Newton Infill and Small Developments

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shmessy

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DBM

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shmessy said:
And I say that as someone who worked through high school and college at the late, lamented Tony's Italian Villa next door.......:cry:
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Tony's Italian Villa was glorious. Nostalgia has smacked me upside the head with the force of an Iowa-class discharge.

I couldn't have been older than 10 or 11 when it closed, as I don't think it survived to reach the 1990s--but my memories (of being taken there by my parents) were of a joint with a wonderfully boisterous, raucous, borderline-chaotic (without being stressful) atmosphere. The template for a "family-friendly" establishment that parents actually liked.

Of course, experiences will vary depending on perspective--I was an elementary-school patron being "comped" by my parents. Someone who worked there may recollect differently--although it sounds like you were equally enchanted?
 
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DBM said:
Tony's Italian Villa was glorious. Nostalgia has smacked me upside the head with the force of an Iowa-class discharge.

I couldn't have been older than 10 or 11 when it closed, as I don't think it survived to reach the 1990s--but my memories (of being taken there by my parents) were of a joint with a wonderfully boisterous, raucous, borderline-chaotic (without being stressful) atmosphere. The template for a "family-friendly" establishment that parents actually liked.

Of course, experiences will vary depending on perspective--I was an elementary-school patron being "comped" by my parents. Someone who worked there may recollect differently--although it sounds like you were equally enchanted?
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No, you’re actually pretty spot on. I worked there from 1982–1987. It was a place that really doesn’t exist much anymore in America. A real labor of love by the owner Fred and his son Tom. The cast of characters and stories from that place could fill many books. It was a great education for me. It did close in the early 1990s and I still have very vivid dreams of being there - the kitchen, the downstairswalk in freezer, the upstairs bar. I can literally still smell the place.

If ever there was a truly Dickensian place in 20th century Newton, MA, that was it.

DBM, what you well remember of Tony’s is true……and then some.
 
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shmessy said:
It was a place that really doesn’t exist much anymore in America.
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Sadly, I have to think you're right--I struggle to come up with restaurants in metro Boston I've been to, that capture the "authentic" family-friendly atmosphere that Tony's had--without falling into the pit of tacky/trite pandering to tourists. Many places that aspire to be "family-friendly" are also, of course, sterile & soulless chains.

(I also disqualify places that have fabulous atmosphere, but aren't truly full-service restaurants--see, for example, the delightful Galleria Umberto in the North End.)

Greg's in Watertown has some of that flavor... in Providence, on Atwells Ave, I think Angelo's has it a bit as well.

Anyway, I've derailed the thread enough as it is, sorry for the digression. If folks pile-on after me with their favorite "authentic family-friendly restaurants," I suggest that the moderators move this someplace else....
 
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Equilibria

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DBM said:
Sadly, I have to think you're right--I struggle to come up with restaurants in metro Boston I've been too, that capture the "authentic" family-friendly atmosphere that Tony's had--without falling into the pit of tacky/trite pandering to tourists. Many places that aspire to be "family-friendly" are also, of course, sterile & soulless chains.

(I also disqualify places that have fabulous atmosphere, but aren't truly full-service restaurants--see, for example, the delightful Galleria Umberto in the North End.)

Greg's in Watertown has some of that flavor... in Providence, on Atwells Ave, I think Angelo's has it a bit as well.

Anyway, I've derailed the thread enough as it is, sorry for the digression. If folks pile-on after me with their favorite "authentic family-friendly restaurants," I suggest that the moderators move this someplace else....
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Johnny's Luncheonette is still there, right?
 
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From the Mayor's weekly newsletter:

New Design for NewCAL

The Newton Center for Active Living, NewCAL, project team has been hard at work incorporating the feedback received about design plans to build a new center at the 345 Walnut Street location of the existing senior center in Newtonville.

Two draft conceptual designs (pictured below) will be part of the next presentation at a community meeting on Thursday, Feb. 17. The design team will showcase how we incorporated the stained-glass windows and other historic elements from the existing building into the new design, as well as additional features that pay homage to the current senior center. The goal is to have a handsome building that complements the village and works well for all the many users.


Hundreds of residents, elected and appointed officials, older residents and others who will use the new center were involved in the decision on whether to preserve the existing building with an addition or to build a new facility.

The near unanimous decision was to design and construct a building that fits well in Newtonville and is designed exactly to meet the needs of the users for the next 100 years: age-friendly, accessible, laid out well, barrier-free, with a façade that welcomes our older residents and attracts new users.

The primary reasons given by the Council on Aging and the Design Review Committee when they voted unanimously to support new construction, and the reasons given by the overwhelming majority of the Public Facilities and Programs and Services Committees of the City Council, the Commission on Disability, and community members who have attended our meetings over the past few years as to why they supported new construction:
  • The main floor of the existing building is six feet above grade; since it wasn’t constructed originally to be all age friendly and accessible, it would require ramps, stairs, and lifts at the entrance to the facility if we retained the facade.
  • The existing building is located in a position that would make an addition extend much further into the rear of the site which would bring an addition closer to the direct abutters. It would also mean we couldn’t have a separate vehicular entrance and exit, requiring multi-point turns when leaving the parking lot, which is a real negative for users.
  • Renovating the existing building would add years to the project schedule and would displace senior programming for a longer period during construction.
  • The renovation/addition option requires a larger building site footprint, reducing green space, onsite parking, and other site amenities.
  • The modifications to the existing building, required to make it age-friendly, welcoming, accessible, and barrier-free, would significantly modify the existing façade so that the potential end product would not be something that most people would find attractive or appropriate.
  • The renovation/addition is estimated to cost $5 million to $6 million more than the new construction option.
Join the NewCAL project team at the community meeting on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 6:30 p.m. to learn more about the plans. Register for the zoom meeting in advance by clicking here.
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393b40

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They're both bad, but the second one is a special level of bad with that 3rd floor.
 
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DBM

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393b40 said:
They're both bad, but the second one is a special level of bad with that 3rd floor.
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Agreed and I love the concept of a "special level of bad." I bestow additional demerits for the following offenses:

--this the southern anchor/gateway for a fairly significant, lively commercial district--and you give us this?

--there are a number of significant & imposing edifices along this 500-yard corridor (so a mere five-minute walk) that runs from Newton "Taj Mahal" North HS to the redeveloped old Newtonville Camera. I'm talking about these side-by-side beauties, this, as well as the high school.

Is it in "dialogue" with them? Well, sort of--with the high school, I suppose--but in the worst possible way.
 
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Blackbird said:
I know you didn't just call that old church building with the disgusting steeple a "beauty".
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Good catch--said steeple is, in fact, an abomination. But, damnit, the lower 60%, or whatever proportion it is, still looms over the Pike with a certain grandeur, I feel...
 
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Newton has selected a developer for affordable housing at the West Newton Armory. That's Korff's Dunstan East rendered behind it.


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More on NewCal (the Senior Center that I don't hate but everyone else does - it's basically a mini-Newton Free Library). The cupola is a restoration of the original 1938 cupola on the existing building:


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FWIW, their first draft was this:

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kingofsheeba

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Equilibria said:
Newton has selected a developer for affordable housing at the West Newton Armory. That's Korff's Dunstan East rendered behind it.


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More on NewCal (the Senior Center that I don't hate but everyone else does - it's basically a mini-Newton Free Library). The cupola is a restoration of the original 1938 cupola on the existing building:


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FWIW, their first draft was this:

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That’s…sleek
 
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