Ron Newman
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- May 30, 2006
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from the Boston Sunday Globe City Weekly
An architect's vision of the Seville at Boston Harbor. The project would have 65 apartments, 47 underground parking spaces, and 15,000 square feet of retail space. (Photo: GLOBAL PROPERTY DEVELOPERS CORP.)
A new act in store for Seville Theater
Residential, retail plan offered by developers
By Elizabeth Gehrman, Globe Correspondent | March 9, 2008
In its heyday, the Seville Theater in East Boston's Central Square was beautiful to behold. "The ceiling was dark blue with little white lights, so you felt like you were under the stars," recalls Roberta Marchi, 64, membership director at the East Boston YMCA. "There were little Italianate balconies, and I definitely remember a Venus de Milo statue."
Built in 1929, the theater was falling into disrepair by the 1960s and '70s, and today, the building that once housed it is "a blight," according to Marchi. On the back, running along Border Street, the stark brick facade rises darkly over neighboring structures; its first level is stuccoed with dull cement and painted gray in parts. The front of the building, once a grand entrance to the Seville's chandeliered lobby, has long since been bricked over and has given way to storefronts, currently Bancomercio and La Esperanza Market on Meridian Street.
Though the interior is closed to visitors for insurance reasons, photographs sent by the building's owner, businessman Vincent Lombardo, show plaster crumbling down to the rebar, 30-foot walls stripped to the cement blocks, and unremarkable wooden stairwells maculated with graffiti.
The Seville's fate mirrors that of much of the neighborhood. "We're in the business of historic preservation," says Clark Moulaison, executive director of East Boston Main Streets. "Problem is, there's nothing left to preserve. There are a few churches, and the public library, but many of the places were either burned or the top floors were removed from the 1960s through the '80s."
Still, with young professionals flocking to Eastie, the cry has gone up for more and better restaurants, retail, and market-value housing. A new building project aims to provide some of that at the site of the old Seville.
Currently in review at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the project, known as the Seville at Boston Harbor, would knock down the old theater and in its the footprint, as well as that of three neighboring structures, build 65 units of studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments, 47 underground parking spaces, and approximately 15,000 square feet of retail space. The development would rise six stories, to approximately 2 feet above the current structure's height, but would be stepped back from the street. The current elevation, subject to change once neighbors have their say, shows a glass-filled brick design with balconies and modern lines.
After being disappointed by the pullout or delay of several other proposed condo and retail projects since the market downturn of the past couple of years, many in the neighborhood support the project.
"People in East Boston are despondent over the fact that every time these big projects are announced, they don't go forward," said Carl Pearson, vice president of Global Property Developers Corp., which is proposing the project with Lombardo Cos. "This is a smaller project, and it's doable. It's not going to sit on the books like other stuff that's dependent on a revitalized economy. We want to propose a project that meets the market and will go forward."
East Boston City Councilor Sal LaMattina hopes the development will mark the beginning of the revitalization of an area that is long overdue for it.
"We need to do something," he said. "Meridian is a beautiful street. It just needs a little attention. This might be the shot in the arm it needs at this time. And I'm sure the bigger developers will look at this project with a view to their own, if it succeeds."
State Senator Anthony Petruccelli, Democrat for the First Suffolk District, which includes East Boston, agrees. "It's important to have new investment in these business districts," he said, "and it's been a long time since we've seen something like that."
Of course, not everyone in the neighborhood is enchanted with the idea of knocking down the Seville. Some believe that the theater can be saved and are concerned that there has not yet been an independent review of its condition. There is still time for those residents to have their say: The Redevelopment Authority has scheduled a neighborhood meeting regarding the plan for March 19 - location not yet announced - and residents have until April 2 to comment on it. A second hearing may be held by the city's Landmarks Commission, which has yet to determine whether the Seville has any historic or architectural significance.
At those meetings, developers will present the plan in full to the community.
"We want to hold their feet to the fire," said Moulaison, "and make sure this construction doesn't adversely affect abutters, particularly the nearby library, or the traffic situation on Meridian Street.
"Personally, yeah, I feel bad about losing the Seville," he continued. "I remember watching the Three Stooges there. But the fact of the matter is it's been decaying for decades. Romanticizing a small sliver of what it was like 35 years ago is not going to bring back those days. We've got to move forward."
