Stop 4: The Durgin Garage

10-18 Pleasant Street
Brookline, MA 02446

The Durgin Garage, built in 1926, accommodated the growing number of cars in the Brookline neighborhood, and was one of the first multi-storied parking garages. People were beginning to purchase cars, and because developers built houses without driveways, residential parking was quite difficult in Brookline. While the Kennedys lived in their first home on 83 Beals Street, they didn’t have a driveway. They used a neighborhood parking garage, and perhaps could have parked their cars in this garage. Architect Harold Field Kellogg commented on the parking garage’s increasing of space on the streets of Brookline, and the added revenue. Townspeople often debate about what functions it should have in the future, and whether it should continue to develop commercially and be preserved for its historical value. How do you think the Durgin Garage should serve the Brookline community in the future?