LYNN — Cloretta Brown has called King’s Lynne Apartments her home since the beginning of the 40-year-old West Lynn residential complex.
“My kids grew up here. It’s been a wonderful place to live,” she said.
Brown, attended King’s Lynne’s 40th year celebration Saturday with her daughter Annette Peterson.
“It really is a wonderful place to raise kids,” Peterson said, mentioning the apartment complex’s parks and pools.
The celebration was put together by King’s Lynne Resident Council member Anita Veilleux.
“King’s Lynne has been one of Lynn’s best kept secrets,” Veilleux said.
When she decided to put together the celebration commemorating her neighborhood’s history, she made a point of thanking King’s Lynne’s founders for establishing what would become a successful community.
A table in the corner of Saturday’s festivities was filled with historical items such as bricks from America Park, the housing complex previously located on O’Callaghan Way; shovels used to break ground on the original site; and pictures of the people who worked to make King’s Lynne a reality, including Veilleux’s mother, Eleanor Wessell.
“Everyone said it wouldn’t work,” Wessell said. “And now we’re 40 years in.”
King’s Lynne was built on what, for its time, was a unique idea: Provide homes for low, moderate, and market-income residents. It was something the Wessell incessantly pushed because it provided a buffer against residents being forced to move out of the complex because of changing financial situations.
King’s Lynne from concept to construction took shape as a standard for affordable housing. In addition, King’s Lynne’s layout mixed residents without regard to finances throughout the complex’s streets and housing units.
One of Wessell’s partners who helped make the apartments a reality was Joe Corcoran. He was proud to be on hand for Saturday’s festivities.
“It’s wonderful to see everyone so pleased and coming out to celebrate the community,” Corcoran said.
During the celebration, Veilleux took time to thank some of the residents who have been with King’s Lynne since the beginning, like Cloretta Brown, with a bouquet of flowers.
“It’s definitely something I didn’t expect,” Brown said. “But it is so wonderful.”
