Neighbors (loudly) voice concerns at Suffolk meeting
by Jacqueline G. Freeman
Neighbors filled the cafeteria at Suffolk University last Wednesday night to hear Suffolk formally present its plans for a new dorm on Somerset Street. But the size of the crowd and lack of a microphone kept people from hearing much at all.
More than 100 neighbors packed the room and only about half could hear the presentation. “Is this how you prepare for things?” shouted one neighbor at Suffolk officials from the back of the room.
The rowdy shouts set the tone for rest of the night.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority hosted the meeting to kick off the formal process required to amend Suffolk’s Institutional Master Plan and review its Project Notification Form for the dorm project.
Most of the people present had already heard informal presentations describing the 31-story, 800-bed student center proposed for that site and were on hand to tell the BRA they do not support the plans. The height and use of the building posed the biggest problem for neighbors. “This project has absolutely no merit,” said Peter Thomson, Bellingham Place. “It should not occur in this neighborhood. I am 100 percent opposed no matter what you say.”
Thomson’s remarks set off a round of applause.
Peppered among statements of opposition were specific questions for Suffolk with regards to student behavior. (About halfway through the meeting presenters found a microphone which helped facilitate the discussion.)
“What will you put in place to deal with the problems there now before you bring 800 more students in?” asked Dina M. A. Moeller, Joy Street.
“I don’t think the process is yet paying enough attention to the impact on the neighborhood,” said Molly Sherden, vice-president of government affairs for the Beacon Hill Civic Association. “You can analyze those things [shadow, wind and foot traffic,] to death and say this is going to be OK, and still not address the impact of inserting 800 new residents who are between the ages of 18 and 22 into the neighborhood.”
Residents at the meeting agreed that the use poses a big concern for this dense neighborhood. “No dorm is a good dorm for the Beacon Hill community,” said Joe Mari, South Russell Street.
Sherden said she is not opposed to a dorm, per se, but the size of the one proposed is an issue. Alternatively, if Suffolk renovated the property at 20 Somerset Street to house classrooms, the project would be more appealing. “We think the problem is Suffolk not talking about different possibilities,” she said.
This is the time for neighbors to speak up and let the BRA know what concerns should be addressed during the Article 80 process. “They just filed,” said Jessica Shumaker, spokesperson for the BRA. “This is very early in the process. The process is intended to help answer questions and to determine what the merits of this project may be.”
Gerald Autler, project manager for the BRA, encouraged residents to send comments in writing before the first comment period ends on May 22. “The best way to ensure that your comments are incorporated is to submit them in writing,” said Autler. The BRA will host another community meeting on Thursday, May 18, at 74 Joy St., at 6:30 p.m.
SIDEBAR
The Garden of Peace
The Garden of Peace, a memorial for the victims of homicide in Massachusetts, is an immediate abutter to the proposed student center and dorm. The height of the 31-story dorm greatly concerns Garden advocates who spoke at last week’s meeting.
The Beacon Hill Times reported last week that the Department of Capital Asset Management, which owns the property, offered to forgive the Garden of Peace’s $800,000 debt to the state if the Suffolk project goes through. (In addition, Suffolk University has offered to help pay for maintenance costs for the garden.)
One neighbor took the opportunity week to encourage DCAM to lend a hand to the garden regardless of the outcome of Suffolk’s project.
“If you [DCAM] have the power to forgive a loan, forgive it,” said Beacon Street resident Billie Lawrence. “Don’t taint it with tying it to a dorm. Just forgive it.”
Church of the Advent gets needed facelift
by Colleen Walsh
Credit: John Besser
Caption: Scaffolding has gone up at the Church of the Advent.
Church of the Advent gets needed facelift
by Colleen Walsh
When a piece of masonry close to seven inches wide came crashing down from the tower of the Church of the Advent in September of 2003, church officials knew it was time to act.
“It was right in front of the Brimmer Street door,” said Parish Administrator Jim Wood, who found the chunk of stone that he admits could have really hurt someone. “That is why we put the scaffolding up [around that entrance] almost instantly.”
A complete survey of the building was done in 2001, and water damage was discovered when a ten-pound piece of stone fell inside the church behind the altar the previous year. But the falling stone outside underscored the need for the first complete restoration of the early English Gothic Style building since it was built between 1875 and 1888 by the Boston architect and Advent parishioner John Hubbard Sturgis.
Church officials quickly kicked their plan into high gear, hiring the firm Shawmut Design and Construction to help them develop a restoration plan for the exterior of the entire building.
The first phase of the work, which is scheduled in a total of three phases, began this March and will address the restoration the masonry on the church’s bell tower as well as the cleaning and restoration of two stained glass windows along the church’s south wall by artist Christopher Wall.
