Kenmore Square North (WHOOP) | 533-541 Commonwealth Ave | Fenway

Drubinoff said:
Folks, all we need are ten City of Boston residents to sign a petition to apply for 541 Commonwealth Avenue to become a landmark, which would help protect it from demolition.

Please email me if you're interested in adding your name at inquiries@derekrubinoff.com

https://www.boston.gov/departments/landmarks-commission/designating-landmarks-boston
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An update:
People interested in signing a petition to make the building a landmark are starting to email me at inquiries@derekrubinoff.com. We need at least ten Boston residents who are registered voters. Keep it coming!

We will need to show the building has historic significance beyond the local level (i.e state, regional or national significance). So, if anyone has thoughts about that, we'd like to collect them.

Related Beal is required to hold an Article 85 community meeting (tentatively scheduled for August 29, location TBD) and appear before the Commission (tentatively scheduled for the Sept. 11 hearing in Room 900 of City Hall at 6 p.m.).

The Boston Landmarks Commission may invoke a 90-day delay for one or all of the six buildings proposed for demolition, but that is the extent of BLC's jurisdiction. Unless a preservation plan is identified and agreed to before the delay expires, Related Beal would be able to demolish the structures.
 
I can forward this to a couple of friends who are residents and registered.

Can you spell out exactly what they need to provide and what their obligations are, if any, post-email? They dont care about architecture and would just be doing it as a favor to me.
 
jass said:
I can forward this to a couple of friends who are residents and registered.

Can you spell out exactly what they need to provide and what their obligations are, if any, post-email? They dont care about architecture and would just be doing it as a favor to me.
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Thanks. I can either set up a meeting somewhere to sign the formal petition, or I can email you/them a form to sign and email back to me. This the the petition we will fill out: http://documents.boston.gov/images_documents/PETITION_REVISED_AUG14_tcm3-47224.pdf

If anyone is interested in helping me with content of the petition, that would be helpful.

"We recommend this action for the following reasons: (Include architectural and/or historical significance from the
Building Inventory Form and/or additional research materials, if available. Attach additional sheets as necessary.)"

Here is some info from Related Beal's Article 85 application:

541 Commonwealth Avenue
1.2.1 Historical Development of the Property

The undeveloped block located along Commonwealth Avenue and Beacon Street between Raleigh and Deerfield Streets was owned in 1890 by Charles F and John Q. Adams. By 1895, the land between Raleigh and Deerfield Streets had been sold and developed as apartments. The Westgate Apartment block located at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Deerfield Street was constructed in 1894.

5045/Article 85
Buildings Proposed for Demolition Kenmore Square Redevelopment
The property was owned by members of the Fellner family from 1902 through 1928, beginning with Harriet Fellner in 1902 and 1908, followed by unnamed heirs in 1912 and 1917, and Eugene Fellner in 1928. In 1938, the property was owned by the Suffolk Savings Bank.

The property is included in the Kenmore Square Area (MHC # BOS.XC); however, the property is not listed in the State and National Registers of Historic Places and there is no individual inventory form for the property, nor is it located within a local historic district.

While the building was initially constructed for residential use, a subsequent conversion of the ground floor space to commercial use was completed consistent with the other commercial and mercantile uses found along Commonwealth and Beacon.

1.2.2 Description of Building and Overall Conditions

The Westgate is a six-story apartment block constructed in the Classical Revival style. The block features a two-story limestone base with brick walls above with in a limestone and metal cornice. Three continuous bowfront windows from the second to sixth floors are foundalong the Deerfield Street elevation with spandrel panels.
 
Drubinoff said:
An update:
People interested in signing a petition to make the building a landmark are starting to email me at inquiries@derekrubinoff.com. We need at least ten Boston residents who are registered voters. Keep it coming!

We will need to show the building has historic significance beyond the local level (i.e state, regional or national significance). So, if anyone has thoughts about that, we'd like to collect them.

Related Beal is required to hold an Article 85 community meeting (tentatively scheduled for August 29, location TBD) and appear before the Commission (tentatively scheduled for the Sept. 11 hearing in Room 900 of City Hall at 6 p.m.).

The Boston Landmarks Commission may invoke a 90-day delay for one or all of the six buildings proposed for demolition, but that is the extent of BLC's jurisdiction. Unless a preservation plan is identified and agreed to before the delay expires, Related Beal would be able to demolish the structures.
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Another call for signatures! Please email me at inquiries@derekrubinoff.com.
 
Are there any alternative solutions? I like the buildings but I'm not wedded to their preservation. However, I also don't think anyone should be able to tear down an old building without proving they're going to replace it with something better, which the current plan is not. Is there some other mechanism to say, "Hey, you can't tear this down until you propose a replacement that meets X criteria?"
 
Hello, if you are in favor of preserving the facade of 541 Commonwealth Avenue, please read the following:

There will be an important community meeting this Wednesday, August 29 at 6 pm. The meeting will be an Article 85 Demo Delay Public Meeting. If I understand correctly, it is organized by the Mayor’s Office, and was listed by the Mayor’s rep Yissel Guerrero in her Fenway newsletter.

If you are able to come and voice your support for the demolition delay and the façade’s preservation, that would be really helpful. I am planning on attending, and my understanding is others in support of preservation will be as well.

The meeting will be held in the Kenmore Classroom Building at Boston University, 565 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215. Attached is a flyer which was posed on the building.

Please let me know if you might attend (or if you have questions) at inquiries@derekrubinoff.com. We are also collecting names of City of Boston voters for our petition for Boston Landmarks. Thank you!
 
^ Good on ya for trying to stop this ill-considered demolition! My neighbors and I tried in my neighborhood on a smaller scale and were unsuccessful. Perhaps cooler heads will prevail at BU. I’ll try to be there but it may be a game-time decision.
 
Ironically, I already will be in Kenmore Square this evening, but for a conflicting event (Redsox), so can only be at the meeting in spirit. Good luck, and thank you to the people who can attend.
 
I wonder how much they'll have to VE the remaining development if the corner building has to be saved.
 
My understanding is that 19 Deerfield will be unaffected by this project. That is one bland building that should be replaced.
 
I my ladyfriend and I were there last night. I believe a couple of other ABers we there as well, but I didn't have time to say hello. I'll defer to Drubinoff, as he had the most cogent things to say about the preservation of 541 Commonwealth Avenue.

There will be a BCDC meeting on this project that's currently TBD; I think it would be best to have a presence there as well.
 
TomOfBoston said:
My understanding is that 19 Deerfield will be unaffected by this project. That is one bland building that should be replaced.
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You are referring to the building housing the Post Office? Bland has never been a way I would describe that building. Surely it could use some better street side interaction but I've always thought it had quite a stately presence.
 
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Beton Brut said:
I my ladyfriend and I were there last night. I believe a couple of other ABers we there as well, but I didn't have time to say hello. I'll defer to Drubinoff, as he had the most cogent things to say about the preservation of 541 Commonwealth Avenue.

There will be a BCDC meeting on this project that's currently TBD; I think it would be best to have a presence there as well.
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Thanks for coming, your points were excellent.

Yes, there will be a Boston Landmarks Commission meeting on September 11 in the early evening, likely at City Hall. All of you interested in preserving the facade of #541 Commonwealth, please see if you can attend. Also, if you are a registered Boston voter, please sign our petition to landmark this facade; email me at inquiries@derekrubinoff.com. Thanks!
 
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