Civic Agenda
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MARCH WWW.FENWAYNEWS.ORG 2017 FREE SERVING THE FENWAY, KENMORE SQUARE, UPPER BACK BAY, PRUDENTIAL, LONGWOOD AREA AND MISSION HILL SINCE 1974 VOLUME 43, NUMBER 3 MARCH 3-MARCH 31, 2017 CITY AGENCIES OK PHASE ONE OF LANDMARK CENTER REDEVELOPMENT BY ALISON PULTINAS and encompasses surface parking lots and Commission, whose jurisdiction extends to replacement of the 1990s additions. As of he Landmark Center at 401 Park sidewalks. According to the presentation, the all buildings and structures built or altered this publication, there is no set time line for Drive is—as its name suggests—a redevelopment will improve accessibility, within 100 feet of a park or parkway. The construction. designated Boston landmark. It won commission voted to approve Phil Cohen is the Boston Planning & De- that status in 1989, thanks to efforts the proposal—but not without velopment Authority project manager. (He in- of local residents. Originally the Sears Roe- some controversy. herited the assignment from John Fitzgerald.) T At the center of the conflict There have been no recent public meetings on buck & Co. Mail Order House (built around 1928), it was redeveloped and expanded in the were two proposed glass box the project, but the developer is striving for 1990s by the Abbey Group as a big-box retail kiosks—1,500 square feet and a spring start date for the new landscaping. center with upper floors providing office space 800 square feet in size—that Samuels hopes to acquire about 8,000 square for institutions and tenants such as Blue Cross would be year-round vendor feet on the Brookline Ave./Park Drive corner PHOTO: SAMUELS AND ASSOCIATES Blue Shield. Now it’s being redeveloped again, locations facing Park Drive. of the existing site from the Public Works by Samuels & Associates. Those elements were deferred Dept. and incorporate it into the plan. In February, Samuels presented to Liza Meyer, the City’s Chief According to Manfredi, Samuels’s com- phase one of its redevelopment proposal Landscape Architect, for final mercial real estate ventures have reinvented to the Boston Parks Commission and the review and sign off. the Fenway. The Landmark is uniquely posi- Boston Landmarks Commission. This phase According to David tioned to take advantage of that reinvention. comprises “public realm improvements,” and Manfredi, the architect work- Manfredi used the words “social retail” and the commissions’ reviews are required by ing on the redevelopment, he “street retail” in his description of the new law thanks to that 1989 landmark designation and Samuels rethought the central food hall connector planned for the and the building’s proximity to Park Drive property’s “potential” thanks to ground floor. He mentioned that it would and the Back Bay Fens across the street. This raise the former Best Buy parking lot by two the new activity/destination entertainment in house Boston tenants, as opposed to national phase entails conversion of the parking lot to to three feet and convert it to green space, and the area. Later phases will add condos, apart- chains, and include restaurants spilling out- a landscaped lawn with walking paths and 93 make alterations to ramps and stairways along ments, restaurants, and shops, all contributing doors with café seating and multiple entry trees, to be planted as early as this spring. Brookline Ave. to this increased “potential.” points. Manfredi compares this to the Ponce The landmark status doesn’t end at the Keith LeBlanc, of LeBlanc Jones Samuels’s project, approved in 2014, City Market in Atlanta, another adaptive reuse building’s doors—it includes a protected area Landscape Architects, presented the public includes construction of 550 apartments, of a former Sears mail order facility. that extends 1,200 feet from the building realm design on February 27 to the Parks demolition of the parking garage, and Alison Pultinas lives on Mission Hill. PHOTO: RUTH KHOWAIS Zakim, Ross Organize Protest Against Trump Ban BY RUTH KHOWAIS and airports. “You have given us hope,” he told the audience. n Sunday, February 12, more than 300 people stood In a poignant testimony, 81-year-old Fred Manasse, who in the snow in front of the glass towers of the New survived the Holocaust as a child by hiding from the Nazis, said, England Holocaust Memorial at Haymarket to protest “America had very much the same attitude about Jews then as the Trump administration’s executive order barring they have today about Muslims.” Manasse told the story of his immigrants and to support immigration. Signs announced “Let father who was a passenger on the Jewish refugee ship the St. O Louis, which escaped Nazi Germany but was turned back when it them in” and “We are all immigrants!” This protest was part of a national Day of Jewish Action reached Cuba and then Florida. The U.S. State Department would for Refugees organized by HIAS, a Jewish resettlement agency, not let them