Worcester Square Hosts Free Concert Thursday
The family-friendly concert is free and open to all ages. South End Patch News
Monday Essentials: Blackstone Square Ribbon Cutting
Find out what's happening in the South End this week. Don't see your event featured? Add it! South End Patch News
Categories: Arrests Tags: Blackstone, Cutting, Essentials, monday, Ribbon, Square
Controversial Dewey Square Mural Coming Down
The large, colorful mural located along the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway at Dewey Square Park, which has drawn some controversy since it was created in July 2012, will be coming down this fall. The 70-by-70-foot mural painted on the air intake structure between Summer and Congress streets has reportedly begun deteriorating and is due to be replaced soon, Greenway Conservancy director Charlie McCabe told Boston Magazine recently. While no new artist had been selected, McCabe told the magazine he expects to announce what project will replace the mural by August, calling the space “a great and very visible canvas.” Created by Brazilian twin brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, known together as Os Gemeos, the mural was designed in coordination with the brothers’ first solo exhibition in the United States, which was on display at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art from Aug. 1 through Nov. 25, 2012. The colorful mural depicts “a giant, yellow-colored character in brightly mismatched clothes who appears to have squeezed himself in between the towering buildings that surround him,” according to the description posted on the Greenway website. “These yellow-colored characters are an iconic and recurrent feature in Os Gemeos’s work, and are depicted in a wide variety of situations.” The artists have said the image is that of a young boy wearing pajamas, with clothing wrapped around his head. But shortly after the mural went up, some individuals began commenting online about the figure looking like a “terrorist.” The racially charged comments reportedly first appeared on Fox 25 Boston’s Facebook page but have since been repeated, discussed and argued against around the Web. As recent as May of this year, Universal Hub reported that a Boston resident had complained about the “terrorist mural on the front of the building across from the Federal Building” via the city’s Citizens Connect, calling the artwork “a disgrace” and “extremely offensive.” The mural was always intendend to be temporary, according to the Greenway website, and had a tentative end date of October 2013 “dependent on its condition.” SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
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
Things to Know in the South End, June 20: Jazz in Worcester Square
1. Weather: The National Weather Service is predicting a sunny day, with a high near 80 degrees. 2. Music in Worcester Square: The Worcester Square Area Neighborhood Association hosts its first installment of the Second Annual Summer Concert series in the Worcester Square Park tonight at 7 p.m. First Take will be the entertainment, playing classic jazz tunes as well as originals. Bring a picnic and enjoy the show. See here for more information. 3. For the Landlords: Since Boston passed an update to its rules regulating rentals, you as a landlord have a host of new responsibilities, including registration of private rental units and inspection of all non-exempt rental units every 5 years. The city is hosting a special session tonight at 6 p.m. to review the process, fees, dates and other important information for landlords to know. The meeting will be held at the Inspectional Services Department —City of Boston 1010 Massachusetts Ave. (5th Fl.) An RSVP is required. See here for more information 4. 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 on Friday. 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. 5. Festival on Friday: Coming up on Friday 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! If you are a local business interested in setting up a table, please contact Washington Gateway Main Street at 617-542-1234. See here for more information. 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
Gomez, Markey to Square Off in First Debate
The Republican and Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate special election later this month are set to conduct their first of three scheduled debates Wednesday night. According to an Associated Press article printed in the Boston Herald Monday, Republican businessman Gabriel Gomez of Cohasset and Democratic Congressman Edward Markey of Malden will debate at the WBZ-TV studios Wednesday in a debate sponsored by the TV station and the Boston Globe. WBZ previously reported the debate will take place and air live from 7 to 8 p.m. WBZ political analyst Jon Keller will moderate. According to the Herald, subsequent debates will take place on June 11 in western Massachusetts and June 18 back in Boston. The campaigns reportedly spent weeks “wrangling” over the time and number for the debates. The election will be held June 25 to fill the seat vacated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
PHOTOS: Memorial at Copley Square Grows
The memorial at Copley Square continues to grow, with more candles, hats, stuffed animals signs and other well-wishes appearing by the day. Have you left anything at the memorial? Does it encourage you to see the support from around the country? Tell us in the comments. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates 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
Democrats, Republicans Square Off in First Debate
It was a big week in the race for U.S. Senate, with both Republican and Democratic candidates facing off for the first time in a debate Wednesday night. Candidates running in the April primary faced each other in two 30-minute debates in an event sponsored by the Boston Media Consortium and held at the WCVB-TV, Channel 5 studios in Needham. Congressmen Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) and Edward Markey (D-Malden) went several rounds on the topic of health care reform in the first debate between the two Democrats. The two also sparred over bank bailouts. Write-in Democratic candidate Brett Rhyne was not at the debate. Republicans also faced each other for the first time in their own debate immediately following Lynch and Markey. Candidates Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk), former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez and former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan leaned on their diverse backgrounds to explain positions on issues ranging from the economy and debt reduction to gay marriage. The candidates are scheduled to meet up again Monday night in the second set of debates at UMass Lowell. Markey, Sullivan lead in the polls This week a WBUR Poll found Markey and Sullivan leading in their respective Democratic and Republican primary fields. The results of the poll showed Markey had an 11-point edge (35 percent to 24 percent) over Lynch. Sullivan, of Abington, leads the Republican candidates with 28 percent, followed by Winslow at 10 percent and Gomez with 8 percent. April 10 deadline for voter registration, party affiliation changes The last day to register to vote, change a voting address or change party affiliation for the April 30 primary is Wednesday, April 10. Not sure where or how to register to vote or change party affiliation? Here’s everything you need to know, courtesy of Secretary of State William Galvin’s office. The primary election is slated for April 30, with the general election to take place June 25. 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