On December 12 the Boston Landmarks Commission will vote on a proposal by Suffolk University to demolish the former Metropolitan District Commission building and retain the architecturally significant north and east facades to incorporate into a newly-constructed 22-story student center and residence hall.

This is the recommendation of a commission subcommittee which had been charged with studying the historic significance of the property at 20 Somerset Street which Suffolk wants to turn into a student center and residence hall. At a regular commission meeting last Tuesday, subcommittee Chair John Freeman urged that the provisions of a Memorandum of Agreement proposed October 3 by Suffolk be adopted in lieu of taking a vote of landmark designation at this time.

Freeman said his group had meet with both Suffolk and residents who had filed a petition to designate the property as a Landmark about the possible designation. “It was a very difficult process,” said Freeman, “but the subcommittee believes the best way to represent the MDC is to document its historic associations, which are more significant than the architecture of the building.”

Documenting the MDC’s significance is part of the memorandum proposed in October by Suffolk. The university would develop and fund a museum with interpretative exhibits on the history of the MDC and its significant role as a metropolitan agency. The museum would serve as a public educational tool and be displayed in about 1100 square feet on the first floor of the new building.

The memorandum also stipulates that Suffolk develop a plan to guide future preservation efforts by the university. It would be incorporated into its Institutional Master Plan.

Finally, the commission would review on an ongoing basis Suffolk’s design plans. The new construction and reconstruction of the historic facades of the building would be sited on a base approximately 20 feet north of the existing buildings. This relocation would be allowed in order to provide a site Suffolk believes would be more appropriate for both the building and the redeveloped areas of the surrounding plaza, according to the memorandum.

John Nucci, vice president of government and community affairs, called the subcommittee’s recommendation a compromise. “Like any compromise, there are significant concessions that both sides would have to live with,” he said. “In Suffolk’s case, it means sizable additional costs and decreased usable space. In the end, however, I think that both sides of this issue were genuinely considered and treated fairly. We will, of course, abide by whatever the commission decides.”

The public will have an opportunity to comment on the recommendation at the Boston Landmarks Commission meeting on December 12 or may submit written comments in advance.

Bowdoin Street resident Tim Padura, a Suffolk Task Force member, said he appreciated the efforts of the commission to find a solution that gives the MDC the recognition it rightly deserves while accommodating the political pressure he believes was applied by Suffolk University.

"Notwithstanding the content of the proposed memorandum, I think it is reasonable that the subcommittee brings it forth as a proposal for full public disclosure and comment,” said Padura. During the public review, it will be apparent that there are significant legal ambiguities in the memorandum that not only threaten the creation of a permanent recognition of the MDC, but also the future ability of the Boston Landmarks Commission to deal with developers."

If the commission accepts the recommendations of the subcommittee, Suffolk must undergo the Article 85 process of the Boston Zoning Code, also known as the Demolition Delay. The Boston Landmarks Commission would review the demolition process and submit a determination letter before the Inspectional Services Department will issue a demolition permit.

Dressed like Santa’s elves, little Jack Dullea and his dad Paul, who works at the Boston Bar Association on Beacon Street, had plenty of smiles at Boston’s 65th Annual Tree Lighting on the Boston Common last Thursday evening. The warm weather brought hundreds of tots, families and friends who cheered in delight at the arrival of Santa Claus and the lighting of the 42-foot, 50-year old white spruce donated by the people of Nova Scotia in appreciation of Boston’s relief efforts following an explosion in Halifax in 1917.

Tomorrow the Museum of African American History will celebrate history by making it.

Massachusetts’ first black governor-elect, Deval Patrick, will help kick off the year-long bicentennial celebration of the nation’s oldest still-standing African Meeting House at the Tremont Temple, 88 Tremont Street, at 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The festive evening will feature readings of historic works that were first spoken at the African Meeting House, ranging from those by abolitionist Frederick Douglass to United States Senator Edward Brooke, the first and only black man to represent the Commonwealth in the U.S. Senate, said Tracy Gibbs, museum spokesman. In addition to his own remarks, Patrick is expected to read excerpts from some of the speeches Douglass gave during the 19th century as part of the fight to end slavery.

“To hear him speak like this so embodies the purpose of the meeting house,” said Gibbs. “It will be so powerful to hear him read Douglass’s words, and it shows the power of our community.

The evening will also celebrate the roles played by the meeting house itself and the contributions of Beacon Hill citizens during that time.

