Charlestown was buzzing last week with reports of a building used to test wind-turbine blades coming to the Autoport on Medford Street, but the exact nature of this project has caused some confusion.
A story that appeared in The Boston Globe on Dec. 13 described a facility boasting a 450-foot tall windmill that would have dwarfed both the Bunker Hill Monument and the Tobin Bridge. The following day, however, the Globe reported that the initial report was erroneous and that the facility would in fact be a 300-foot long, four-story enclosed building where the blades would be tested horizontally for strength and rigidity. An aide to Ranch Kimball, the state’s environmental secretary, told the Globe that the discrepancy between the two reports was due to miscommunication on Kimball’s part.
While the project was proposed by Gov. Mitt Romney’s administration, James W. Hunt III, the City of Boston’s chief or environmental and energy services, said the city was supportive of the project, but that it was still in the preliminary stages.
"The city is supporting the Commonwealth's application to bring this facility to Massachusetts,” Hunt said in a written statement, adding that sites in both Boston and New Bedford are being considered for the project. “The mayor has been clear that if the facility is ultimately proposed in Boston, it will be subject to a full community review process.”
Hunt also said that the city supports alternative energy sources, including wind turbines.
"We are supportive of the application because we understand that our region needs to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels from an energy security standpoint, particularly to further our efforts to reduce the number of LNG tankers in our inner harbor and reduce our impact on the environment,” he said. “Renewable energy development is a key element of our strategy to become energy independent. Also, we are keenly focused on creating new job opportunities through the emerging field of clean technology.”
According to Autoport spokesman Lanny Johnson, a national search is now underway for a facility that would be used to test the strength of the wind turbine blades. Johnson also said the Autoport would be well suited for the facility because the Northeast offers optimal wind conditions. The blades would be transported to the facility via water, causing no impact on traffic, he said.
Still, Johnson maintains that it is uncertain whether the facility will ever come to the Autoport. “It’s chancy that it will ever happen,” he said.
Meanwhile, elected officials are eager to learn more about the project and believe that it should be subject to a comprehensive review by the community.
“I am very supportive of new energy issues, but we have to make sure it doesn’t have a negative impact on the community,” City Councilor Sal LaMattina said. “There needs to be a full community process.”
State Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty said while he was caught by surprise by the initial reports, he believes that wind is a viable alternate energy source and that he has lobbied for a proposed wind turbine to be located at Chelsea Soldier’s Home.
Tom Cunha, chairman of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council, expressed concerned about the impact of the proposed facility on Charlestown, particularly along the waterfront following the initial Globe report.
“My concern are that it might limit maritime use down there and what the impact would be on the community, as well as what it will do to the waterfront aesthetics,” he said.

As part of Charlestown Connects — the community-wide collaboration between city agencies, non-profits and police that was announced in October — several new services are being offered for residents.
The MGH Charlestown Healthcare Center will provide a nurse at the Boston Housing Authority office at 76 Monument St. to provide health education. The nurse will hold classes on managing diabetes and other health issues and will be available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. A medical interpreter will also be on hand to assist Spanish-speaking residents.
In addition, the MGH Charlestown Healthcare Center is in the process of hiring three substance abuse counselors, said Peggy Carolan, administrative director of the MGH Charlestown Healthcare Center.
According to Jack Kelly, the mayor’s Charlestown liaison, the city recently hired two youth outreach workers for Charlestown. Both are Charlestown residents, and their names will be announced next month.
Kelly also said Marco A Torres, the City of Boston’s Latino liaison, will be available during Kelly’s office hours, which take place at the Charlestown Connects office, 55 Bunker Hill St., on Thursday, Dec. 28, from 1 to 5 p.m.
A community meeting planned for January will focus on job training, instead of substance abuse as was originally announced.
“We recognize the work that the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition is doing, and we don’t want to be redundant by addressing the same issues,” Kelly said, adding that a meeting regarding substance abuse will take place at a later date.
A collaboration between the Charlestown Mothers Association and MissionSafe Charlestown, a program for at-risk youth, is also planned. The city has also contacted the USS Constitution Museum about the possibility of launching its own youth outreach program, Kelly said.
Under the Charlestown Connects initiative, the Neighborhood Response Team is now meeting twice each month. The committee, which includes representatives from all city services, is headed up by Leo Boucher, the assistant commissioner of the Inspectional Services Department and concentrates on quality of life issues. As a result of the team’s work, Charlestown’s gaslights will be rehabilitated next year.
Kelly said the city has received only a few calls regarding quality of life issues in recent weeks, which he believes is a good indication of Charlestown Connect’s effectiveness.
A Charlestown Connects Web site will soon be available at www.charlestownconnects@cityofboston.gov.

