CAPTION: An artist's rendering of the proposed building at 20 Somerset St.

While last week’s meeting of the Suffolk Task Force Design Subcommittee was sparse in the area of new revelations, Suffolk University presented new conceptual art that shows what the proposed 20 Somerset building may look like at night.
The renderings show interior lights shining out of the glass façade toward Roemer Plaza, creating a colorful “jewel box” effect.
Architect Patrick Tedesco with Chan Krieger said the hope is not only to revitalize Roemer Plaza as a public area, but also to “speak to the façade of the old courthouse,” bringing attention to the older building through dramatic contrast.
This building will really be a chance to celebrate the old courthouse by enlivening the plaza and bringing activity, said Tedesco.
Tedesco also described a public gallery behind glass that would run along Somerset Street and would be observable to pedestrians.
In addition, Suffolk again floated the idea of using the building’s prominent south facing corner for an LED or other lighted display. The university said such a display could be used to show student or professional artwork, to promote shows and work, but not as any kind of revenue generating ad space.
However, in what may be a sign of looming resistance, Rob Whitney of the Beacon Hill Civic Association (BHCA) voiced a number of the group’s general concerns. Whitney said the BHCA board is not necessarily happy with some of what Suffolk has presented and hopes the university can work on better matching the building to its architectural context.
“We had the idea that [the art school] would fit in better with the historic buildings,” said Whitney, who intimated that the design renderings to this point didn’t match the concept that the BHCA expected, based on information presented earlier in the year. In particular, Whitney said the BHCA is unhappy with the high ratio of glass to masonry in the project.
Whitney said the BHCA is also dissatisfied with the current design plans for Roemer Plaza, which he described as uninviting.
“We’re worried about it becoming a mini-City Hall Plaza,” said Whitney, referring to the much maligned sprawling brick expanse in Government Center. Whitney said the BHCA hoped for something greener, along the lines of Post Office Square downtown.
However, other BHCA members expressed their approval of the project, and the task force has been generally supportive of the decision to build a modern, rather than historic-style, structure.
Suffolk’s decision to acquire and use the 20 Somerset site has led to a long and rocky history of negotiations with the BHCA and other representatives of Beacon Hill and the city.
Suffolk originally hoped to build an 800-bed dormitory on the site as it sought to increase housing capacity for its student body. Resistance from the public led to Suffolk scaling back those plans to about 500 beds, but the university was still unable to secure public approval.
Then, in 2006, Suffolk lost key support from the mayor’s office for the dormitory plan, forcing the university to rethink its expansion. University officials returned to the table in 2007 with a new idea - to use 20 Somerset for academic, administrative, or student life purposes, but to keep dorm expansion contained in other neighborhoods.
That decision brightened the university’s relationship with the BHCA and brought progress to negotiations that had reached an impasse. Suffolk soon announced its plan to house the New England School of Art and Design and general academic and administrative space at the site. Suffolk further increased its traction with the BHCA by promising to close a number of classrooms in the Temple/Derne Street areas in Beacon Hill, pitching the new building as an opportunity to shift some of Suffolk’s presence to a less residential area.
The concessions led to a broad and detailed agreement between the university and the BHCA earlier this year. In exchange for the BHCA’s non-opposition to the project, Suffolk signed onto an extensive non-expansion pact that promised an end to almost all institutional expansion in Beacon Hill.

Cambridge Trust will host a private cocktail party to celebrate its 10th anniversary on Thursday, October 30, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at King’s Chapel Parish House, 64 Beacon St., Boston. “Beacon Hill being Beacon Hill, everyone likes to talk, so we’re looking forward to a fun event,” says branch manager and Vice President Donna Phelps.
The celebration will also be attended by the original bank manager, Susan Berry, and Senior Executive Officer Bob DiGregorio, who lives on Charles River Square.
Refreshments will be served to customers all week. “We can’t believe we‘ve been here 10 years,” says Phelps, who has been at the bank for six years. “I feel like it could have been here last week.”
Phelps, who lives on Philips Street, is also president of the Beacon Hill Business Association. Cambridge Trust was founded in 1892, and is based in Harvard Square. It also has branches in Concord, Lincoln and Weston.
“Cambridge Trust is such a wonderful place to work,” she says. “The bank knows how to treat people who work here. We have the best customers. You feel like you’re having company every day. We look forward to going into work, which sounds goofy, but it’s true.”
As a result, they keep adding customers. “We bank with half of the businesses on Charles Street,” says Phelps. “The personal accounts have been growing steadily.”
During these economic times, Cambridge Trust is in solid shape, says Phelps. “It is a very conservative bank. We have never made subprime mortgages or loans. We don’t have one foreclosure.” In the Boston Business Journal ‘s recent analysis of the state’s 50 banks, Cambridge Trust was 35th in size but No. 1 in return on equity, says Phelps. “We’re very well capitalized. We don’t have the type of issues being experienced by other banks. It’s not that we don’t feel very concerned about what’s going on in the economy.”

