SBOL_Jeanne

State Representative Nick Collins will Serve as General Chairman The South Boston Citizens’ Association has announced that Tom McGrath, who stepped down from the presidency of the Association at the close of its 2017 Evacuation Day events, is returning to act as interim president for the foreseeable future. “Last March I made my farewell speech at the Evacuation Day Banquet,” McGrath said, “not knowing that the challenges presented by the time required for planning all of the Association’s annual events would make it impossible to have a new president in place for 2018. There are many dedicated and capable members who are interested in the position, but current commitments have prevented them from being able to assume the duties at this time. So, I’m back [...]

by Rick Winterson   In the dim and misty past that was once the 20th Century, neighborhood rivalries in South Boston were intense.  Because West Broadway attracted so many people – shoppers, movie goers, Sunday strollers, and so on – the denizens of West Broadway at that time started calling it “Big Broadway”.  This, of course, meant that East Broadway became Little Broadway. But times changed.  Influences such as closures, relocations, forced busing, altered economics, and the inevitable urban decay brought hard times to West Broadway.  We’ll let the urban anthropologists at Harvard do their PhD dissertations on exactly why this happened, and even more important, exactly why the changes along West Broadway have reversed themselves.  But suffice to say, they have indeed reversed themselves [...]

by Rick Winterson   For many years now, getting to a movie in South Boston was difficult, and occasionally impossible due to traffic, weather, and/or “T” breakdowns.  The theaters in South Boston had closed down, including that one inelegantly known as the “Bug House” (something in the popcorn, perhaps?). That’s unfortunate, because film-making is really an American art – invented here, developed here, and even the home of Hollywood, the world’s first moving picture colony. But no matter.  That has changed, as of year-end 2017.  We now have two theaters in our neighborhood that can be reached by auto, public transport, or (are you ready?) on foot, providing the weather smiles.  One of these movie houses is located in One Seaport/Courthouse Square.  It is called [...]

by Rick Winterson   In our last issue (JAN 18, page one), South Boston Online reported in some detail on the decision to demolish the building – now unoccupied for nine years – that once housed the Gate of Heaven School.  Arriving at this decision, basically to ensure continued preservation of the iconic Gate of Heaven Church, was not easy.  However, the reasoning behind this decision appears to have resulted in the best possible outcome. In order to communicate completely the decision to demolish the school, along with providing answers to any remaining questions from the members of Gate of Heaven Church, Fr. Robert Casey, the Pastor, convened a meeting last Thursday in the Gate of Heaven’s Lower Hall.  He presented a summary of the [...]

By Richard Campbell A new hotel 159 Room, 20,000 square feet hotel has been approved for 248 Dorchester Avenue on the location of the current Enterprise Car Rental site. The hotel that is within walking distance of the West Broadway T Stop will be eight stories, include a restaurant, roof garden, fitness center, swimming pool, and event space. Covered at grade parking for 60 vehicles, and landscape area around the hotel are also included. The proposal submitted by Evergreen Property Group has been under review since October 2017, and the architectural firm is Utile Design, whose work on the residential building 25 West Broadway is already known to South Bostonians. What you would see is the beginning of a significant rezoning of the end of [...]

By Richard Campbell As if the mass resignations of the Advisory Board of the National Parks this past Wednesday over being ignored by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wasn’t enough, as the chaos in Washington ensued over the budget showdown, across the nation National Parks were forced to close.  People visiting Boston wishing go to Bunker Hill, and other sites were out of luck.  Though Faneuil Hall was closed for renovations in January, and some outside vendors allowed access to Old South, Old State, Old North, Revere House- and the USS Constitution & Museum, the rest of NPS Boston metro area shut their doors. The parks are, by most reports, back open- for now. Perhaps the issues at the National Parks is a small wrinkle next [...]