From Dave Brigham:
In the first post in my Allston series, I wrote about rock clubs, both active ones and those that live on only in the foggy memories of local music fans, as well as dive bars, a tattoo parlor and other of the grungier elements of this Boston neighborhood (see March 26, 2022, "Jamming Through Allston Rock City, Part I"). In this post, I'll cover a few houses of worship -- not the first thing I think of when I think of Allston Rock City -- as well as some old apartment buildings, an inn on a quiet side street, a former factory and, most important to those concerned about Allston's down-and-dirty reputation, coming redevelopment.
There will be LOTS of talk about redevelopment.
Let's get holy for a minute or two. Along Quint Avenue sits the Allston Congregational Church, which dates to 1891.
This Richarsonian Romanesque house of worship was designed by Eugene L. Clark, who "was a very prolific Brighton architect, designer of several houses on Ashford, Linden, Gardner and Henshaw streets," per MACRIS. This lovely building is currently home to the Arabic Jumaa Mosque.
Below is the building known historically as the Allston Methodist Episcopal Church on the corner of Harvard and Farrington avenues.
Built in 1877, this Victorian Gothic beauty is currently home to the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church.
The final stop on our brief spiritual tour is the home of the Johannes Kelpius Lodge on Clevemont Street.
If it weren't for Google Maps pins, I never would have found this spot. I increasingly rely on that location technology to find quirky locations to photograph, research and write about. As for this lodge, which is located in what appears to be a private home, it is affiliated with the Rosicrucian Order, A.M.O.R.C. (Ancient Mystical Order of Rosae Crucis), which through its teachings aims to allow its adherents to "gain specific knowledge of metaphysics, mysticism, philosophy, psychology, parapsychology, and science not taught by conventional educational systems or traditional religions," per the organization's web site.
Wikipedia has this to say about the group: "It has various lodges, chapters and other affiliated bodies throughout the globe, operating in 19 different languages. It operates as a fraternal order in the mystical tradition, and supports secular research and learning in the arts and humanities."
As for the Allston lodge's namesake, Johannes Kelpius "was a German Pietist, mystic, musician, and writer," according to Wikipedia. "He was also interested in the occult, botany, and astronomy. He came to believe with his followers...that the end of the world would occur in 1694. This belief, based on an elaborate interpretation of Revelation 12:6, anticipated the advent of a heavenly kingdom somewhere in the wilderness during that year. Kelpius felt that the seventeenth-century Province of Pennsylvania, given its reputation for religious toleration at the edge of a barely settled wilderness, was the best place to be....Kelpius and his followers crossed the Atlantic and lived in the valley of the Wissahickon Creek in Philadelphia from 1694 until his death" in 1708. "Though no sign or revelation accompanied the year 1694, the faithful, known as the Hermits or Mystics of the Wissahickon, continued to live in celibacy, searching the stars and hoping for the end."
There you have it. OK, let's move along to a small inn on a quiet side street.
The Farrington Inn calls itself a small guest house for economical travelers. The inn dates to 1899, allegedly, and features five rooms (from single to quadruple). I have no idea the cost to stay here, but I'm assuming it's quite reasonable.
Across from the Farrington, on the corner of Highland Street, is a lovely English Revival apartment complex with four divisions that look the same, but have quirky names. The development dates to 1915.
Since this is an English Revival building, I'm guessing the architect or developer hailed from the United Kingdom, since "clumber" is a type of Spaniel named after a park in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England.
Hmm. The Norma? Named after the developer's wife? Mother? Daughter? An homage to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066?
Again, the connection to Merry Old England is quite possible. Sherman "was a name for someone who worked...as a sheep-shearer, deriving from the middle English word 'sheareman,' which meant 'shearer,'" per the House of Names web site.
And finally, the Woostah. Could have been named after the central Massachusetts city...or the cathedral city 100 miles northwest of London.
Steps away from these lovely buildings is a pair of apartment buildings along Harvard Avenue also built in the English Revival style.
The Barrett and Bacon Chambers buildings date to 1912. Perhaps they were developed and/or designed by the same team behind the Clumber et al.
The Meriam apartment building, below, dates to the same era, and has a wonderful detail above the front entrance. It's located on Highgate Street.
As well, the Lindale, located at the nexus of Linden and Reedsdale streets, rose in 1912.
I'm getting the idea that Allston was a pretty active development zone just before World War I. I bet people living there complained just as much as people nowadays about coming changes. So let's talk about that.