The City Council's Boston Common Committee held a hearing Monday to discuss a federally-funded capital grant of $200,000.00 from the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service to refurbish the decaying Brewer Fountain on the Tremont Street side of the Boston Common. The committee recommended Monday that the $200,000 be sent to the City Council for a vote on Wednesday. "If all goes well work on the fountain will begin in early spring 2009 and take about a year to complete," said City Councilor Michael Ross, co-chair of the Boston Common committee. "The important thing here is that the Tremont Street side of the Common is not as built up as it could be and this side of the park is in need of the most work. I think refurbishing the fountain will certainly kickoff the effort to turn this part of the Common around." City Councilor Sal LaMattina added that the fountain "is one of the nicest fountains we have in the City of Boston". "We have have an opportunity here to restore a city treasure," said LaMattina, who co-chairs the committee with Ross. "I'm looking forward to turning this beautiful landmark back to its original glory." The Boston Parks and Recreation Department received a $200,000 grant from Save America's Treasures, to be matched by $300,000 from the mayor's Capital Budget, and $100 from the Fund for Parks and Recreation. The city will refurbish the bronze statue fountain, and install a new water circulating system. The fountain was given to the city in 1867, and has been spewing green ever since. According to Henry Lee, who leads the Friends of the Public Garden, the fountain was restored about 10 years ago, but the water pump and the recirculating system became flooded. “That all has to be replaced, plus the work on the monument itself,” said Lee. “It has never run very well for very long in its entire history. William Dean Howell looked at the allegorical figures [in the fountain] and said it was the four seasons of drought. He said that 120 years ago, and nothing much has changed.” Lee said that lovingly, because the fountain is a treasure that not only needs this funding, but an ongoing endowment. The area surrounding it is also in need of renovation. “It is bleak and barren and in very bad condition,” he said. “We think part of making the fountain once again the centerpiece of the Common is making it more hospitable and attractive. That, too, will cost a great deal of money.” The Friends are working with a local landscaping architectural firm to develop plans and hope to have “something to study” within the next months, said Lee. For now, the $600,000 refurbishment will include disassembly, removal, transporting to an offsite conservation studio, cleaning, repair, repatination, reassembly and reinstallation of the historic 1868 bronze fountain, said a spokesman from the Parks Department. The project will also clean, repoint and repair existing granite masonry elements, and include a bird deterrent system. Bids to start the project, as designed by Carr, Lynch and Sandell of Cambridge, are due Thursday, October 23, and assuming bids are received and are appropriate, the project will be awarded that day, said Hines. The contract will probably be executed within eight weeks, with work starting in December. According to Mary Hines of the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the bronze sculptural fountain piece will be restored offsite in a conservator’s studio. While the fountain is away, the existing concrete basin will be partially removed, new piping will be installed and a new, more historically accurate concrete basin will be installed. The water level in the fountain will be slightly reduced, but will be adequate to maintain the sound of the water splashing. The basin will be lined with dark gray, 2-3-inch flat stones set in a bed of mortar. In addition, two new underground vaults will be installed in the turf panel directly east of the fountain. The equipment vault will hold pumps, filters, heaters, and other equipment required to run the fountain, while the storage vault will hold the fountain water, leaving the fountain empty during night hours. The new pumps will be higher capacity and will force more water through the fountain than in previous years. Once everything is installed, the bronze statue will be returned to the site and re-installed atop the existing granite plinth. For now, Lee is crossing his fingers that the mayor’s recent cutback plans won’t include the fountain. “It’s tied to other funding,” he said hopefully. The Friends of the Public Garden understand current economic conditions mean the parks may be overlooked. “It’s nothing that a few million dollars wouldn’t take care of,” Lee said, joking. But more seriously, he said, perhaps it is time that the residents around the park look into funding their front yard. “In many other cities, groups have gone to neighbors and argued successfully that half the value of their property is looking over the park,” Lee said. “Everyone wants to see the Common improved, but the city is short of funds.” He also argued that the parks receive no improvement money from the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, which runs the underground garage, or the MBTA, which has several stops on the Common. “Both state agencies use and damage the Common but don’t provide any funds to support the Common. Nor do any of the development firms in the neighborhoods,” he said. Again, Lee knows the economic climate isn’t very sunny right now. “We’re not expecting any big bonanzas in the next six months, but one can always hope,” he added.