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What does Bill Galvin know that the Boston Landmarks Commission doesn't?
By adamg on Tue, 10/06/2015 - 10:38pm
The Globe reports Secretary of State and Brighton resident Bill Galvin has managed to block construction of an apartment complex for veterans because it would mean demolishing some old buildings that neither the Boston Landmarks Commission nor the Brighton-Allston Historical Society say are important enough to save - especially since there are numerous clones of the buildings across the Northeast.
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Comments
Is Anyone Suprised At This?
The best insult about Bill Galvin that I ever heard is that he still has notes on who beat him out for lead altar boy at St. Col's in the early 60's and will use this information to screw over that person some day.
You keep voting for the guy that sits on public records and holding up housing for vets. It's your fault voters.
This is unfortunate. Thought
This is unfortunate. Thought not that unexpected.
I am curious though, how else did St E's plan to get access to their ER? Though the Convent on the hill seems odd, as does up the hill and around from Warren?
infinite jest
Brighton Marine is a little historic since it was featured in the novel Infinite Jest. I think one of the buildings they're planning on tearing down was a major setting in the book.
Hey Bill Galvin
Rent rooms in your house out to veterans or shut the (expletive) up.
Why are you pulling this Menino crap? He's dead, and someday you'll die too, and then this will get built anyway. So why not live life not like a schmuck?
The real question
Why does Galvin have any power to interfere with this situation whatsoever?
This is why some Western states set up statutory roadblocks to this sort of "royal" behavior, by design.
Prince of Darkness
... with that sobriquet, I do not intend to underestimate his power.
Oh, Bill
Bill Galvin: “I’m very protective of my community,” he said. “We have many historic sites there.”
You're the Secretary of State, not Secretary of Brighton.
Landmarks commission does the
Landmarks commission does the bidding if the mayor. Think dainty dot - nothing to see here - or annihilation of an amazing neighborhood of factory buildings at the channel for the convention center - small chinatown is disappearing among massive glass scrapers. Hopefully the north end wont head that way too
As opposed to the Mass. Historical Commission?
Which never does the bidding of the Secretary of State?
Wasn't the convention center built on vacant land?
I don't recall there being any continuation of the Fort Point Channel brick warehouse district towards the area where the Convention Center is now.
Tip Top Tomatoes was the best.
It looked like the building that was just converted by Converse at Lovejoy Wharf. There was also the Boston Water & Sewer Commission, Colman Brothers Movers and others. There were a few 5 to 8 story buildings there. Not Boston Wharf Company built buildings, but industrial early 20th century buildings nevertheless. A few low slung ones as well.
Thanks for the correction
If anyone has a map or photos of this area before the Convention Center, I'd love to see them. In my memory it's a big empty area, but I probably never had much reason to venture beyond the last brick warehouse.
tracks
Looks like it was mostly tracks. (From historicaerials.com)
Thanks, that's helpful
Looks like a fair number of industrial buildings were demolished on the east side of the convention center site, the D Street side. We'd need to see street-level shots to decide whether they were worthy of preservation instead of demolition.
street view
Google Street View doesn't go back to 1938 :)
but street photography does
and some of it has been digitized. Perhaps we can find some of those photos. (We don't need 1938; 1988 will do fine.)
Boston Landmarks
deals with hundreds of requests. I've had a lot of experience going before them, and it is the commission that decides issues that are important enough to not be decided by the staff, i.e. new roofs, paint, etc. It can be time-consuming to go through the process, but I have never had the impression that these professionals compromise their opinions because of politics.
I would like to see evidence that they do the mayor's bidding.
If the mayor wanted a project
If the mayor wanted a project to happen the landmarks commission would not get in the way. I am not just talking marty i am talking mayor Menino et al.
Fair enough
But do you have any examples or is this opinion of what could happen?
Keep the barracks, get rid of the parking lot?
From the Globe article:
So how about keeping the barracks but *not* replacing the parking? That would satisfy everyone -- Mass Historical and the developer.
It wouldn't satisfy everyone.
It wouldn't satisfy everyone. Brighton Marine needs the parking spaces.