High-rise loft complex planned for Community College area
By Dan Murphy

In yet another real estate venture planned for the area of Rutherford Avenue, a local development team hopes to build a pair of high-rise apartments north of the Bunker Hill Community College athletic fields that would attract young people with its affordable loft-style units.
The approximately $70 million development, called Bridgeview Lofts because its units would offer views of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge and Downtown Boston, would occupy 285,800 square feet and consist of two residential building — one 20 stories and 250 feet tall, the other 14 stories and 181 feet tall. A three-level garage would provide 280 parking spaces for the buildings’ 180 units at the at-grade level and on two underground levels in the complex. Pending approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the community, the development team expects to break ground in a year and to take one and one-half years to complete the project.
The development team includes Charlestown resident Byron Gilchrest, president of the Boston Development firm Gilchrest Associates; Jack French, president of Monument Square-based Neshamkin French Architects, Inc.; and Jack Millerick, executive director of the Life Focus Center, Inc. The proposed project would be built on a parcel that the Boston Redevelopment Authority originally deeded to the Life Focus Center circa 1990 as the site for its new facility, according to Gilchrest. Earnings from the development will be used to create an endowment for the Life Focus Center, a Charlestown-based non-profit that assists the mentally challenged.
Gilchrest said the project intends to fill the need for modestly-priced residential units in the city, much like a more upscale development in the South End did several years ago.
“We’re doing lofts to keep the finish costs down. People an upgrade at their leisure,” Gilchrest said. “It gives young people an entry point into the housing market.”
While the development is now being planned as apartments, it could be marketed as condos if the real estate market shifted. The complex’s 152 two-bedroom units would rent for approximately $2,000 a monthly, while its 28 one-bedrooms would rent at a slightly lower rate. If sold as condos, the units would fall below the $500,000 mark, French said.
French and Gilchrist anticipate a high demand for housing at Bridgeview Lofts after the success of their Charleston Lofts, a 240-unit development built on the former site of the Charleston Chew candy factory in Everett. The first phases of the development sold out in advance of its opening, French said.
French described Bridgeview Lofts as “a transit-oriented residential development,” maintaining that most residents would work in the city and would opt to make the five- to seven-minute trek to the MBTA Community College station for their daily commute.
Gilchrest added, “I don’t think there will be a huge traffic impact. Most living here would likely not drive.”
And while the developer has yet to undertake a traffic study, French said the project would have a minimal impact on Rutherford Avenue. “Rutherford Avenue can easily absorb the number of resident trips per day at peak hours,” French said.
Among other abutters, Gilchrest said he had met with Community College officials, who didn’t appear to have any objections with the project. He added that he didn’t anticipate any conflicts with the 9,000-seat, minor-league baseball stadium that was previously proposed for the school’s athletic fields.
Gilchrest said neither he nor French, who is also the architect behind the nine-story residential development planned for the current site of the Knights of Columbus Hall on West School Street, would support a project with the proposed height of Bridgeview Lofts on Charlestown’s residential streets or in the Navy Yard.
“If this were in Charlestown proper, we wouldn’t be discussing building a 20-story building,” Gilchrest said. “[The proposed site] is in a part of Charlestown that, with the exception of Bunker Hill Community College, is industrial and parking lots. I don’t think this is inappropriate in this location.”
The development team behind Bridgeview Lofts will present their proposal at the next Charlestown Neighborhood Council meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 75 West School St., on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m.

