Nazzaro Community Center (North Bennet Street Bathhouse)

The finest of the publicly and privately supported bathhouses for residents of the densely packed North End, the North Bennet Street Bathhouse helped to launch the firm of Maginnis, Walsh and Sullivan, better known for Catholic churches. The three-story Renaissance Revival exterior of red water-struck brick and terra-cotta graces the corner lot purchased by Boston's Bath Department, which commissioned a gymnasium and bathhouse to serve North End residents free of charge. The second story originally contained thirty showers and sixty-eight dressing rooms, an infirmary, and living quarters for the superintendent. The third level contains a 4,514-square-foot gymnasium with a 15-foot-wide running track suspended from the roof.

In 1985 some of the interior spaces were reconfigured into offices and activity rooms for a community center, named in honor of Michael Nazzaro, deputy director of Boston Parks and Recreation, 1942–1964, and a lifetime resident of the North End.