The “Teele Square Pit” has been an unwanted landmark in West Somerville for more than 13 years. As a candidate for Ward 7 city councilor, Michael Murray intends to see the site developed.
The dirt pit at 1154-1164 Broadway is a reminder of a 2011 three-alarm fire that consumed what was once several small businesses. Several plans for the site have been approved and subsequently stalled.
Most recently, the site was bought by Anuj Pradhan and 1154 Broadway Realty Trust for $800,000 in 2015, the South Middlesex Register of Deeds shows. Plans for a hotel were approved in 2018 but have since expired, The Boston Globe reports.
Murray has lived in the Teele Square neighborhood for 19 years. He remembers the fire, he said, and is frustrated with the lack of progress on the site.
“I’ve been in correspondence with city government and councilors about the pit for many years, asking for updates. I found these people to be somewhat responsive, but I never had the sense that anyone was particularly focused on tending to Teele Square and creating pressure to get something done with the pit,” Murray posted on Reddit, where he announced his campaign. “If we had had someone on the council, especially representing Ward 7, who made it their primary goal to address the pit, I bet we wouldn’t have a big open pit anymore.”
Murray outlined mechanisms by which the city might act, including by calling the landlords regularly about their progress – or taking control of the site through a land taking.
“Having something other than a pit in our main square would really improve the neighborhood in a significant way,” Murray told Cambridge Day.
Online, Murray has referred to himself as a single-issue candidate, but said he aims to represent the wants of his constituency. “I see the job of a councilor, or somebody working in politics at any level in an elected position, to vote their constituents plus their conscience,” he said. “On any given issue, I would be first saying what my constituents want as an elected official and then making sure that it’s something that fits with my conscience and my sense of what’s right and wrong.”
Murray, an educational consultant and mental health counselor, called himself a progressive who is “as concerned as many people about bigger issues that I care deeply about. But one way to kind of stay sane and stay grounded is: Can we improve our neighborhood? Can we keep focused on improving the place where we live?” he said.
He is set to challenge incumbent Judy Pineda Neufeld, who has represented Ward 7 since 2022 and is now City Council president.
This post was updated May 13, 2025, to remove a reference to a reelection run by Judy Pineda Neufeld.
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