Monday Essentials: Blackstone Square Ribbon Cutting
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Categories: Arrests Tags: Blackstone, Cutting, Essentials, monday, Ribbon, Square
Franklin and Blackstone Park Get Restored Fountains
Check out the restored fountains just installed in both Franklin and Blackstone Park Monday, July 29. South End Patch News
Things to Know in the South End, June 21: Summer Solstice in Blackstone Square
1. Weather: The National Weather Service is predicting a sunny day, with a high near 85 degrees. There’s a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. 2. Blackstone Square Summer Solstice: Tonight is the South End Summer Solstice, brought to you by Washington Gateway Main Street in Blackstone Square (1525 Washington St.) Come hear free live music and enjoy offerings from six of your favorite food trucks on W. Brookline Street! See here for more information. 3. More Solstice Music on Friday: Community Music Center of Boston (CMCB) will be performing an hour of live music from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. outside Hamersley’s Bistro and the Beehive, South End Buttery, and Cinquecento tonight. These performances, free to the public, is part of the La Nuit de la Musique solstice celebration. Afterwards, CMCB’s orchestra and senior wind ensemble, along with special guests, will perform at the Benjamin Franklin Institute, followed by a private reception at 40 Berkley. Contributions to the concert and reception are $ 100 for supporters and $ 150 for special friends. All proceeds benefit the CMCB Scholarship Fund and can be made at www.cmcb.org. See here for more information. 4. Tiki Party at Coda: Kick-off summer Caribbean-style at Coda Bar & Kitchen at their First Annual Coda Tiki Party at 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 22nd, with rum cocktails, island fare and laid back reggae jams! Grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts are encouraged. See here for more information. 5. Popup at Farm & Fable: The South End’s newest business is hosting a pop-up store before the actual store is even built. Farm & Fable at 251 Shawmut Street is a retail store that will sell vintage cookbooks and other unique kitchenware once it opens this fall. Until then, however, stop by Sunday at 9 a.m. to meet the owner and see what’s in store. See here for more information, and give ’em a like on Facebook so you can follow their progress this summer. Psst. Know what’s cool? Liking us on Facebook, too. Yeah, I said it. Things you can do every day on South End Patch: Share your news with the rest of the community. Click here to add an announcement. Add your events to our events calendar. Click here to sign up for breaking news updates. Want up-to-the-minute news? Click here to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Share your thoughts on your community in a blog. Click here to get started. South End Patch
Renovations Continue at Blackstone and Franklin Square Parks
If you’ve walked by either Blackstone or Franklin Parks on Washington Street lately, you’ll notice the large fountains are gone, and in their place is a chain link fence and a backhoe. Fear not – the “please excuse our appearance” look in both parks will be gone by late spring, according to newly elected Friends of the Blackstone Square Parks president Courtney Troutman. The $ 600K fountain restoration project is slated to be done by mid-May, said Troutman. “With the recent snowstorms, they’ve been delayed in starting the excavation, but soon they will start soon, and that’s the big part of the project,” he said. The new pumping stations will be built underneath the new Blackstone and Franklin Squares restored fountains, and will serve to recycle water used within the fountain as opposed to running a city water line to it and sending water down the drain. “Before it was just a little dribble and I think the whole basin will be filled with water so it should be really beautiful,” Troutman said. But the fountain project isn’t the only change coming to the park. Over the winter, the Friends group had all the trees in the two parks pruned and four more are slated for removal. “If you go into the parks you can see how much has been taking down and how much more light will come into the parks,” Troutman said. “The trees will definitely be healthier, and people always said Franklin Square seemed dark because it had such a thick canopy, and opening that up helps the grass grow.” In terms of upcoming projects still on the docket, Troutman said the Friends group is looking into new trash cans, and they are in the “early stages” of looking to replace the park’s benches. “These things always take longer than one expects, but in the last two years, the fountains have been taken care of, and the trees are pruned, and we’ve made really terrific progress,” Troutman said. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Categories: Arrests Tags: Blackstone, Continue, Franklin, Parks, Renovations, Square
South End Answers: When Will Blackstone Square’s Fountain Be Restored?
