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Neighbors on Taylor St. House Demolition: Conditions Were Unsafe
Imagine sitting in your home one morning and feeling the entire floor shake. That’s how Taylor Street resident Louane Hann was notified of the construction happening on her street last Tuesday. “I was working from home, and all of a sudden, I felt the earth move,” she said. “There was a guy with a backhoe and a guy with a hose, and they were ripping the house down.” Hann said neither she nor anyone else in the neighborhood was notified that construction would begin at the wooden house at 8-10 Taylor Street, and that it would involve demolition of the building. “We get notices about someone getting a roof deck you can’t even see half the time, and no one got a notice about this,” she said. “It’s unbelievable.” Couple the lack of notice with the complete surprise that the building, which neighbors thought had been approved for a renovation and addition, was being completely demolished. And the day of demolition left dust everywhere, debris on neighbors’ porches and properties, and even broke a window at a home next door, said nearby residents. “During the demolition I saw two kids standing outside watching, and I remember thinking, ‘Is it safe for those kids to be breathing that?” Hann said. “All of these old homes have lead in the paint,” she said. Neighbors said they called Boston’s Enviornmental Department to complain about the mess and to voice the worry that the old home contained lead paint that was now swirling through the air on their street. Through those calls to the city, the Landmarks Commission learned that an extra wall on the property was demolished that was not included in the project’s original plans, the home’s east wall. A stop work order was posted on Friday, Jan. 25th and the owner was asked to appear at a public meeting of the Landmarks Commission on Tuesday. By Monday, Jan. 28th, the project’s architect Scott Slarsky said the city’s Inspectional Services team had come through the site and determined there was no asbestos or lead paint, and lifted the stop work order due to the environmental concerns. But that still left a stop work order related to the site’s demolition of the property’s east wall. Property owner Ramy Rizkalla said contractors and inspectors found the east wall was bowing in, it was rotting, and there was termite damage, and a structural engineer ruled the wall was unsafe to leave on the property. Rizkalla said the decision to take down the wall was approved by the city’s Inspectional Services department. However, it is the Landmarks Commission that requested the hearing on Tuesday. “Though they aren’t going […]
Categories: Arrests Tags: Conditions, Demolition, house, Neighbors, Taylor, Unsafe, Were
Taylor Street Wooden House Renovations Blocked by Neighborhood
When Ramy Rizkalla bought his new home on Taylor Street, he knew it’d be a long road to renovation. That’s because the home, which he originally believed was built in the mid-1800s with original ornamentation and features and would be heavily protected by city agencies. That was before he found out most of what you see on the home today was built in the 1970s. “None of the windows, none of the ornamentation, none of the mouldings, none of it is original,” Rizkalla said. “All of that was added in the 70s and 80s.” And therein lies the solution — and the problem. The renovations, which were approved over an 18-month process through the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Boston Landmarks Commission, and the South End Historical Society, were blocked this week due to neighborhood concerns. “That’s one of the biggest problems – there really is a substantial misunderstanding of what people are looking at, and what is truly historic,” Rizkalla said. “We have all the necessary approvals but I think there’s been a need for clarification.” Until the situation is resolved, the site will stay as a façade and a hole in the ground, a far cry from the owner’s original intentions. “I saw a tremendous amount of potential of what could be done,” Rizkalla said, who said the biggest reason for the full renovation of the property was his interest in contributing to the streetscape in Boston. “We really are great appreciators of architecture, and the opportunity to continue to integrate contemporary architectures with historic neighborhoods was so alluring to us,” he said. Renovation PlansThe original property is split into two properties, 8 Taylor St. and 10 Taylor St. 8 Taylor St. is the existing home and 10 Taylor St. is a parking space. According to Scott Slarsky, the project’s architect, the idea of the project is to make the home into a single family house, expanding from 2400 square feet to 3400 square feet, and preserve the only historically significant piece of the home, the house’s north elevation, he said. “It will be a gorgeous project,” Slarksy said. “The completed building will be the first wooden house built in the South End since 1899.” As for the new parts of the house, Slarsky said the new façade that will face Washington Park was closely researched and planned. “We worked really closely with the South End Landmarks Commission to have the rhythm and proportions of South End buildings,” he said. Next StepsRizkalla and Slarksy are now again working with the Landmarks Commission and the Boston Redevelopment authority to clarify the constructon plan to the neighborhood and continue construction on […]
Categories: Arrests Tags: Blocked, house, Neighborhood, Renovations, Street, Taylor, Wooden