THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021 PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY SERVING BACK BAY - SOUTH END - FENWAY - KENMORE Alexandra BVHDC approves Residences conversion of former church on bring renewed Isabella St. to condos hope for By Lauren Bennett The Bay Village Historic Dis- development trict Commission (BVHDC) on Tuesday approved the conver- of former hotel sion of the former Our Lady of Victories church into condomini- By Seth Daniel ums with an addition, a project The owners of the blighted, that has been discussed for a long but historic, Hotel Alexandra time in the neighborhood. property at the corner of Wash- This project has already come ington Street and Mass Avenue before the Commission for two have filed a Project Notification advisory reviews, but was offi- Form (PNF) to switch their pro- cially approved on August 10. posal from a hotel use to a 106- Architect Rebecca Berry pro- unit condo building – renewing vided an update to Commission- hope that despite the crash in the ers about where the project team Members of the Ward 5 Democratic Committee gathered at the ‘Make Way for Ducklings’ statue in the Public Boston hotel market, the proper- Gardens last Thursday, Aug. 5, to officially announce their endorsement of Councilor Michelle Wu for mayor. is in the process, and presented ty might still see a revival. the latest iteration of the propos- Attorney Marc LaCasse, who al. represents Alexandra Partners, Ward 5 Democrats endorse Wu for Mayor The last time this project came filed the PNF a few weeks back before the Commission was in Staff Report on Charles Street. Boston Mayor, the second Ward and said that despite the project Sharon Durkan, of the Ward Committee to endorse Wu in the February, and Berry said that being ready for hotel construc- Last week, the Ward 5 Demo- 5 Dems, said they voted on July Mayor’s race. The Boston Ward since then, the Article 80 review tion just prior to COVID-19, the crats (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fen- 20 on the endorsement, and had 4 Democratic Committee had with the city is continuing, as plan was upended by the pan- way, and Bay Village) gathered in 16 vote for Wu, two vote present thrown their support to Wu in is community outreach. Addi- demic and forced to reconfigure. the Public Gardens to officially and one person voted for another May. No other Ward Committees tionally, both the Boston Plan- Now, the plan will be to shift endorse Councilor Michelle Wu candidate. have endorsed any candidates in ning and Development Agency from a 150-room hotel to 106 for mayor of Boston, and then The vote was overwhelming- (BPDA) Board and the Zoning (HOTEL ALEXANDRA, Pg. 2) participate in a stand-out for her ly to endorse Michelle Wu for (WARD 5 DEMOCRATS, Pg. 5) (BVHDC. Pg. 3) Inbox Appeal: Mayoral candidates use e-mail inundation this time for fundraising, exposure By Seth Daniel coming – and that is by the inun- cial help with personal stories, One e-mail address from this didates’ digital fundraising oper- dation of fundraising e-mails that outrages of the day or simply newspaper that has the attention ations at the end of last month There’s one way this sum- storm inboxes from all five major pushing the narrative that time of all five major mayoral can- – each using the addressee’s first mer to know that the end of the mayoral candidates appealing is run- ning out to meet didates got approximately 35 name and seemingly knowing month is for finan- important goals. e-mails in two days from the can- (FUNDRAISING, Pg. 1) PAGE 2 THE BOSTON SUN AUGUST 12, 2021 editorial A BLEAK FUTURE FOR THE EARTH Esplanade 5K returns August 29 The report released this week by the United Nations detailing the By Dan Murphy is again presented by Blue Cross the park, including a Ground- impending effects of climate change in the near future because of our Blue Shield of Massachusetts, beat concert, presented in part- rapidly-warming atmosphere paints the starkest picture yet of what The eagerly awaited Espla- go directly to support the work nership with BAMS (Boston Art awaits life on Earth as we know it if we do not change our ways. nade 5K, which was held virtu- of the Esplanade Association to & Music Soul) Fest, from noon ally last year due to the pandem- revitalize and enhance the park. to 4 p.m., at the Hatch Shell. Our planet has warmed by an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius since ic, will return to the park as an “We’re trying to faithfully “BAMS Fest is overjoyed to mankind started belching carbon gases into the atmosphere from the in-person footrace on Sunday, bring back as many things in per- partner with The Esplanade burning of fossil fuels in the late 19th century. Aug. 29, kicking off at the DCR son as possible, and the 5K was a Association to curate the line- Scientists have long told us that an increase of 1.5 degrees in global Hatch Memorial Shell at 9 a.m. signature event that we’re happy up for their annual Ground- Beat series,” wrote Catherine T. temperature represents the tipping point at which life as we know it Runners of all levels and to bring back, as well as one of our longest-running events,” said Morris, founder and executive becomes all but impossible. Almost all of today’s living creatures, both abilities are encouraged to par- ticipate in the footrace, which Michael Nichols, executive direc- director of BAMS Fest. “Over in the oceans and on the land, will not survive if the Earth becomes takes a riverfront route along the tor of the Esplanade Association. the years, we have been fortu- nate to present over a dozen of that hot. Charles and offers unparalleled For the first time year, the local Black and Brown artists We already are seeing the dramatic and dire consequences of what water and garden views against Esplanade Association is plan- ning a Community Day to and bands. The Hatch Shell is a happens at our present 1.1 C level: The polar ice sheets are melting, the backdrops of both the Bos- beautiful place and we are excit- ton and Cambridge skylines. “wrap around” the 5K, said the permafrost areas in the Arctic Circle in Siberia are catching fire, Nichols, with family-friendly ed to bring a little magic and our Proceeds from the event, which epic floods are striking everywhere, massive superstorms threaten events taking place throughout culture to this space.” coastlines, out-of-control wildfires scorch vast swaths of forest acre- A nonprofit dedicated to age and pollute the air across hundreds of miles, coral reef bleaching breaking down racial and social barriers in the arts across Greater is turning our oceans floors into dead zones, and heat waves are kill- Boston, BAMS Fest has previous- ing humans and animal life in every corner of the globe. ly partnered with the Esplanade The U.N. report basically states that an increase to 1.3 Celsius Association on its award-winning already is baked (no pun intended) into the next 20 years or less, “GroundBeat: The Esplanade’s with every .10 increase adding exponentially to the damage. In other Free Riverfront Music Series.” Meanwhile, the Esplanade words, no matter what we do, things are going to get worse. Association is encouraging run- On the other hand, perhaps the only good news in the report is that ners to stop by their office at 575 the increase to 1.5 is not inevitable -- but that is ONLY if we adopt Boylston St., Suite 4R, to pick up policies now and we put them into place starting today. The global their bibs before the race in an effort to reduce long lines and economy cannot turn on the proverbial dime, but we can move incre- unnecessary crowds on the day mentally over the next 20 years to eliminate the carbon footprint of of the event. each and every human being so that the 1.5 threshold is not breached. PHOTO COURTESY OF BRENT DOSCHER Runners are seen near the Storrow Lagoon during the 2019 Esplanade The bottom line is that we are running out of time to save the 5K presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. (ESPLANADE 5K, Pg. 3) planet and preserve civilization as we know it. Some might point to the high economic cost of changing our consumption of energy from fossil fuels to clean alternatives. And to be sure, that conversion will cost trillions of dollars over the next two decades. HOTEL ALEXANDRA (from pg. 1) But the costs of climate-related catastrophes -- in both economic residential condo units, with 71 project to highly desirable com- floor restaurant or retail concept. and human terms -- soon will far outweigh whatever the price may be of them being Compact Living pact residential con-dominium Instead, most of the changes will to convert to clean energy. Units (CLUs) under the City’s units that are smaller in scale be made to the interior layout to Unless we change our ways, there literally will be no place on Earth new guidelines. It will include and accordingly more affordable achieve the new floor plans for a mix of studios and one-bed- than most units on the market in condo units rather than hotel that will be safe to live. To paraphrase the great heavyweight boxing rooms that will be for sale. the general area. These residenc- rooms. champ Joe Louis, we can try to run from climate change, but there Alexandra Partners told the es will be part of the strong fabric A rooftop lounge open to the will be nowhere on our planet to hide.