The McCarthy Apartments

Hundreds of people turned out for the grand opening of the Christopher McCarthy Apartments in October of 1977. Three years in the making, the 150-unit building was Melrose’s second public housing complex. Like the Steele House, it was built and maintained with funds from the state’s Chapter 667 program. Also like the Steele House, its construction was riddled with flaws.

The McCarthy Apartments had been a dream of Melrose resident Christopher McCarthy, a life-long employee of the Department of Community Affairs who was one of the state’s leading advocates for senior housing. Lending his expertise to Melrose’s fledgling housing authority, he helped them to secure funding for both senior housing projects. He died before the second was finished, and it was named in his honor.

As with the Steele House, the DCA advised Melrose on hiring architects and contractors for the project. They recommended a Harvard-educated architect who was already working on a senior housing project in Whitman; he was later fired from the Whitman job, and his Harvard credentials turned out to be forged. This architect in turn hired a mechanical engineer who would soon be indicted for embezzling $50,000 from the Somerville housing authority.

The results were disastrous. One report from the DCA’s on-site clerk noted “this is the worst example of placing concrete that I have ever seen.” Richard Mallon, chair of the housing authority, later said “It was an unwatched shop. There was an opening. It seems everyone took advantage of it.”

In less than two years, the building had to be evacuated. Problems included a faulty fire sprinkler system, a leaking roof, improperly installed carpeting, unsafe mortar diluted with sand, and a lack of steel reinforcing rods throughout. Melrose Housing Commission member Frances Burke summed it up: “it seems to me a disaster zone.”

Following months of repairs, the McCarthy Apartments were once again declared safe, and have housed thousands of people in the years since. But the gross mismanagement involved in the building’s construction had a long-term impact on Melrose history. The city never again opted to construct a public housing development.