For location information on the March 19 meeting, check http://cityofboston.gov/bra/calendar/calendar.asp
An architect's vision of the Seville at Boston Harbor. The project would have 65 apartments, 47 underground parking spaces, and 15,000 square feet of retail space. (Photo: GLOBAL PROPERTY DEVELOPERS CORP.)
A new act in store for Seville Theater
Residential, retail plan offered by developers
By Elizabeth Gehrman, Globe Correspondent | March 9, 2008
In its heyday, the Seville Theater in East Boston's Central Square was beautiful to behold. "The ceiling was dark blue with little white lights, so you felt like you were under the stars," recalls Roberta Marchi, 64, membership director at the East Boston YMCA. "There were little Italianate balconies, and I definitely remember a Venus de Milo statue."
Built in 1929, the theater was falling into disrepair by the 1960s and '70s, and today, the building that once housed it is "a blight," according to Marchi. On the back, running along Border Street, the stark brick facade rises darkly over neighboring structures; its first level is stuccoed with dull cement and painted gray in parts. The front of the building, once a grand entrance to the Seville's chandeliered lobby, has long since been bricked over and has given way to storefronts, currently Bancomercio and La Esperanza Market on Meridian Street.
Though the interior is closed to visitors for insurance reasons, photographs sent by the building's owner, businessman Vincent Lombardo, show plaster crumbling down to the rebar, 30-foot walls stripped to the cement blocks, and unremarkable wooden stairwells maculated with graffiti.
The Seville's fate mirrors that of much of the neighborhood. "We're in the business of historic preservation," says Clark Moulaison, executive director of East Boston Main Streets. "Problem is, there's nothing left to preserve. There are a few churches, and the public library, but many of the places were either burned or the top floors were removed from the 1960s through the '80s."
Still, with young professionals flocking to Eastie, the cry has gone up for more and better restaurants, retail, and market-value housing. A new building project aims to provide some of that at the site of the old Seville.
Currently in review at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the project, known as the Seville at Boston Harbor, would knock down the old theater and in its the footprint, as well as that of three neighboring structures, build 65 units of studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments, 47 underground parking spaces, and approximately 15,000 square feet of retail space. The development would rise six stories, to approximately 2 feet above the current structure's height, but would be stepped back from the street. The current elevation, subject to change once neighbors have their say, shows a glass-filled brick design with balconies and modern lines.
After being disappointed by the pullout or delay of several other proposed condo and retail projects since the market downturn of the past couple of years, many in the neighborhood support the project.
"People in East Boston are despondent over the fact that every time these big projects are announced, they don't go forward," said Carl Pearson, vice president of Global Property Developers Corp., which is proposing the project with Lombardo Cos. "This is a smaller project, and it's doable. It's not going to sit on the books like other stuff that's dependent on a revitalized economy. We want to propose a project that meets the market and will go forward."
East Boston City Councilor Sal LaMattina hopes the development will mark the beginning of the revitalization of an area that is long overdue for it.
"We need to do something," he said. "Meridian is a beautiful street. It just needs a little attention. This might be the shot in the arm it needs at this time. And I'm sure the bigger developers will look at this project with a view to their own, if it succeeds."
State Senator Anthony Petruccelli, Democrat for the First Suffolk District, which includes East Boston, agrees. "It's important to have new investment in these business districts," he said, "and it's been a long time since we've seen something like that."
Of course, not everyone in the neighborhood is enchanted with the idea of knocking down the Seville. Some believe that the theater can be saved and are concerned that there has not yet been an independent review of its condition. There is still time for those residents to have their say: The Redevelopment Authority has scheduled a neighborhood meeting regarding the plan for March 19 - location not yet announced - and residents have until April 2 to comment on it. A second hearing may be held by the city's Landmarks Commission, which has yet to determine whether the Seville has any historic or architectural significance.
At those meetings, developers will present the plan in full to the community.
"We want to hold their feet to the fire," said Moulaison, "and make sure this construction doesn't adversely affect abutters, particularly the nearby library, or the traffic situation on Meridian Street.
"Personally, yeah, I feel bad about losing the Seville," he continued. "I remember watching the Three Stooges there. But the fact of the matter is it's been decaying for decades. Romanticizing a small sliver of what it was like 35 years ago is not going to bring back those days. We've got to move forward."
For location information on the March 19 meeting, check http://cityofboston.gov/bra/calendar/calendar.asp