Greater Boston has been booming for years, with luxury apartment/condo buildings, high-end hotels, countless life-science complexes and gleaming office towers rising in many surrounding towns and cities, including Cambridge, Revere, Watertown and Newton, as well as in numerous Boston neighborhoods, including the Financial District, Government Center, the South End, Kenmore Square, the Longwood medical area, Allston and Brighton.
"At 7.4 percent, Massachusetts’s growth rate was the highest of any state north of Delaware and east of Minnesota," between 2010 and 2020, according to a Boston Globe article from last summer that I won't bother linking to because it's probably behind a pay-wall (I have a subscription).
One hundred years ago, the southern section of Allston, between Commonwealth Avenue and the Boston & Albany Railroad complex (which filled much of the space where the Mass. Pike runs now) looked similar in many ways to how it is today. There were apartment buildings, houses, churches, stores, small businesses and schools. There was more open land back then, but also a much larger railroad presence - the B&A station, repair shops, storage sheds, blacksmith shops and other buildings, as well as a station for the West End Street Railway Company. Between Braintree Street and the railroad tracks, where now stand new apartment buildings and an empty lot that will soon become -- you guessed it! more apartment buildings -- (see below for more on this project), there were the Thompson & Norris corrugated box manufacturing plant, as well as a machine shop and other industrial buildings.
Don't take my word for it, look for yourself:
Redevelopment is what keeps cities alive, but man is it tough to balance the needs of the existing community with those of potential new residents, employees, tourists, restaurant/bar hoppers, artists, live music enthusiasts, open-space lovers, affordable housing advocates, cyclists, climate-change requirements and those who simply don't want anything to change, ever.
Allston stands to change drastically in the coming decade. Harvard University, which owns more land in Boston than it does on its home ground of Cambridge, has been developing land in Allston for years, and there are some MAJOR projects yet to come. Along Western Avenue, the institution has added several buildings, and others are in the pipeline.
Beacon Park Yards is the 800-pound gorilla, though. Harvard owns the 30-acre parcel that was formerly the home to a rail yard. Located between the Mass. Pike, commuter/freight tracks that back up to Boston University and the Charles River, the property offers incredible potential for development of a mini-city. How that little metropolis comes together depends on the state's efforts to realign the Pike, a project that's been in talks for many years. The Allston Multimodal Project calls for replacing the viaduct that carries the highway over the railroad tracks from the former toll interchange to the Boston University Bridge, with an "at-grade" highway, which will put the Pike at river level.
As part of the rebuilding process, the highway will be straightened at the point east of the viaduct where there is an eybrow-shaped curve. Plans call for construction of a new commuter rail station here as well. The end result of that project will be the freeing up of access to the former rail yard. There will be new bike and pedestrian paths, as well as roads. And, of course, buildings.
I don't believe Harvard has said much about its intentions for the site once it is opened to redevelopment, which is still many years away. It's safe to say this area will feature academic/research facilities, apartments/dorms, hotels, restaurants and shops. There are plenty of sources online to learn more about the Pike project if you're curious.
More immediately, development is coming to the area of Allston that I'm focused on in this series. In fact, new buildings have risen over the last several years. In the triangle formed between Everett, Cambridge and Braintree streets, for instance, new projects include Penniman on the Park and Trac75, and several acres of land surrounding these buildings have been cleared for future development.
Some, but not all, of the proposed projects will result in the demolition of existing buildings. And of course a slew of shiny new buildings and the attendant more well-to-do residents and office and lab workers, with their plant-based sandwiches and Peloton white-wine spritzers, will inevitably change the face of Allston as it has been known for decades. It will be less rough and tumble and rock 'n' roll and more glam and highfalutin (I love lording that word over you). Less Iggy Pop and more Iggy Azalea.
So let's look at the projects, shall we?
On my first visit to Allston in November 2021, I shot photos of 35-43 Braintree Street, which is hard by the railroad tracks, with a lovely view of the Mass. Pike. It was most recently the home of Michael's Moving & Storage, I believe. As you can see, it was quite the urban canvas.
I returned to shoot a whole host of other places nearly two months later, and by that time, 35-43 Braintree had been leveled.
In an article about the sale of this property to The Mount Vernon Company in December 2019, the New England Real Estate Journal indicated that, "Braintree St. has been identified by the city as an area with great redevelopment potential to support the revitalization of the neighborhood." The article cited the nearby Boston Landing project located about a half-mile due west from this Braintree site as one of the developments that has been reshaping the Allston landscape. Plans for the Braintree site include a seven-story building consisting of 149 "compact" rental units, a parking garage and other amenities, according to this Boston Planning & Development Agency document.
At the western terminus of Braintree Street, where it meets Everett Street, is #119, which is a building I've long wondered about as I drive by on the Pike.
Built in 1904, this complex was home to a Thompson & Norris Company corrugated box factory for many years. In 1964, the buildings were acquired by the Blank family, owners of credit card manufacturing company Arthur Blank & Company, Inc. In 1987, Michael Blank oversaw the conversion of the old plant into office and artist spaces, according to the web site for the redevelopment planned for this property.
(I love the details on the brick half of this complex.)
So what's going to happen to these buildings?
The good news certainly seems to outweigh the bad. Developers "will attempt to preserve elements of the site’s industrial past, including incorporating components of the building’s original brick and beams into the new building design," according to the web site for the redevelopment plan. Also, the project's vision calls for new open space, "significant" affordable housing and an improved connection to the adjacent Boston Landing commuter rail station, as well as to Lower Allston, or L.A., as locals call the area immediately north, across the Pike. Transit-oriented development is a good thing.
The residential component will comprise 86 apartments, including 85% of the total restricted as affordable, per the web site. The commercial side of the development will feature office and lab space, as well as maker and studio spaces.
So, I can hear you saying, what's the bad news?
The bad news is purely in the eye of the beholder, meaning me. While the brick building seems like it will maintain the same height, the plans make it look like it will be overhauled so as to lose its old-brick veneer in favor of something flatter and shinier and, in my mind, uglier. The other half of the complex will be built up and glassed over and turned into something that looks like it belongs downtown. Not a huge deal, but I prefer my buildings lived-in.
The project's plans show a new building across the street in what is now a parking lot surrounding a small building with a fitness facility. I'm not sure whether that's part of this redevelopment, or if it's a separate project.
On the other side of Everett Street, which at this point splits between street level and a bridge going over the Mass. Pike, is another development in the works.
Currently home to a Stop & Shop, a HomeGoods store, some industrial buildings and a large parking lot, the site is the future home of the Allston Yards development. Below is the field office for Dimeo Construction, located in the former home of Studio 52, which offers band rehearsal spaces along Harvard Avenue (featured in part one of this series).
According to the future development's leasing book, the current Stop & Shop will move from its current location on the northern edge of the site to the southern boundary. Additional retail and residences will be located in the building as well.
According to a Curbed Boston article about development in Allston, "It could take up to 10 years for the development team behind Allston Yards — which includes New England Development and Stop & Shop parent Ahold Delhaize — to roll out the more than 1.2 million-square-foot development, one of the largest in Allston’s history."
On the current grocery store lot will be sited a 14-story lab/office tower; and two residential towers of 15 and 21 stories that will include 692 apartments. There will also be a one-acre community green space. All of this will sit immediately east of Boston Landing, a development spearheaded by sportswear company New Balance, and which includes (or will include) practice facilities for the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins; an indoor track and field complex; New Balance headquarters; apartment buildings; retail; and a concert facility.
Half a mile east, on Linden Street, a development known as Allston Green has been proposed. The project "will replace the existing commercial building at 20 Linden Street and six dilapidated 3-story residential buildings at 24 Linden and 8-20 Pratt Street with three new residential buildings, comprising a total of approximately 259,000 square feet of Gross Floor Area," according to the proposal at the Boston Planning & Development Agency's web site. Combined, the new buildings will feature 349 apartments, mixing in studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedroom units. Additionally, there will be approximately 4,000 square feet of retail/gallery and artist co-working spaces, per the proposal.
Above is the rear of 20 Linden Street, which is currently home to several businesses, including a daycare, a dance studio, a physical therapy office and the Russian Benevolent Society. This site is also home to a nightclub called Garage Boston, which was the site of a double shooting last November.
Nearly 350 new apartments - that's a LOT. But Allston Green isn't the only major redevelopment planned for this corner of Rock City.
We have Allston Yards and Allston Green in the pipeline. Now let's look at the proposal for Allston Square, which will be located along Cambridge Street, starting at the point where the roadway crosses the Mass Pike and extending west to Harvard Avenue. The project also includes property located across Cambridge Street, along Wilton, Braintree and Franklin streets. Many of the buildings currently on the various sites are in various stages of disrepair.
"The Proposed Project will completely revitalize this former industrial corridor and will serve to invigorate this section of Allston/Brighton, while creating a mixture of homeownership and residential rental opportunities, and over twenty-two thousand square feet of commercial space," acccording to the Letter of Intent filed with the Boston Planning & Development Agency in February 2018. The BPDA approved the project last June.
Allston Square will span six buildings, with 244 condos and 103 apartments. Included in the mix will be artist live/work units, according to the City Realty Group proposal. There will also be 15,860 square feet of retail space.
Let's take a look at what will be replaced, and what will be restored as part of this massive overhaul.
The Classical Revival Allen Building, located at the corner of Cambridge and Linden streets, dates to 1895. Formerly home to Jack Young Auto Parts, the building has become marred by graffiti, and trash litters the sidewalk. I'm not sure whether there are still residents of the apartments on upper floors. This building will be restored, according to the developers.
(Rear view of the Allen Building.)
Across Highgate Street is the remnant of a service station, which will be torn down.
Abutting that site, on the corner of Cambridge Street and Harvard Avenue, is a boarded up former warehouse that has become quite the outdoor art gallery.
This, too, will be razed. Art lovers, however, may still be able to gaze upon original works. "Allston Square is also due to host a lot of public artwork, including murals and sculptures as well as 9,000 square feet of exhibition space amid 27,758 square feet of open space," according to a Curbed Boston article. "These spaces are meant to connect the six buildings too. And there will be 158 parking spaces and 12,860 square feet of retail."
I'm happy to report that in addition to the Allen Building, the developers will also save Allston Hall, a Queen Anne building that was erected in 1890.
Even more so than the Allen Building, this big hunk of brownstone has suffered over the years, as graffiti covers the exterior walls and the interior has been left to rot, or to it seems. The paintings in the windows are a nice touch, though.
(Rear of Allston Hall. The back part of this building will be demolished, I believe.)
Allston Hall "was built...for Allston book publisher and real estate magnate Samuel Hano," according to this Brighton Allston Historical Society article. "During the early 20th century, it contained the real estate offices of Taft and Waite." I don't know what other businesses have been there, nor how long it has been vacant.
Abutting Allston Hall is the building below, which will be torn down as part of the redevelopment.
Again, I love the paintings in the windows of neighborhood characters. I have no idea how old this building is, nor its history. This building is next to one on the corner of Franklin and Cambridge streets, which will be renovated.
Renderings of Allston Square even show the very faded ghost sign intact.
This building is known as the Chester Block. "The Chester Block at 381-387 Cambridge Street was built between 1875 and 1885 for developer W.R. Chester," according to the BAHS article. "This brick Queen Anne commercial block is of major historical significance as a rare example of Franz Joseph Untersee's commercial/residential work." Untersee was "a specialist in the design of Roman Catholic churches, [and] was born and educated at Glarus, Switzerland," the article continues. "After receiving a degree in Architecture from Stuttgart University, he served as the assistant to the City Architect of Bern, Switzerland. In 1882, Untersee immigrated to America establishing a residence in Brookline and an office in Boston. He designed many Roman Catholic Churches in New England and New York...."
I featured a few of Untersee's Brookline buildings in a post from last November.
Perhaps the most shocking change from this major development will take place behind the Advance Auto Parts store on the corner of Cambridge and Wilton streets. There, existing low-slung auto parts and service buildings, as well as parking lots, will be replaced by apartment buildings that absolutely hulk over the auto parts store. Check out the presentation that City Realty made to the City of Boston in February, and scroll down to page 36.
So now you have a pretty good idea of the changes in store for Rock City in the coming years. I haven't spent much time in this Boston neighborhood in the last few decades, so I don't have a right to bemoan the loss of its rock 'n' roll character. And I don't recall all of the old buildings that have been torn down already in the name of progress. I'm certainly happy that some older buildings will be saved as part of Allston's rebirth as a place of the sleek, the shiny, the high-rise, the new, the highfalutin. And there will always be nooks and crannies for geeks like me to explore in Allston and any other city, town or neighborhood that gets gentrified.
In the final two installments in this series, I will cover murals, graffiti, retail and restaurants, some old buildings and the railroad station around which Allston Square will rise.
No comments:
Post a Comment