With Christmas only many a few days away, holiday shoppers are left scrambling in an effort to find gifts for their friends and family. There is no reason for them to endure Boston’s crowded malls and shops, however, because many great gift ideas can be found right here in Charlestown.
For proud Charlestown natives, the Joy of Old at 85 Warren St. now offers a line of white linens with “Townie” embroidered in green lettering, including golf towels ($15 each) and aprons ($12 each). The store also offers Christmas ornaments featuring Charlestown landmarks made by local artisan Joe Trepiccone. They are available for $16 each, and designs include the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, the USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument. Marble coasters with images from vintage Charlestown postcards are available for $12 each or four for $40.
The USS Constitution Museum Store in the Navy Yard offers a vast array of items that celebrate “Old Ironsides.” Models of the famed ships in a bottle are available in several different sizes, and prices range from $16 to $69.95. A selection of pens made from authentic wood from the ship run from $39.95 to $120. Children are bound to like the popular nautical-themed teddy bears. The officer bear costs $24.95, while the “Scuttlebutt” sailor bear is available for $21.95.
The Engine 50 firehouse on Medford Street sells two different T-shirts. The first, which runs $15, commemorates the 150th anniversary of the station and features the Engine 50 seal on the right breast and a full-color illustration of the station on back. A second T-shirt costs $10. And has the seal on the right breast pocket withillustrations of a fire engine, the USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument on back. (Double and triple extra-large T-shirts are available in both styles for an additional $5).
CVS Pharmacy in the Bunker Hill Mall offers a nice selection of toys. The Play Doh Fun Factory Deluxe Set, which includes several containers of the pliable modeling material along with a variety of molds with which to shape it, can be bought for $12.99. The classic Etch-A-Skekch drawing toy is available for $17.99. And the Santa Fe Express radio-controlled train is $29.99.
Gift certificates and cards are always a good gift idea. Store 24 stores on Main Street and in the Navy Yard offer gift cards from Sears, Home Depot, AMC Theatres, Foot Locker shoe stores and Blockbuster video. Gift certificates are also available from many Charlestown restaurants. The Warren Tavern offers gift certificates in denominations of $10 and up, while certificates for Friendly’s in the Bunker Hill Mall start at $5. The Chow Thai Café on Main Street offers gift certificates in any denomination.
A Better Place to Be Day Spa on Main Street offers a variety of holiday packages. A spa manicure and pedicure package is the most inexpensive at $60, while a marathon runner’s holiday package, which includes four-hour sports massage sessions and a spa foot treatment, costs $350. Gift certificates are available for $15 and up.
Unique getaway packages are available from the Constitution Marina in the Navy Yard. Double-occupancy rates on board a boat start at $125 per night and include breakfast and other amenities. Visit www.bedandbreakfastafloat.com for more information. The marina is closed until April, which allows plenty of time to plan ahead.
But if a real getaway is what your heart desires, a last-minute, round-trip flight to London can be booked at Marathon Tours & Travel on Main Street for $1,230. If would probably make sense to wait until after New Year’s to travel when the cost of a plane ticket drops to $414.

Selling the old city old and building a new one

Mayor Thomas M. Menino has laid on the table a provocative proposal to tear down the present city hall and to sell City Hall Plaza to developers.
Part of the plan is to build a new city hall, meant to serve as a symbol of the city around the world, along the waterfront in the burgeoning South Boston.
We applaud the mayor’s proposal. It is a wonderful idea that we hope comes to fruition. The present city hall is an abomination — crude in appearance, cold in feeling and an object of despair that is inappropriate in time and space.
It is a dour and gray, somber and ugly, cement and glass testament to architecture failing to encompass what Boston City Hall should stand for.
That the mayor should be speaking about tearing down the present city hall and building another one is a sure sign that he has a vision for the future that will outdistance the thinking of those who were leading the city when the old Scollay Square area was torn down to make way for ugliness and emptiness. To build a new city hall that will be recognized around the world is the opportunity of a lifetime. In this case, it is the best opportunity to put to rest an almost 45-year-old mistake and to trade it for an architectural gem that will shine.
If there is to be a new Boston City Hall on the South Boston waterfront, it should soar, and sing and be a part of the waterfront and of all the possibilities that so many have come to associate with Boston. Mayor Menino has the ability to collect perhaps the finest array of architects and urban planners, historians and social anthropologists, to come to agreement on just the right design for the new city hall. The opportunity is to create a city hall that serves not simply as an engineering and design fete but also as a place whose angles and proximity to the sea make it one of the most admired buildings of its kind in the world.
The new city hall must be to architecture and to design what the great sailing ships of Donald McKay were to the sea. McKay’s ships, all of them built in East Boston in the 1850’s and 1860’s, sailed the seven seas faster and with more grace than anything that had ever come before. With names like New World and Flying Cloud, McKay’s ships were noted as the swiftest and the sleekest and it was know around the world that they were built in Boston.
The opportunity the mayor has with the suggestion of a new city hall on the water is to be a McKay of sorts.
The city can set a standard for decades to come by designing a city hall on the water that will be the essence of Boston.
It will need to have gorgeous, compelling angles and a feeling of grandeur and excellence, and building materials used that give a sense of strength and quality, color and hyper design. This is a building that needs to be built for the ages.
There are those who have said that the mayor wishes to do this to leave a legacy.
So be it.
If he means to have a legacy, what better way than to leave a city hall that is majestic and recalled many years from now as one of the finest buildings of its kind in the nation and the world.
That would be something — and yes — it would be a legacy worth leaving.

Jack Kelly

The mayor’s new chief aid in Charlestown is a young man named Jack Kelly.
We’ve met Jack a few times already as he makes his way around the campus, so to speak.
It would not be possible to be more Irish or more Catholic or more Charlestown than young Jack Kelly.
He’s a good kid on a mission to do something with himself, for his neighborhood and for his boss the mayor.
We wish him the best in his new role.