The most interesting one is for 154-162A Brighton Avenue in Allston. The building owner is Blanchard’s, but I from what I gather this is to allow the Brighton Music Hall, formerly Harper’s Ferry, to expand their capacity from 340 people to 476. This will also require permission from the Boston Licensing Board and the Boston Licensing Division.
For the rest of what’s going on in Room 801 this week, click here
A visitor to 48 Brighton Ave.
Since the management company refuses to give contact information for the owners to tenants, I thought I would help them out. The Assessing Department lists four owners: Wayne Siegel, Kevin Ryan, Joseph Ciliberti and New Brighton Realty Trust. Based on what I could find in public records, Joseph Ciliberti lives at 12 Marshfield Road, Newton. He is also an owner of Brighton Realty. There is a post office box in Brookline listed on the deed, but that’s not what we’re looking for. That’s all I got, let me know if you have any leads.
“Allston Pudding” covers the local music scene, focusing on discovering and promoting the local bands that don’t get a mainstream mention, never mind a real club to perform in. This review liked the crowd, the high basement ceilings of the literally underground Thieve’s Grotto, and all the bands. The ‘Foxes as Pets’ members are all of 16 and 17 years old, and must have borrowed mom’s car to make the drive all the way from Scituate. Thieve’s Grotto takes place in a seriously undisclosed location, somewhere in Allston.
The Skating Club of Boston celebrated one hundred years of ice time by some of the sport’s greatest talents, as well as many thousands of Bostonians who just enjoy the winter exercise. The gala was covered in the Boston Globe (paywall) and there is more information on the club’s website. The money raised will support the construction of a new facility at 176 Lincoln Street, Allston to replace the current rink on Soldier’s Field Road. This initiative is part of a land swap between Harvard and the club.
Two mailboxes at what's left of 84 Linden
The house is listed as a single-family with both the Assessing and Inspectional Services Departments. As you can see from the above photo, taken after the fire, its actual use was probably different. Questions about the legal occupancy go back to 1975, according to documents at the Building Division. The previous owner, David Fay, got a permit to expand the living space into the basement, although it looked to me from the permit that he was really adding another apartment. But Mr. Fay did quite well. He bought it for $220,000 in 1998 and sold it in September of last year for $572,000.
Post-fire
This carriage house in the rear, pictured below, appears to have been unused at the time of the fire. The area behind the house was lovely. Completely paved over.
New Balance, continuing its march across the community, has now claimed naming rights to the new playing field that BU will build at the corner of Babcock and Gardner Streets in Allston. Games will take place atop a 350 car garage, and there will be room for one thousand spectators in the stands. Ultimate Frisbee will be added to the school’s roster of intramural sports, which will be among the club sports using the field. The women’s varsity field hockey team will get the most turf-time, returning for their first home games after eleven years of off-campus contests and practices.
Kudos to New Balance. They are putting serious money into Allston Brighton, they pay property taxes, and their plans will generate jobs and activity that seem like they will benefit our neighborhood. Maybe we have an alternative to Harvard’s ‘Occupy Allston’ approach: buy it and do nothing.
Big City, the Allston pool hall at the corner of Brighton and Harvard Avenues, is going to become Patron’s Mexican Kitchen & Watering Hole, according to Boston Magazine. No mention in the article if the cue balls will disappear, or if it is just a menu change.
“Harry, the planning we’ve done led to the approval of Stone Hearth Pizza and Swiss Bakers,” – BRA Chief Planner Kairos Shen
Wow. A dire need has been filled.
Harvard’s presentation Monday night on its plans for the untilled acres it owns in Allston left residents underwhelmed. The lack of a timeline was particularly troubling.
Ah well, if the science center doesn’t work out, they can always fall back on their reputation as that Beauty Factory on the Charles.
UPDATE – A follow-up article in the Crimson cites more dissatisfaction with the university’s plans, this time centered on proposed housing.
This dog ran away from Ringer Park on Friday, February 10 and was last seen on Harvard Avenue and Cambridge Street. She answers to the name Chloe and is a rescue dog, recently arrived from Puerto Rico. Chloe is eight months old, weighs about 30 pounds and is a Doberman-looking mix. She also has a microchip embedded in her. If you have any information, please contact her owner, Elise, at 908-461-3852.
Josh Goldenberg, the BU student who jumped from a window to escape a January 22 fire at 84 Linden Street, Allston, has come out of his coma and started rehab, according to BU’s Daily Free Press.
UPDATE – The owners of the house are listed as Chitz Sung and and Sue Hua Chang, of Clinton, Massachusetts. They purchased the property in September of 2011 for $572,500, well above its assessed value of $434,800. There were reports at the time of the fire that the house had been converted to a multi-family dwelling.
An Allston wanna-be DJ drew the ire of his neighbors and the attention of police late Thursday afternoon. The pounding music from his third floor apartment at 109 Brainerd Road led to calls to 911, attitude from the offender, and finally his arrest for disturbing the peace.
Paul Alford of Allston urges Mayor Menino to use the same strategy with Harvard that he used with Vornado at the old Filene’s site. Meanwhile, Paul Berkeley, head of the Allston Civic Association, sounds pretty happy with some new businesses on university property along Western Avenue.
The Licensing Board will consider the application of Dante’s Frozen Yogurt for a common victualer’s license on Wednesday, February 8. They hope to operate out of 1236 Commonwealth Avenue, Allston with hours of 12 noon to 9 PM. I was hoping the manager would be named Beatrice, but no such luck.
The Larz Anderson Bridge, which spans the Charles River between North Harvard Street, Allston and JFK Street, Cambridge, will be rebuilt and reconfigured at a cost of $20 million. Construction will this spring and end in the summer of 2014. If all goes to plan, the chaos of cars, runners, rollerbladers, bicycles and other travelers will be tamed by reducing the current four lanes to three, expanding sidewalks, adding a bike lane and other improvements.
The Penniman on the Park proposal won approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority back in December 2011. The next step, a hearing for a number of zoning variances, will be held on Tuesday, February 14. Penniman Road runs off Hano Street, behind the Walgreen’s in Union Square, Allston. If approved, which looks all but certain, the building will be five stories high with 36 condos and 17 parking spaces. (Image courtesy of the BRA website.)
Sunday morning, January 22, eight BU students fled a fire at 84 Linden Street in Allston. Two leaped from windows, according to the Boston Globe. One student was critically injured.
if you are interested in making a career of dealing with this, the Boston Fire Department is hiring. Apply here.
Photo courtesy of BFD website.