In addition to Patrick, the kickoff will feature remarks and readings by Mayor Thomas Menino, the Rev. Dr. Peter Gomes of Harvard Memorial Church, the Rev. Dr. Michael Haynes, senior pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church, and descendants of Beacon Hill’s 19th century community. Music from the Underground Railroad will be sung by Boston Symphony Orchestra vocalist Myran Parker-Brass and Vivien Cooley-Collier of Black Nativity.

Built in 1806, the African Meeting House on Joy Street was the first black church built in Boston. The church, school and meeting house were the sites for many legendary gatherings that led to the termination of slavery.

During the centennial celebration, the museum is planning to complete the construction and restoration of the fragile building, constructed in 1806. Shawmut Design & Construction is building a three-story addition, a rear exit and access to a new underground mechanical vault, and a stairwell and elevator shaft to reach the vault. The historic building façade and existing interior will be renovated. The project is scheduled for completion in March, 2007.

SIDEBAR

Other bicentennial celebrations

• A new exhibit entitled “A Gathering Place for Freedom” will open tomorrow at the Museum of African American History and run through the week of January 29. It is the first in a yearlong series of celebratory educational programs, lectures and concerts that will highlight the activism and bravery of the community.

• On January 15 the Greater Boston Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Concert will be held at the Walsh Theatre, Suffolk University.

• During February, Black History Month, a series of six theatrical performances at the museum will bring to life abolitionists Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Ellen Craft, Lewis Hayden and David Walker.

• On March 4 “Jubiliation,” the annual Living Legend Awards Gala, will salute contemporary heroes. Prior honorees include Ossie Davis, Senator Edward Brooke, Cicely Tyson, Bill Russell and Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

• April’s annual “Profiles in Color” program will feature a conversation with a notble figure. Past programs featured Yolanda King and Captain Pinckney, the first African American to solo circumnavigate the world.

• On July 14 “A Gathering Place for Freedom Culture Fest” will feature African American culture and history celebrations on Boston Common with gospel, jazz, African drums and dance performances, and historical reenactments.

• From September 25-27 a Black Books Festival with book fair, prizes, readings and book-signings by authors of contemporary books, as well as readings from historical works, will take place.

• On October 25 “The Black Church with Cornel West” lecture series will take a look at the Black Church with renowned Cornel West.

For more information about events planned to celebrate the bicentennial, visit the museum’s website: www.afroammuseum.org

credit: Dhan Shrestha



Just in time for holiday shopping, neighbors enjoyed the Beacon Hill Nursery School’s annual Book Fair held at 74 Joy Street on Thursday, November 30. Joy Street resident Diana Coldren helped her children Grant, 4, and Hadley 3, select their favorite books.

Rage and forgiveness, grief and hope, and love and loss filled a Suffolk Superior courtroom last week as Waymond Pearson’s family confronted his 26 year-old-killer, Victor Young, before he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

A jury convicted Young on November 15 of first-degree murder for fatally stabbing 18-year-old Waymond G. Pearson, Jr. of Joy Street on September 14, 2003. Judge Christine M. McEvoy imposed the mandatory sentence, which she directed Young to serve at MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole.

Friends and neighbors listened as Waymond’s brother Kieran told of how he was out fishing, watching a great blue heron, when his father and mother called him on his cell phone to tell him of his beloved little brother’s death. “How do you stand the sound of your mother and father sobbing,” he asked. “It’s hard to wake up in the morning. I have to try to find meaning in everything I do. It is deep sorrow.”

Kieran Pearson told of his brother’s kindness. Once, he said, he took off his own shoes to give to a homeless man who had no shoes. Waymond walked home barefoot. “If Waymond Pearson can be snuffed out . . .” he began. But he couldn’t finish the sentence.

Waymond’s sister Jordana Monteiro looked at her younger brother’s murderer and said, “I’ve hated you for the past three years.” She said she wanted Young to suffer what her brother had suffered. On the day of the murder, she was determined to get Young. “By 8 a.m., I knew who you were, where you were, where you lived,” she cried.

But in the next breath she was expressing pity. “I feel sorry for you,” she said. “Was it all worth it?”

In the end, she was bereft. “You truly hurt my family,” she said. “You took away a bond holding us together. Since that day, everything is gone. It’s been downhill for us.”

But her mother, Bernadette Williams, showed compassion as well as grief. “Victor, you’re a victim too. Your life is over,” she said to the young man who sat stoically listening, dressed in a plaid shirt hanging out of his trousers.

“You killed my baby. You chopped him up. I have all the hate and rage for you,” she said. “But you’re a mother’s son. You’re also a hard-core killer. You should just feel like a fool.”

