Historic Boston Inc. Names New Executive Director

Historic Boston Incorporated, a citywide preservation group, has named Katherine L. Kottaridis its Executive Director. She will assume her leadership of the nonprofit organization on June 1.

Kottaridis, a resident of Jamaica Plain, established Mayor Thomas M. Menino's Boston Main Streets program in 1995. She went on to run business and economic development offices at the city's Department of Neighborhood Development and the Boston Redevelopment Authority. She then served as Director of the Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Most recently, she was Associate Director of Public Affairs at Northeastern University.

“Kathy’s background in historic preservation and economic development and her knowledge of Boston are perfectly suited to HBI’s mission of using historic preservation to build community,” said HBI President Matthew J. Kiefer. "Her leadership will help HBI expand our collaborations with community-based non-profits, city agencies, and private entities on preservation projects that enrich Boston's neighborhoods."

Historic Boston was founded in 1960 to rescue Downtown Crossing’s Old Corner Bookstore building from demolition. HBI was an early preservation pioneer in Charlestown and in the former Combat Zone, where it rescued the H.H. Richardson-designed Hayden Building after a fire in 1993.

Since 1992, HBI’s Steeples Project has distributed $1.5 million in grants to help preserve 53 historic religious properties burdened by deferred maintenance that threatened the survival of their congregations and social missions.

For 47 years, HBI has been a leader in the preservation of pivotal historic properties in transitional neighborhoods. Kottaridis joins the organization as it develops its Historic Neighborhood Centers initiative, through which it will expand its work in Boston’s neighborhood commercial districts.

For more information, visit www.historicboston.org