The outlook isn’t looking any brighter for Charlestown’s business climate, as two new rounds of layoffs were recently announced for local companies.
Charlestown-based technology services firm Keane, Inc. notified the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development last month that it plans to eliminate 92 of its approximately 600 positions in Boston between Sept. 30 and March 31. (Three hundred-fifty people are employed at its Charlestown headquarters). Sources told the Patriot-Bridge that Keane has terminated at least five Charlestown residents.
In a written statement, Jim Puthuff, the company’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, said: “Keane’s recent layoffs in Boston, while painful, were a necessary step toward building a stronger company. The positions that were eliminated were primarily back office functions that were redundant following the acquisition, and were due in part to the company’s change from public to private status. Keane currently employs approximately 640 people in the greater New England area, which will remain a strong area of growth for the company.”
This move follows the acquisition of Keane in June for a reported $854 million by a Caritor Inc., a private San Ramon, Calif.-based firm with most of its operations based out of India.
In February, following the announcement of the planned acquisition, Larry Vale, Keane’s vice president of investor relations, told the Patriot-Bridge, “We don’t expect any material reductions in the core employees at Keane. Caritor considers Keane a valuable asset and part of that is the employee talent that we have.”
Vale was laid off as part of a round of cuts that included a small number of Keane executives in June and July following the Caritor acquisition, sources said. The company’s chief executive, Kirk E. Arnold, and chief financial officer, John J. Leahy, were also terminated at this time.
Meanwhile, Eons, Inc., the Web site for aging baby boomers that was launched by Monster.com founder Jeffery C. Taylor in July 2006, recently eliminated 24 jobs. The cuts, which included editorial positions, account for more than a third of the staff based out of its Navy Yard headquarters.
According to published reports, the cuts were made across the board, as Eons reestablishes itself as a social-networking Web site. Like My space, the Web site will rely heavily on content generated by users, rather than contributions from staff members. Eons staff originally generated 80 percent of the Web site’s content, whereas users will now supply the same percentage of content.
The Web site now plans to focus on clients ages 49 to 65, as opposed to the larger, initial target-group of 50- to 100-year-olds. Its original motto was “Let’s Live to be 100 (or die trying)!”
As part of this new strategy, Eons would reportedly fill new positions to generate new features for the Web site that would focus on social networking and community building.
The latest cuts mark the second round of layoffs this year for Eons; In February, the company eliminated 10 positions, including editorial jobs.
Eons representatives were unavailable for comment at press time.

The Charlestown Mothers Association sponsored its annual end-of-summer picnic on the Bunker Hill Monument Grounds on Sunday afternoon.

CAPTION 1: Louis, Karen and 2-year-old Jack Tompros enjoy some pizza.

CAPTION 2: Colby Souter and Vivian Stang, both 2, dance to the sounds of Wayne from Maine.

CAPTION 3: Wayne from Maine entertains a group of youngsters.

CAPTION 4: Ivona Poznansky and her 1½-year-old child, Aviad, enjoy some Cold Stone ice cream.

CAPTION: Charlestown High’s new principal center Dr. Bledsoe (center) is seen with students (left to right) Moniqua Williams and Daedre Bolden.

In her new position as principal of Charlestown High, Dr. Margaret “Ranny” Bledsoe realizes that her job is far different that that of a teacher. Instead of focusing on educating individual students, it is her responsibility to ensure that the school itself runs smoothly.
“Running the school is a very funny job,” Bledsoe said. “The teachers do the most important job, whereas the principal is the facilitator who organizes the school in a such a way that it allows teachers and students to do their jobs.
Born in New York City, Bledsoe grew up all over the country before moving to Cambridge, where she attended Peabody Elementary School. While her father served as the editor of the Beacon Press, Bledsoe’s mother gravitated towards education and worked as a teacher in Cambridge Public Schools. And although Bledsoe isn’t a Bay State native, she is quick to point out that she is a die-hard Red Sox fan and the eight cousin, once-removed of former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe.
“I wasn’t born here and only spent part of my childhood here, but I feel like I’m from Boston,” she said.
Bledsoe completed her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Kentucky before earning a Ph.D. in mathematics from New York University. After finishing her education at NYU, she accepted a position as a math professor at Bard College, located in New York’s Hudson Valley region.
Following her teaching stint at Bard, Bledsoe spent 10 years teaching math at a Venezuelan university. She returned to Bard in 1997 and stayed on as a math professor for the next two and one-half years, but the experience left her feeling somewhat unfulfilled.
“I’ve always loved public school and really believed in the public school system,” Bledsoe said.
In 2000, Bledsoe returned to Boston and accepted a position as an eighth-grade math teacher at the Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Dorchester. She stayed in the position for four years before accepting another position with Boston public Schools — this time as a math coach.
Bledsoe’s new position found her alternating between three BPS campuses, mentoring fledgling math teachers and teaching them how to educate their students more effectively.
While Bledsoe held the position for three years and found it enjoyable, it wasn’t nearly as gratifying for her as reaching children directly in a classroom setting.
“Each kid is different and has different needs,” she said. “Each kid needs to feel that the teacher cares about him.”
In 2006, Bledsoe entered Boston Principal Fellow program, which allowed her to learn the ropes of being a BPS principal by shadowing Brighton High School’s Toby Romer.
This is where Bledsoe learned the importance of running an orderly school, one of the priorities she now hopes to build on at Charlestown High.
“You have to create an environment that supports kids doing the right things,” Bledsoe said, adding that students must realize that there are consequences for misbehaving in the classroom, as well as positive reinforcement for good behavior.
Besides being on hand at the hand at the beginning and end of every day to ensure that students enter and exit the school in an orderly manner, Bledsoe is also in discussions with Sister Anne Carrabino of Charlestown MissionSAFE, a program for at-risk youth, to bring a student support counselor to the high school who would work closely with kids struggling in the classroom.
And while Bledsoe looks forward to seeing improved MCAS scores, she also plans to form of a School Side Council, which would open up a dialogue between students, teachers, school administrators and members of the community.
“I’m really committed to getting Charlestown involved in the school,” she said.