Mrs. Williams had some advice for Young. “I hope you can tell the other boys it wasn’t worth it,” she said. She suggested that he try to teach someone something good every day. “Maybe your life will not have been in vain,” she said.

She related how hospital officials gave her Waymond’s cracked cell phone and his water shoes, which she got for 75 percent off at CVS. “I said no, no, no, no, no,” she said. “I asked who did this and where is his mother. Who could raise such a monster?”

But she looked at Young and saw his loss too. “I wish you love,” she said. “I have forgiven you. I have three grandsons and a granddaughter on the way. I get to smell their breath and feel their skin on mine. You’ll never get to do that.”

Few in the courtroom were dry-eyed by this time. Even the judge reached over her desk, pulled a Kleenex from a box and blew her nose.

Finally Victor Young stood up and faced his victim’s relatives. “I’m sorry,” he said in a soft voice. “I never intended. I don’t want anyone to think I’m a cold-blooded murderer. I’m truly sorry.”

Young’s life, according to his lawyer, has not been easy. His mother moved from Orchard Park housing project in Roxbury to South Carolina because of the fear of Victor getting into trouble. She died at age 57 of a heart attack in a parking lot, running into a hospital where she feared Victor had been taken after having been beaten up. Victor turned out to be fine, but he had lost his mother.

The best and worst of Boston

Last spring, when Mayor Menino suggested building a 1,000-foot building — a “bold, beautiful contemporary icon,” in the BRA’s words — on Winthrop Square, many Bostonians rolled their eyes.

As a comparison, Boston’s current tallest building, the John Hancock, stands 790 feet tall with 60 stories.

When only one developer submitted a proposal — 75 stories with a garden at ground level, designed by Renzo Piano — those same Bostonians felt that their skepticism about such an idea was vindicated. Most real estate developers are smarter than to sink money into a 21st century fantasy, they seemed to say. Furthermore, it’s only a proposal. The thing isn’t financed or permitted or built yet, they point out.

But last week came the news from the New York Times that architects have submitted daring, dazzling designs for a tower in St. Petersburg, Russia, that is three to four times the height the grand, historic, low-rise landmarks the city is known for. The city’s historic preservationists and architects are scandalized. The proposal’s advocates have trotted out the usual arguments for economic development.

In the same issue of the New York Times was an article about a white, curved and layered church designed by Richard Meier. While its size is not significant, its materials are. Its coating is said to devour smog and clean itself.

Rome, St. Petersburg and Boston. They share some characteristics — good looking, historic, walkable cities where urban life can be as good as it gets. To what extent should cities like these incorporate modern possibilities? How do cities like these honor their past without being shackled by it? How do they take advantage of the future without following every new trend that comes along?

We can’t write knowingly about the attitudes of the dwellers of Rome or St. Petersburg. But we do know Bostonians, partly because we are of the species.

As is the case for individuals, collectively our strongest attributes are both our best traits and our worst. For example, we value and try to preserve the smaller scale that characterizes some parts of Boston. But we will too often trade beauty for smaller scale — the Darth Vader building at the corner of Boylston and Exeter, built a couple of decades ago, is a good example of this tendency. Another example is 75 State Street, an office building designed by Graham Gund. Even though its top is flat, it has considerably more interest than most of Boston’s buildings in the Financial District. But community pressure lowered the height, so that its fanciful top is hidden. If this now-squat building had been taller it would have improved Boston’s skyline.

Another example in which our best characteristic is also our worst is in technology. Although the Boston area is known for its high-tech inventiveness, we are happy to keep things the way they are in our public services. Let’s take the Charlie ticket and Charlie card. Are we the last city in the world to enter into electronic ticketing in our transit system? There was no public outcry when years went by and we were still handing our change over to a person sitting in a 1920s-style booth and toting our tokens around until they were used up. It is a small matter, but a telling one about our attitude.

Now that the lights are once again strung on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, we are reminded of the brouhaha that was unleashed in 1999 when the lights were first put up. We ran an article in The Beacon Hill Times about our closest neighbors, because we felt this disagreement was so typical and unique to Boston. In any other city, the lights would have been lauded, but in the Back Bay a good number of people complained. They said the lights were inappropriate — maybe even common. With the support of several influential people, including Henry Lee, president of the Friends of the Public Garden, who said that Christmas couldn’t be too gaudy for him, the lights were strung. We’ve heard few complaints in recent years, so we assume that the opponents have accepted their fate.

Our conservative traits sometimes protect us. Sometimes they make us act foolishly. They are not necessarily right or wrong. But in all our decisions about our public realm, we must be aware of these attitudes and tendencies and realize how they can help us or hurt us.