Boylston-Area Business Owners Eager to Reopen
The area surrounding the site of the Boston Marathon bombings is not quite back to normal, but it’s starting to get close. City officials and inspectors have been leading business owners through their businesses within the still-closed-off section of Boylston Street Tuesday. The FBI handed the crime scene off to the city of Boston Monday, but Boylston Street between Hereford and Berekley streets is still closed to the public. Keith Shirley, owner of Meridian Realty Group at 46 Gloucester St. between Newbury and Boylston streets, said the lack of access to his business for the past eight days has made things difficult. “We’ve had logistical issues,” he said from behind the blocked off gate on Gloucester Street. “We haven’t been able to write checks or process paperwork.” He said he registered with the city’s database and has been told he could things could be back to normal in the area by Wednesday night. “The city has been extremely helpful,” he said. Mayor Thomas Menino’s Back Bay Assistance Response Team is at the Hynes Convention Center at 900 Boylston St., which is being used as a connecting point for business owners trying to get to their businesses. Police and guard gates still block points of entry at each street that bisects Boylston Street within the crime scene. Throughout Tuesday, inspectors have allowed business owners into the scene, which one week ago was cordoned off after two bombs exploded during the Boston Marathon in front of Marathon Sports and near Forum restaurant at 755 Boylston, according to the following staggered schedule: 10:00 a.m. Enrty to block between Hereford and Gloucester 11:00 a.m. Enrty to Block between Gloucester and Fairfield 12:00 p.m. Enrty to Block between Dartmouth and Clarendon 1:00 p.m. Enrty to Block between Clarendon and Berkeley 2:00 p.m. Enrty to Block between Exeter and Dalton 3:00 p.m. Enrty to Block between Fairfield and Exeter There is no timeline as to when the area might be opened to the public, according to John Guilfoil, deputy press secretary the mayor’s office. “They won’t open to the public until businesses and residents have had a chance to see” the damage, he said. South End Patch
Back Bay Businesses to Reopen, Others in the Dark
While most of the Back Bay remains a crime scene following the bombing at the Boston Marathon, some businesses have been given the green light to reopen this week, according to the Boston Business Journal. While officials have told some businesses on Boylston Street when they can reopen, others still have no idea when they can reopen their doors. The Lenox Hotel, at the corner of Exeter Street and Boylston Street has been cleared to open at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Aquent at 711 Boylston Street have been told that they can reenter their office at some point in the next 48 hours, the BBJ reported. When asked, Tarek Hassan president of The Tannery said that “we have no idea,” when they will be able to reopen. “It’s not that we’re being vague,” John Guilfoil, a spokesman for Mayor Thomas Menino told the BBJ. “It’s that the FBI is in charge of the crime scene. Business owners and inspectors will be allowed back inside the blast zone on a “staggered scheduled for limited access.” Mayor Thomas Menino and the city’s emergency management team met on Sunday to come up with a five-phase plan. The phases include: Phase 1: Decontamination and Testing Phase 2: Structural Building Assessments and Utility Coordination Phase 3: Debris Removal Phase 4: Internal Building Assessments Phase 5: Re-Entry, Communications, and Counseling The city has not given a timeline as to when the plan might be called to action, but the message says workers are on standby and prepared to execute on the plan as soon as possible. South End Patch
Hubway System to Reopen in April
There’s still snow on the ground and it still feels like the dead of winter, but a staple of summer in Boston will be back online before you know it. Bicycles will be available throughout the Hubway bike sharing system the first or second week of April, according to Nicole Freedman, director of bicycle programs for the city of Boston. In the South End, three stations from previous years will be back, including the Tremont Street station in front of the South End Library, one at Tremont and Berkeley Streets, and Columbus Avenue at Mass. Ave. Three new stations are planned for the South End, including Washington Street at Rutland Street, Boston Medical Center and Washington Street at Waltham Street. Freedman also said that Hubway officials still have their sights set on setting up a network of stations in Jamaica Plain. “We’re very optimistic,” she said of a JP expansion. She said the JP stations would be opened in late summer. Thirty to 50 stations will be reopened throughout Boston leading up to the April full system launch, Freedman said. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch