Project team members Rovshan Jafarov (Wessling Architects), Thomas Mojo (J.L. Dunn), Scott Winkler (Wessling Architects), Liam White (J.L. Dunn), Reverend Willie Bodrick, II (Twelfth Baptist Church), Marcella Brown (Twelfth Baptist Church) and Winston Bodrick (Twelfth Baptist Church) were present to accept the award at the Preservation Massachusetts 40th Anniversary Preservation Awards on June 6th at Fenway Park.
The Twelfth Baptist Church Exterior Restoration project won a Preservation Massachusetts 2025 Mayor Thomas M. Menino Legacy Award.
Serving the Roxbury community for over 150 years, the church at 160 Warren Street has been the residence of three congregations and since 1957, has been the home of the historic Twelfth Baptist Church. “Modernizations” of the façade in more recent years had left the building unidentifiable from its historic design. This project restored the building to its original appearance and helps to reestablish it as a historic landmark that matches the historic status of the congregation.
This restoration also supports the historical significance of this congregation as a champion of social justice from its founding in 1840 as an anti-slavery meetinghouse, to its hosting of civil rights leader and American Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. and the current leadership of social engagement, ministry and community by Senior Pastor Reverend Willie Bodrick II.
This project used a Boston Community Preservation Act grant which helps communities preserve historic sites such as The Twelfth Baptist Church.
