoFH wasted no time in calling the Boston Architectural College (BAC) directly to follow that lead. She got Ben Peterson, the BAC's Gateway Initiative Director, on the first ring. Learning the brief history of the property and about the adjacent Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot designed Fellsmere Park, Ben was intrigued.

Malden Advocate | May 4, 2018 | by Barbara Taormina

The great-great-grandson of the city’s first mayor and benefactor extraordinaire, Elisha Converse, was in Malden this week to show support for the proposal to preserve the Malden Hospital site for community projects and open space. Peter Converse made the trip from his home in Jamestown, R.I., for a presentation by the Friends of Fellsmere Heights to the City Council on the group’s 16+2 proposal, which would preserve 16 acres of the 18-acre site for the public with the remaining land being used for some type of development. The Friends have developed their plan as an alternative to the Fellsmere Housing Group’s proposal to build a residential complex of 214 condos, 18 townhouses and 18 single-family homes on the site.

Converse told councillors that he was speaking on behalf of 25 members of the Converse family who support the Friends’ plan to conserve the hospital land, which was donated to the city, in part, by Elisha Converse and his wife, Mary. 

Malden Advocate | May 4, 2018 | by Barbara Taormina

The Friends of Fellsmere Heights were at the City Council meeting this week to present a proposal to redevelop the Malden Hospital site, a plan to help pay for the project and a strategy to get to the next step. Bob Doolittle, vice president of the nonprofit group, outlined the Friends’ proposal to devote 16 acres of the site to open space and community uses, such as athletic fields, gardens and a performance space. The remaining two acres would be reserved for private development, ideally for senior housing.

“The great goal of the Friends, an alliance to bring together former adversaries, is to do something wonderful up there on the hill,” said Doolittle.