The construction on the tower will include cleaning of all the stone, recutting and replacing all the joints and the replacement of a large amount of stone on the tower that has deteriorated over time.
“It’s a pretty detailed process,” said Carl Jay, director of historic preservation for Shawmut, who is heading up the project.
“You have to get up there and measure each and every stone…because you want to make sure it’s an exact replication when it comes back.”
Jay, whose firm has done similar restoration work at the famed Trinity Church in Copley Square, said the quality of the craftsmanship used on such a project is critical to its success.
“Part of preservation is really understanding the significance of what you are working with,” he said. “You want to make sure that the people who are doing the work share that same philosophy.”
To that end Jay has worked with Wallace Quarry in Wallace, Nova Scotia to find an exact match for the sandstone on the tower. He said a skilled stonemason from that area will do all the carving.
In addition, the two stained glass windows were carefully disassembled in sections and transported to a stained glass artisan in Cohose, New York, who will clean and restore them. Jay said the windows should be back in place by early August.
Other work will include replacing and restoring the church’s decorative lightning protection system—tall metal, cone-like rods with copper globes on top that Wood calls “something out of a sci-fi movie.”
To pay for the first phase of the work, the church turned to its parish family for help. Over the last year- and-a-half it has conducted a comprehensive fundraising campaign raising $1.7 million, $200,000 more than the projected $1.5 million needed. The second fundraising phase is underway with a goal of another $1 million.
Church officials said they hoped the results of the current work being done would inspire people to contribute to the next phases of the campaign.
“I am confident that, once people see how beautiful it is, there will be more of an incentive to want to complete the job,” said Vance Hosford, an active member of the church and its property chairman who travels from his home in Vermont each week to attend services.
“When they clean it it’s going to be twice the light and twice the color,” said Wood of the stone and the windows. “We hope it’s going to get people on board when they see what a difference it’s going to make.”
Wood said the work would take between three to five years to complete, depending on how quickly they could raise the money needed. He estimated the total cost for all three phases at around $5 million.
Phase two of the project will address the Brimmer Street façade and more of the church’s 34 stained glass windows. The final phase will concentrate on the Mount Vernon Street façade and the balance of the building.
Jay said he hoped to have phase one complete by the end of September.
Father Allan Warren III, rector at the church, said he is looking forward to the success of the project. “The first stone smashed into the street exactly where I stand to meet parishioners.” He said, “I am very keen on having it fixed.”
Credit: Susan R. Symonds
Mainframe Photographics Inc. & Infinity Portrait Studio
Toasting the Taste of Beacon Hill
by Times staff
The 6th Annual Taste of Beacon Hill was held at the Ritz-Carlton on May 3 and guests enjoyed a sampling of dishes from the menus of 22 Beacon Hill restaurants. Everything from JER-NE’s scallops to Harvard Gardens coconut devil’s food cake was included.
Seen here enjoying the festive evening of food are Taste co-founder and owner of Lala Rokh Restaurant Babak Bina, Michael Wardof the Back Bay, and Patrick Hickox of Cedar Lane Way.
Hosted by the Beacon Hill Business Association, 10 percent of the evening’s proceeds go to the Taste of Beacon Hill Scholarship Fund. The fund subsidizes the education of a Boston Public School graduate working towards a career in the food service industry.
Binas to start up neighborhood bistro
by by Jaclyn Trop
Binas to start up neighborhood bistro
by Jaclyn Trop
Hill restaurateurs Babak and Azita Bina unveiled plans for a Charles Street neighborhood bistro before the Beacon Hill Civic Association last week. The Binas intend to remodel Torch, which has operated at 26 Charles Street for seven years, into a neighborhood bistro, Bin 26 Enoteca.
“Torch has been sort of struggling. To have a business that’s skimping along, that’s not a great thing for the neighborhood,” Babak Bina told the association’s Zoning and Licensing Committee at its regular meeting last Wednesday. “We’ve had our eye on this for the past year,” he said.
The Binas received approval from the committee to transfer the existing beer and wine license from Torch to Bin 26 Enoteca and to extend the new restaurant’s hours of operation to 11:30 p.m.
Bina explained the components of the restaurant’s name — “bin” refers to a container for wine bottles, “26” represents the street address, and “enoteca” signifies a place “where one can find simple foods to accompany the wines sold there.”
The Binas emphasized that they were not seeking a full alcohol license.
“We’ve proven we’re not in the beer business. We’re in the restaurant business. That’s what we want to do, and that’s where we make our money,” Azita Bina told the committee.
The restaurant, which will seat 64, will have a bar that can accommodate about a dozen people.
The Binas have enlisted designers Office Da and Sandra Fairbanks for the “cosmetic changes” required of the restaurant’s interior.
Babak Bina said that he hopes for a mid- to late summer opening. The transfer for Bin 26 Enoteca will go before the city’s licensing board on May 17.
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