Public Celebration for Revitalized Section of Boylston Street, October 15
After.
Photo Artist rendering
Before.
(from left) Rob Walsh of Investment Properties Limited; Harold Brown, The Hamilton Company's chairman and CEO; Walter Hunt, Fenway Civic Association board member; Michael P. Ross, Boston City Council president; Berklee College of Music President Roger H. Brown; and Dennis Royer, chief of Public Works and Transportation celebrate the revitalization of the 1064 - 1100 Boylston Street block.
Photo Phil Farnsworth
The City of Boston, community residents, and property owners Berklee College of Music, the Hamilton Company, and Investment Properties, Ltd., have partnered to improve a section of Boylston Street prone to heavy foot traffic from local residents, college students, and masses of Red Sox fans walking to and from Fenway Park. For years, uneven sidewalks, insufficient lighting, vacant storefronts, and inaccessibility for people with disabilities has hampered the block that spans 1064 - 1100 Boylston Street, home to long-time, landmark tenants Looney Tunes, Little Steve's House of Pizza, and more recently, Berklee Bookstore.
The project's collaborators will host a public reception on the block Thursday, October 15, from 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. A Berklee student quartet will perform, while Spike's Junkyard Dogs, Boloco, Pavement Coffeehouse, Crazy Dough's, and Teriyaki House offer free samples. Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, City Council President Michael P. Ross, and representatives from the Fenway Civic Association and the block's property owners are scheduled to make remarks.
The recently completed changes to the 15 feet of privately-owned sidewalk include the creation of new terraces next to the storefronts, granite steps and granite retaining walls, planters and benches, and black steel railings. In addition, the City of Boston applied more than $225,000 to its 10-foot portion of the sidewalk adjacent to Boylston Street, and to the installation of new thornless honey locust trees that will line the block.
The event will also be a welcoming for the block's new tenants, including Berklee Books and Music's new and expanded location and Upton Bass String Instrument Company. Soon to arrive are burrito haven Boloco, which is expanding and relocating from its current address on Massachusetts Avenue, and Pavement Coffeehouse, a new offering from the proprietor of Espresso Royale.