Board approves conversion of West Roxbury pub into another West Roxbury pub

The Boston Licensing Board yesterday approved the $2.4-million sale of the shuttered Squealing Pig on Centre Street at Hastings Street to two operators who plan to open a new pub called the Boston Ale House there - over the opposition of Hastings Street residents, who said they worry about patrons parking and carousing along the quiet way that starts just after the restaurant's locally famous mural featuring both a scene from the good old days on Centre and James Michael Curley shaking hands with Dapper O'Neil.

New owners Edward Byrne and William Lombard - whose proposal still needs approval of the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission - say they will keep the same hours as the Squealing Pig - with a licensed closing time of 1 a.m., but 10 p.m. for a 32-seat seasonal patio. The interior could theoretically hold up to 196 people, should a cure or vaccine for coronavirus ever be released.

At a hearing on Wednesday, several Hastings Street residents said their street has already become a parking lot for commuters too cheap to pay for a space at the nearby train stop and that they worry about Ale House customers using their street for parking at night, rather than on Centre Street, which becomes largely empty at night, or in the municipal parking lot at the corner of Centre and Hastings. There's "severe parking overload" on the street, resident Mark Horenstein said. "There's no doubt in our minds that parking for that establishment will overflow onto our street for the night."

Resident David Sherr added, "We've had a lot of bad experiences [with people] staggering out of whatever establishment was there."

Byrne and Lombard said they were in it for the long haul and want to do right by neighbors. They said they would post signs inside urging patrons to respect the neighborhood and would have their employees park in the municipal lot.

Watch the hearing: