A Shrine Lost as Development Looms

From That Same Old Guy:

This is one of the saddest sights I've seen in Boston. Not because anything tragic happened here, but because I can tell that there used to be something beautiful here, something peaceful. Picture in your mind: firefighters and police officers from the stations in the background, on a lovely spring day, walking over here, mixing with area residents. They take a moment to remember loved ones, and perhaps fellow first responders, in what I imagine was a splendid garden. The site, hemmed in by Cambria, Scotia and St. Cecilia streets near the Berklee Performance Center, was owned by St. Cecilia Parish, whose church is steps away. So surely parishioners tarried here as well.

The church sold this property more than a decade ago to an outfit called ADG Scotia LLC for $13.85 million. ADG Scotia is a joint venture between Suffolk Ventures, an affiliate of local heavyweight Suffolk Construction, and Weiner Ventures, another well-known real estate developer in Boston. I'll come back to that part of the story.

I wrote my above imagined scene before even looking for photos of what used to be on this site. I gotta tell you, I was spot on.

I found this postcard of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, St. Cecilia's Church, Boston, on Digital Commonwealth, a great resource for history buffs. I mean, just look at how wonderful that shrine was! The flowers, the statue, the bench, the green grass and shrubs -- all designed to bring comfort and serenity. I really wish it was still there. I have no idea how long ago the shrine was desecrated by way of being torn down and ripped apart.

The patroness of musicians, St. Cecilia is one of seven women commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass, per Wikipedia.

Now, back to the developers who acquired this land many years ago.

I'm not sure whether Suffolk is still involved, but Weiner Ventures has published a web site for the development it plans to build on a property that includes the former shrine site. Called 1000 Boylston, the complex will include a residential tower featuring upwards of 108 condominiums, seated on top of two floors of retail and parking, resting on new decking over the Mass Pike.

Obviously I'm not happy that the shrine was wiped off the face of the earth. But I can get over it, because I never saw it in person and it's been gone for quite a while. Plus, Boston has some pretty great green spaces. And I don't have a problem with Weiner covering up a hole where you can currently see the eastbound lanes of the Pike, as well as commuter/Amtrak train tracks. Boston would be a much less interesting city if developers weren't allowed to build on air rights over the highway.

Where I do have a problem is with the look, feel and height of 1000 Boylston. Is this proposed skyscraper the only one like it in this part of Boston? No. A few blocks away, One Dalton, which recently debuted with a Four Seasons hotel and a restaurant (condos to follow), is taller. The Prudential Tower and neighboring 111 Huntington Avenue are like skyscraper power forwards. But 1000 Boylston will loom over the Berklee College of Music campus next door, and Newbury Street across the Pike, like Shaquille O'Neal towers over Peter Dinklage.

And there is a shadow problem.

“While we support the goals of eliminating a hole in the urban fabric caused by the turnpike, linking neighborhoods, and activating Boylston Street, we have a number of concerns about the shadows from 1000 Boylston,” said Liz Vizza, executive director of Friends of the Public Garden, in this March 2018 Beacon Hill Times article. “Shadows cast by the proposed project will impact Commonwealth Avenue Mall, public parkland which is enjoyed by many throughout the year. We hope that the project can provide value for the community while being well integrated into its surroundings and causing no adverse impact to the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.”

I'm not sure whether the project has received all approvals from the City and State. Even once Weiner gets the "go" sign, this development will take quite a while to reach completion, what with construction of decking over the Pike and a building that will rise nearly 500 feet.

The new building will abut an edifice that currently houses Bukowski Tavern -- named for the late postal worker turned writer Charles Bukowski, chronicler of the everyday man, the alcoholic, the wretch, whose fictionalized life can be seen in the movie "Barfly" -- and Kings, a bowling, eating and drinking destination.