Wow. Action for Boston Community Development has whacked the funding of longtime – we’re talking at least three decades here – Allston Brighton APAC director Paul Creighton. APAC is the acronym for the Area Planning Action Council, located on Harvard Avenue. Paul has run for Allston Brighton district city council three times. The whole thing has ended up in court. The APAC, meaning Mr. Creighton, has always managed to survive below the radar, enduring changes in US presidents, Boston mayors and sundry local elected officials. So who did he piss off?
April 2, 2012
Bare ruined choirs
The interior of St. Gabriel’s church, which closed in July 2007, is in tough shape, based on these photos. There appears to be a lot of water damage. The property had been owned by St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, but I am not sure if the sale of the hospital to the for-profit Steward Healthcare System included the church, monastery and long-closed school.
April 2, 2012
Before and after
The owner of 60-62 Dunboy Street will be up before the Board of Appeal on April 10 to legalize the expansion of living space into the basement. This request is also going to be discussed Thursday at the BAIA. This is how the house looked before construction:
This is how it looks now.
Obviously a bit more was going on than just adding some basement living space, but the work is complete and it is pretty much a moot question. There was a “For Sale” sign in front, but that is now gone and the units may be on the rental market.
March 29, 2012
Coyote town
I spotted a coyote at 10:30 last night on Dunboy Street, near the intersection of Hardwick near Oak Square.
March 28, 2012
New Balance pics
The WGBH video screen overlooking the Mass. Pike will be vying for attention with the New Balance sneaker-shaped headquarters. Boston.com has a slide show of renderings and site plans.
March 13, 2012
Round of MBTA hearings over, another plan in the works
Last night’s hearing was attended by about 200 people, with more than 30 speaking against the cuts and fare increases (There were more, but I left after I spoke, at #29). It was a mix of people who seem to have made the rounds to many of the hearings and local residents, along with local State Senator Will Brownsberger and State Representatives Kevin Honan and Michael Moran. It received additional coverage on NECN. Neither of the T’s proposal’s got any support, and it looks like they are looking to develop alternatives, if you read to the end of the Boston.com story above. Whatever plan they devise, it will likely only resolve the system’s budget woes for the short-term, given its heavy debt load and the increasing demand on its service.
March 11, 2012
Shubow Park
This small bit of green space at the intersection of Chiswick Road and Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton is up for some planning and improvements. Fronted by Temple B’nai Moshe, it is named for Rabbi Joseph Shubow, its first rabbi. Neighbors can get involved at a public meeting Tuesday, March 13 at 6:30PM at the Hamilton School, 198 Strathmore Road.
March 9, 2012
64, 501, 503: attend the hearing on bus cutbacks
http://youtu.be/O92ZbSAftuI?t=22s
The above routes are on the chopping block in the MBTA’s plan to contend with its deficit. There is a public hearing this coming Monday, March 12 from 5:30 to 7:30PM at the Veronica Smith Senior Center, 20 Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brighton Center. Show up, raise your voice, wave your Charlie Card. The MBTA needs to hear how much we need these bus lines.
March 8, 2012
1501, Charing Cross Road?
http://youtu.be/7BKcExKy1Fc
Tonight’s meeting will give neighbors a look at the plans for the city-owned property at 1501 Commonwealth Avenue. The report on Boston.com contains no explanation for the name, “Charing Cross,” which seems an attempt at…what? So people can imagine they are buying a condo above a quaint British bookshop?
The project as described looks pretty good, and will bring some life to a stretch of the avenue that sorely needs it. Let’s hope the city will make good use of the $50,000 developer contribution to improve the shabby median across from the site, and the $25,000 that is pledged to Ringer Park. One question that I did not see answered was what are the income levels for the eighteen apartments designated as affordable.
March 1, 2012
Stadium seating
New Balance has big plans for its property along Guest Street, adjacent to the Massachusetts Turnpike. A track and field facility and a hockey arena are part of the project, along with other fitness-related activities and a hotel. On the other side of the Pike, the Skating Club of Boston intends to relocate to a new, three-rink complex on Lincoln Street, one of them a two thousand seat performance venue. Boston University is adding a playing field on Gardner Street, Allston that will have room for one thousand spectators.
So how is everyone going to get there? The New Balance/Skating Club area is poorly served by public transit, essentially buses that get stuck in the stop and go traffic along Western Avenue. There will soon be 242 new apartments next to the Shaw’s. BU’s playing field in a bit farther away, but will still add to traffic. Harvard Stadium is right around the corner, and you have to throw BC’s football field into the mix.
We need a commuter rail station. The MBTA does not want to talk about this. At all. Understandably, given they are are having major budget problems. But the neighborhood needs to bring this up, again and again. Demand they start studying it. Where will a station be built, how it will connect to buses, will it have parking. These proposals represent major economic growth that should be debated, encouraged, and supported. But not unless there is a comprehensive approach.
Since the Turnpike was built, public transit in Allston Brighton has deteriorated. We lost the three rail stations (Allston, Brighton and Faneuil) to accommodate suburban commuters on the highway, then lost our last direct connection to downtown, the A-line trolley. The state is going to get a lot of revenue from this development. Some of it needs be used to build a better transit system, here.
February 29, 2012
Bally Total Fitness, totally gone
The Bally Total Fitness health club that was located on Guest Street, next to WGBH and opposite the New Balance headquarters and housed in the same building as the New Balance outlet store, has closed. The sign on the door said they lost their lease. No word on a future tenant.
February 21, 2012
100 Years on Ice
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.
February 17, 2012
St.E’s has some competition
St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, now owned by New York-based Cerberus Capital Management L.P. (also known as Steward Health Care, but let’s stick with the real owners) now has to contend with these Allston street medics.
February 16, 2012
When it takes more than a genius
February 12, 2012
Fire hits 160 Chestnut Hill Avenue
The commercial block at 160 Chestnut Hill Avenue has been destroyed by a fire that broke out just before 6 this morning. (photo via Boston Fire Department)
UPDATED at 2 PM: The fire is continuing, due to a gas line. National Grid has been called in to excavate the street and shut off the line. Apparently the fire started in the pizza parlor on the right in the photo below. (photo via Google)