Over the past few years, rumors have run rampant throughout this community concerning the Knights of Columbus and its travails. Even as a council member for more than 40 years, I do not pretend to be totally “in the know” as to the organization’s difficulties, but I sincerely feel that it is time for the community to support a group that, for so many years has supported its community.
Let me tell you what I do know. Through nobody’s fault, and as the result of a series of misunderstandings between the local organization’s hierarchy and the bank holding the mortgage on the building and property located at 75 West School St., the council found itself in dire need of financial assistance. That assistance came in the form of a developer who would provide the necessary funds. Mind you, now, this was not a benevolent move by a person who was interested only in the survival of Bunker Hill Council #62. I have been led to believe that this developer would be the very first to admit that his very own business interest was the primary motivation for his generous gesture. His plan then was to ultimately acquire the property at 75 West School St. and develop it into a residential complex.
With the proceeds from the sale of the property, the Knights of Columbus would purchase and rehabilitate another building in the community, and thus the council could continue its 115-year-old tradition as being a viable organization in this town.
What this agreement all boils down to is that THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS WILL CEASE TO EXIST in the Charlestown community unless the this person’s plans to a develop the property on West School Street are realized.
Let me attempt to put a few things in perspective. It would be very, very difficult to find an individual in this town who has not benefited, either directly or indirectly, from the benevolence of the local Knights of Columbus.
Over the years, the council has awarded more than $60,000 to high school seniors to be used toward paying for their college education through its scholarship program. In addition, the function halls have been donated hundreds of times to charitable organization in search of a venue for one reason or another. Churches, youth groups, both athletic and non-athletic have been touched by the council’s generosity. During the 1950s and 1960s the K of C provided funding, through both the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club, for dental work for its membership.
In addition to its charitable donations of time, money, and space, the building has been chosen by many brides and grooms as their place of celebration on their special day. The halls have hosted anniversaries, christenings, birthdays, reunions, bridal showers, baby showers, company gatherings, community gatherings, Bunker Hill Day celebrations, Christmas parties and various shows of entertainment. Functions of all kinds have been held at the 75 West School St. location.
Who was there who could ever forget the touching tributes to Jack “The Barber” Luiselli, or the night when the town’s own Jack O’Callahan, a member of the United States Hockey Team, returned from the 1980 Olympics carrying his gold medal.
It is my opinion that this community not only should have a Knights of Columbus, the community NEEDS a Knights of Columbus.
A meeting of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council Development Committee will be held, where else, at the Knights of Columbus Hall on West School Street on Monday evening at 7 p.m. If you feel as fervent about keeping the Knights of Columbus in the Charlestown community, as many others do, your attendance at this meeting would be greatly appreciated.