in, said Manasse. The ship was forced to return to and hosted by District 8 City Councilor Josh Zakim, who helped Nazi Germany, and most of the passengers, including Manasse’s organize the local showing along with former City Councilor father, were murdered in Nazi concentration camps. “These Mike Ross, whose father founded the Holocaust Memorial. Jews were victims of the same kind of policy Trump seems to be Despite falling snow, attendees stayed to hear a number of espousing,” said Manasse with respect to Syrian refugees. emotional presentations and strong words from speakers. Kicking Last to speak was Mike Ross. “This is the off the rally was Rabbi Claudia Kreiman of Brookline’s Temple largest refugee crisis since the Holocaust,” said Former City Beth Zion. Wearing a pink “pussy” hat, she announced that she Ross, whose father was a Holocaust survivor. Councilor Mike was a Jew, an immigrant, and a recent American citizen. Kreiman “Never Again,” he said, using a vow adopted Ross addresses was followed by Imam Faisal Khan, from the Islamic Center of by Holocaust survivors, “means we sound the protesters at Boston in Wayland, who spoke about Muslim reaction to Trump’s alarm whenever injustice preys on ‘the other.’” the Holocaust executive order and praised Americans for showing up at rallies Ruth Khowais lives in the West Fens. Memorial. Nominations for Beard Awards—‘Oscars of Food’—Bring Civic Agenda National Recognition for Fenway Restaurants and Chefs BY RYAN POLHEMUS MARCH 15 @ 11:30AM sk most Americans to associate food with Fenway and The Boston Licensing Board they’ll probably mention hot dogs or Cracker Jacks, maybe a tiny helmetful of ice cream melting in the sun. PHOTO: MEI MEI agenda includes a request But outside the ballpark, the neighborhood’s food scene from Fenway Sports Group for Ais gaining national acclaim. This year’s James Beard Foundation approval of 8 summer concert Semifinalists were announced on February 15, and the Fenway/ dates, with the ability to add Kenmore area boasts a surprising density of contenders. 4 more without a further vote. The annual James Beard Awards honor excellence in the food and beverage industry. Often referred to as the “Oscars of Food,” the Room 809, Boston City Hall. awards are voted on by more than 600 culinary professionals each year, nominating chefs, restaurants, and industry elites across the MARCH 17 country in categories ranging from “Outstanding Baker” to “Rising Public comments are due on Star Chef of the Year.” Five restaurants within walking distance of Fenway Park were recognized this year, from fast-casual Chinese the initial project application to artfully curated tasting menus, proving that this neighborhood is for 1000 Boylston Street (air brimming with talent and has something for everyone. rights parcel #15, bounded by Boylston, Dalton, and Scotia Mei Mei streets.) To review project espite being nominated for “Rising Star Chef of the Year” for her casual, creative Chinese-American fare, Irene Li documents, visit http://tinyurl. doesn’t think of herself as a typical chef. “My role at Mei Mei com/Parcels12-15. Send Dis more about growing the business, taking care of our people, and comments by email to Phil. making sure that what we’re doing fits into our broader vision for our [email protected] or mail food system and our society at large,” she says. Growing the business them to BPDA/Boston City Hall/ has certainly been a priority: Mei Mei Street Kitchen began as a One City Hall Square/ food truck in early 2012, and has since expanded to include Fenway’s brick-and-mortar location (at 506 Park Drive), a sauce company, Boston MA 02201. and a shipping container in the Seaport District, all with an eye on sustainability and locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients. JAMES BEARD on page 3 > 2 | FENWAY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2017 parking. The low podium reflects the height IN CASE YOU MISSED IT of the neighboring Hynes, but the two towers A LOT HAPPENED IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS are strikingly different. The apartment tower, SINCE THE LAST ISSUE, INCLUDING... on the east, rises 17 stories above the podium, WESTLAND while the western tower, with about 160 condo ICYMI might soon have to add a department just for Trump-related news. units, twists toward Mass. Ave. several times To start, the LMA’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has for several years held a Possible as it rises 32 stories above the base, reaching future fund-raising gala for big donors at Mar-a-Lago, the fancy- Berklee 566 feet (below the mechanicals). garish Trump golf club in Palm Beach, Florida. The Globe building Both the CAC and community members reports that the event pulled in $1.2 million last year (no MASS AVE at the meeting focused on a few elements totals were available for this year at press time), which of the proposal—mostly questioning height, IC MI wind, and zoning.