UPDATE: Guido's Court

From Dave Brigham:

Longtime readers of this blog might recall that every once in a while I check in on a quaint campo di bocce in Brighton known as Guido's Court. I was unaware when I stopped by this past June that good things are in store for this little gem.

(Bocce courts.)

Located along the Leo M. Birmingham Parkway, up a small hill behind Acura of Boston and tucked nicely under some shade trees, Guido's Court was named for Guido Salvucci, a local Italian-American guy who helped build the court. According to someone who commented on one of my previous posts about the court (see May 15, 2021, "A Magic Trek in Brighton" and November 18, 2010, "Guido's Court"), his son was Fred Salvucci, former secretary of transportation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Born in Brighton, Fred, who is 86 years old, left quite a service legacy. From Wikipedia: he "served two terms as Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation under Michael Dukakis from 1975 to 1978 and 1983 to 1990. During his tenure, he gave particular emphasis to the expansion of the transit system, the development of financial and political support for the Big Dig, and the implementation of strategies in compliance with the Clean Air Act. Other efforts included the extension of the Red Line to Quincy and Alewife, the relocation of the Orange Line to the Southwest Corridor, the acquisition and modernization of MBTA Commuter Rail, the restructuring of the MBTA, and planning for the redevelopment of Park Square by placing the State Transportation Building there."

That commenter I mentioned also said that Guido, who passed away in 2006, was a wine maker and a Mason. It seems evident that his heavy-hitter son had something to do with naming the park, which sits on what was formerly a neighborhood of approximately 20 homes.

As for the court, it doesn't appear to have been used in quite some time, but that will likely change in the near future. The adjacent parkway, named for a former Massachusetts House of Representatives member, was recently reconstructed, with travel lanes reduced from four to two and the addition of a shared-use path along the southern edge of the park.

(Bocce scoreboard.)

(Horseshoe pit.)

According to the web site of landscape architecture firm Shadley Associates, proposed improvements for the small park "include universally accessible walkways, woodland trails designed to meet U.S. Forest Service accessibility guidelines, and a new overlook plaza featuring a shade structure, picnic tables, and timber benches. Recreational amenities include reconstructed bocce courts, new horseshoe pits, bicycle parking, benches, picnic tables, and a water bottle filling station."

Shadley Associates says the State of Massachusetts acquired the land in 1932 and constructed the park and parkway. Check out that web site for more history, as well as photos and maps of the proposed work.

New Balance Draws a Red Line with Diner

From Dave Brigham:

I can't be expected to know everything about the backside of America, nor of Massachusetts or even of Boston. But I'm flabbergasted that I didn't learn for more than a dozen years about a longtime Hub diner that's been sitting in a parking lot roughly four miles from my house, converted to new use by a major footwear company.

Thanks to a video shared by one of my favorite Instagram accounts, Chris Tanaka of Boston's WBZ-TV, I found out that the former Englewood Diner, which had previously been located in Dorchester, among other locations, sits on private property in Brighton. Tanaka posts regularly about walks he takes around the city, offering up lesser-known facts about streets, architecture and the city's history. Definitely check him out.

"The Englewood Diner stood in Peabody Square from the 1940s until the 1970s, when it was replaced by the Englewood Apartment building in the point between Dorchester Avenue and Talbot Avenue," according to this Dorchester Atheneum 2 blog post.

The diner over the years has moved to several Bay State towns. Per an article in the Diner Hotline Weblog, the old eatery relocated from Dorchester to Cambridge, Somerville, Fitchburg, Holden and Salisbury over the years. The diner, however, never operated in those locations. It was either stored or sat waiting for a plan to come to fruition.

The diner even went on a road trip.

"While in [Dan] Johnston’s possession, the diner ended up taking its longest round trip to be in a big budget Hollywood movie!" per the Diner Hotline article. "Johnston was approached by Dreamworks Production Company in 2001. Dreamworks wanted to use the diner in a scene of the movie 'Road to Perdition' starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. According to [Randy] Garbin as quoted from his book Diners of New England, Dreamworks reportedly paid Johnston nearly $40,000 giving Johnston the first option to purchase it back after the scenes in the movie were completed. The diner was transported to the Chicago area for the film and Johnston bought it back for less than half his original sale price."

I highly recommend reading the entire article to understand the full breadth of the old diner's life.

In 2012, I believe, the owner of New Balance, or perhaps the shoe company itself, acquired the diner and moved it to a private lot behind Boston Volvo. I accessed the site via a parking lot behind 38 Everett Street. I believe you can also check it out by walking to the rear of the car dealer's property and winding your way around to the rear of a low-slung building that is perpendicular to 38 Everett Street.

New Balance uses the old Englewood for corporate events.