By Patrick Burgard, news correspondent

After sitting dormant for nearly 30 years, the historic James Michael Curley House in Jamaica Plain is on the verge of opening to the public.

The Curley House, located at 350 Jamaicaway, was built in 1915 by former Boston Mayor and Massachusetts Gov. James Michael Curley. The house is situated just across the street from Jamaica Pond, the largest standing body of water in the Emerald Necklace park system. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy, which is responsible for maintaining the Emerald Necklace, has plans to open new offices on the second floor, which will also be used for conservancy programming, Conservancy President Karen Mauney-Brodek said.

“The idea is that the house will be open at certain hours and certain times, but we haven’t figured out what those times would be yet,” Mauney-Brodek said. “I’m still working with the city to finalize the agreement, and we are still in the process of figuring out what kinds of programming we will offer, so it’s still a work in progress.”

The plan reached a milestone Aug. 28 when the city’s Zoning Board of Appeal approved the conservancy’s request to change the second and third floors of the house from residential to office space.

The 21-room, neo-Georgian mansion is registered as a historical landmark in Boston, so any changes made to the house would need to be approved by the city, though Mauney-Brodek said the conservancy has no plans to make any notable changes.

Mauney-Brodek said the decision to open new offices inside the Curley House serves as a solution to limited space at the conservancy’s visitors’ center on the Fenway while also increasing public accessibility to the house.

“By moving some of my staff from the visitors’ center to the Curley House, I’ll be able to make my visitors’ center a better place for visitors,” Mauney-Brodek said.

Since the City of Boston’s George Robert White Fund purchased the house in 1988, it has seldom been used for anything outside of a few community meetings, Mauney-Brodek said. In recent years, however, Jamaica Plain residents and leaders have urged the city to make the historic home more accessible to the public.

“I’ve been pushing the city to do something with that building for the last six or seven years,” said Richard Dennis, Mayor Curley’s stepson. “They finally made a move, and I couldn’t be happier. There are so many things that connect this thing together. It’s just a perfect, perfect, perfect use of the house.”

Mauney-Brodek said the plans have not yet been completely finalized, and members of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s board of directors still have details to work out with city officials, but plans are already in place with neighborhood nonprofits to create programming for visitors to the Curley House.

“We’ll be working with the Jamaica Plain Historical Society and the Friends of the Curley House,” she said. “I think there are going to be opportunities for interpretation and learning more about the house, and learning more about the history of the house and its occupants, as well as the role of the neighborhood in the development of the city of Boston.”

Richard Bailey, a professor of geology at Northeastern University, said the Emerald Necklace is more than a picturesque place to walk — the park system also preserves the geological heritage of a heavily-urbanized region, while the educational work of the conservancy helps to ensure the survival of open spaces for generations to come.

“I think there is a need for greater understanding amongst the general public of some of these natural resources and open spaces,” Bailey said. “If you go to the Arboretum, which is part of that complex, you can learn about plants and landscapes, and that ties into climate change.”

Gabriel Morris, a second-year politics, philosophy and economics major who volunteered with the Emerald Necklace Conservancy last year, said he is excited the conservancy will have a new location from which to educate the public about the benefits of conservation.

“It’s a great idea and it will definitely help the Emerald Necklace to work toward its goal of urban conservation,” Morris said.

Bailey said he praises the Emerald Necklace Conservancy for its continued dedication to maintaining Boston’s few remaining open spaces.

“Last year we had [one of the] driest years on record in large parts of New England,” said Bailey, who specializes in ancient climate change patterns. “Having open space helps recharge groundwater, which helps the habitat for animals, plants, birds and so forth. I’m in favor of all efforts to make the public more knowledge about the value of the natural resources we have.”

Dennis, now 92 years old, said he has fond memories of growing up in the house, including rowing his stepfather around Jamaica Pond while he fished.

“It’s an incredible series of circumstances which connect the Emerald Necklace with the house and the house with the Emerald Necklace,” Dennis said.“It’s incredible, and it’s just right that it’s happening.”