In this week’s column of “You Ask, Patch Answers,” a feature where we find the answers to your questions, a reader asked, “When will the restoration of the fountain in Blackstone Square be complete?” The short answer is: Mid-May. The long answer: Due to the amount of snowstorms this winter, the original timeline for excavation and construction had to be pushed back. The plans call to build a seven-foot square vault under the fountain that will house a new pumping system to filter and recycle water through the fountain. The project’s cost runs somewhere around $ 625,000, but the new pump system will save a significant amount of money in the long run, according to Courtney Troutman, president of the Friends of Blackstone and Frankin Square Parks. Previously the water in the fountain came in through the city’s line, then when right down the drain. “Just the idea of the water going down the drain was terrible, and that was going on for years and years,” Troutman said. “And the cast iron fountain will be restored. Before it was just a little dribble, and I think the whole basin will be filled with water, so it wil be much improved and will be really beautiful.” So there you have it! I hope that answered your question. Got a question about the neighborhood you want answered? Submit it in the comments below. Each week Patch will pick a question to research and answer the following week. Add your question today! SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
New Community Fitness Center Opens in Blackstone Square
Boston University has completely transformed the Blackstone Community Center’s 2,000-square foot fitness center into a state-of-the-art fitness facility with treadmills, bikes, free weights and squat racks. The new Boston University Fitness and Wellness Center is part of a new public health initative with Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) and the Boston Centers for Youth & Family (BCYF) to fund three projects over the next five years at a value of more than $ 1.25 million. Mayor Thomas Menino, BU President Robert A. Brown, and Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission Barbara Ferrer were all in the South End on Tuesday morning to dedicate the new fitness center. The idea behind the facility is to provide South End community students and families a place to get active and work out. Boston Public Health Commission executive director Barbara Ferrer noted at the dedication that more than 35 percent of Boston youths are already classified as obese. The new facility will be staffed with BU employees and students in BU’s Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, and will not only offer exercise programs, but wellness and nutrition as well. “Today we celebrate a new fitness and recreation center,” said Menino. “I am hopeful that this unique program will be a shining example for other organizations to partner with us to promote health and wellness for children and families throughout our city.” Besides the new fitness center, the other two are 100 summer camp scholarships for area youth and the donation of two hours of free ice time each week to the Allston-Brighton Youth Hockey league. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Things to Know in the South End Today: Menino Dedicates BU Fitness Center at Blackstone Community Center
1. Weather: The National Weather Service is predicting a partly cloudy day with a high of 47 degrees. It’s too early to be spring, but after last weekend, we’ll take it. 2. BU Fitness Center Dedication: Mayor Menino will be in the neighborhood today to dedicate the BU Fitness Center at Boston Centers for Youth & Families’ Blackstone Community Center (50 West Brookline St.) along with BU President Dr. Robert A. Brown. BU is partnering with the City of Boston to pilot a three-part health and wellness initiative, and will invest nearly $ 1.25 million over the next five years. 3. Art Exhibit: NK Gallery (450 Harrison Ave.) is currently showing The Paintings of Paul Walcott 2010- 2012. The show features abstractions in multi-media ranging from intimate in scale to wall size. The paintings have been said to be unfathomable in depth and intricately emanate light. The seem at once effortless and immediate, and utterly complex. See here for more information. 4. Zumba Workout: The Z spot offers drop-in Zumba classes on Tuesdays at 7:15 p.m. Stop by the studio at 121 E. Berkeley Street (2nd floor) to get in shape with Latin-infused Zumba moves. See here for more information. 5. Add your events: Do you have a great event coming up at your organization or business? If it’s happening right here in the South End, add it to the Events Calendar! I feature great events every single day in the daily email update, on the homepage and on social media, so add yours to the mix and help get the word out to South Enders about what’s happening in their neighborhood. Click here to add an event. Things you can do every day on South End Patch: Share your news with the rest of the community. Click here to add an announcement. Add your events to our events calendar. Click here to sign up for breaking news updates. Want up-to-the-minute news? Click here to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Share your thoughts on your community in a blog. Click here to get started. South End Patch