CREDIT: Courtesy of Neshamkin French Architects, Inc

CAPTION: An artist’s rendering of the development proposed for 75 West School St.

A meeting regarding the condo development proposed for the current site of the Knights of Columbus Hall Monday night was passionate and, at times, contentious as interests were divided between those opposed to certain aspects of the project and those committed to saving the long-standing Charlestown council of the fraternal men’s organization.
Co-sponsored by the Charlestown Neighborhood Council Development Committee and the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the meeting took place at the Knights of Columbus Hall and drew more than 150 people, many of whom were members and supporters of the Bunker Hill Knights of Columbus #62. Here, the development team of Boston attorney Bruce Daniel and Charlestown architect Jack French presented revised plans for the proposed development at 75 West School St.
After meeting with the Charlestown Preservation Society Design Committee and the Mishawum Park Apartments board of directors, the developers agreed to reduce the building’s original height of nine stories. The revised plan proposed a maximum height of five stories for the section of the building adjacent to the Zelma Lacey House at 9 West School St., while the section facing Rutherford Avenue would be seven-stories tall. The overall number of units in the development would also be reduced from 111 to 99.
Tom Cunha, general manager of the Charlestown Knights, described the development deal as a last chance to save the organization, which has fallen into arrears following a 1998 revision to state tax laws.
“If this development doesn’t go through, it will end a 115-year tradition in the community,” Cunha said. ”If you’re voting against it, then you’re voting against the Knights. There is no other way to look at it.”
The Knights plan to relocate to a building currently owned by hardware distributor C.A. Cunningham at 545 Medford St., if the project comes to fruition.
Fr. Daniel Mahoney, pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church and the chaplain of the Charlestown Knights and the Boston Fire Department, touted the Knights’ commitment to Charlestown, saying that the organization had provided free use of the hall to local non-profits on countless occasions since it opened in 1975.
“The Knights of Columbus was always here for all of us. Now, it’s time for us to step up to the plate for Council #62 in the years ahead,” Fr. Mahoney said, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd.
Despite the outpouring of support for the Knights, some Neighborhood Council members found fault in certain aspects of the design plan.
Bill Galvin of the CNC said that the 142 parking spaces proposed for the project was inadequate, especially since the tandem (back-to-back) parking design didn’t fulfill the Neighborhood Council’s requirements. He also questioned the potential impact on the neighborhood if adequate provisions weren’t made for visitor and on-site employee parking.
CNC member Dave Whelan also questioned whether parking access off of West School Street could accommodate all resident vehicles.
Others said that even under the revised plan, the project’s maximum height of 70 feet far exceeded the 35-foot limit now in place in the neighborhood and could set a standard for future developers.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” CNC representative Mike Charbonnier said. “I just think that seven stories will set a precedent that will affect the rest of the town. I think there’s a compromise that needs to be struck now before we start building.”
Meanwhile, CNC member Judy Brennan, who co-chaired the meeting with Development Committee Chairman Jim Conway, described the new plan as a vast improvement over the original proposal.
“I think what you presented tonight is much improved. I can almost support it,” Brennan said. “I would be thrilled to point to this project as a model as to what should be going up on Rutherford Avenue.”
The CNC Development Committee voted to approve the proposal by a vote of six to four and to recommend its ratification at the Oct. 2 CNC meeting.
The BRA is accepting public comments on the project until Oct. 5. Correspondence can be sent to Geoff Lewis, Boston Redevelopment Authority, One City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201-1007.

CAPTION: Earvin “Magic” Johnson is seen in Charlestown last Thursday.

While in town last Thursday to promote a condo development now under construction adjacent to the Sullivan Square MBTA station, NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson spoke to students from the Clarence R. Edwards Middle School about the importance of hard work and following your dreams.
“You have to dream big because if you don’t dream it, you can’t become it,” Johnson, 48, said to a captive group of youngsters at the Caldwell Street site of Mezzo Design Lofts. ‘You have to make sure through education that happens.”
Canyon Johnson Urban Fund, a private equity fund co-founded by the former Los Angeles Lakers point guard in 1998 that provides financial backing for residential and retail development in U.S. cities, has partnered with Boston real estate and investment company Cathartes Private Investments to build Mezzo Design Lofts. The $54 million, 154-unit residential complex will consist of one-, two- and three-bedroom loft units priced in the low $300,000 to the high $600,000 range. The project is slated for completion in December.
Johnson had previously lost out on two other development deals in Roxbury, including the proposed Magic Johnson Theatre complex, but as he told Edwards School students: “I hate to lose.”
And Johnson isn’t the only basketball great to visit Charlestown students this year: In April, 73-year-old former Boston Celtics star Bill Russell, who has served on the board of MENTOR/National Mentoring partnership for the last 10 years, spoke with students at Charlestown High School about the importance of mentoring.
Meanwhile, Johnson described Russell as something of a personal mentor when he was coming up in the NBA.
“I always look to Bill Russell first,” Johnson said. “[He] was one of the greatest winners I’ve ever seen in the game.”

A Charlestown man was sentenced to five years in prison last week after he was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol in an April 2006 accident that left a teenaged girl dead.
Robert E. Getz, 29, was found guilty by the Middlesex Superior Court Jury on Sept. 18 on charges including manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, motor vehicle homicide, operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury and operating a motor vehicle after having a suspended license.
Getz was sentenced to five years in state prison for the manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle charge by Middlesex Superior Court Judge Hiller Zobel. This is the minimum sentence allowed for the charge under Melanie’s Law, a series of more stringent drunken-driving penalties that was enacted in October 2005.
Getz is scheduled for sentencing on the remaining charges at an Oct. 22 hearing at Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge.
On the evening of April 8, 2006, Getz, who reportedly has a lengthy record for drunk driving and other motor-vehicle citations, consumed at least two rum drinks before driving his wife’s 2002 BMW to purchase more liquor, prosecutors said. Getz then allegedly stopped off at King Arthur’s Lounge, an Everett strip club, where he consumed a vodka drink before getting behind the wheel again.
The vehicle Getz was driving struck a Saturn and then a Toyota Camry while traveling westbound on the eastbound lane on the access road to Route 16 in Everett, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office.
Getz was placed under arrest after displaying signs of intoxication at the scene of the accident and transported to the Medford State Police Barracks for booking. Further investigation revealed that Getz had a blood alcohol level of .17 — about twice the state’s legal limit — and had driven more than 400 feet in the opposite lane at speeds greater than 55 m.p.h. in a 25 m.p.h. zone, the District Attorney’s office said.
The Toyota Camry driver and his passenger were both treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
The driver of the Saturn, 19-year-old Christopher McFeely, and the passenger, 16-year-old Krystyl Poirier were transported to area hospitals. McFeely suffered fractures to his legs and a shattered pelvis. Poirier, who was ejected through the Saturn’s sunroof and pinned under the car, was later pronounced dead at Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett.
“Although this verdict and sentence can never ease the pain of the Poiriers, we hope a loud and clear message has been sent — our goal is to deter anyone from getting behind the wheel while impaired through strict enforcement of the laws and severe punishment,” Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said. “Through Melanie’s Law, the Legislature provided law enforcement with additional tools to prosecute and punish drunk drivers, and that is exactly what occurred in this case.”

CREDIT: Courtesy of Conroy Development/Dolezal Architects

CAPTION: An overhead view of Building 33 in the Navy Yard.

If the Boston Redevelopment Authority approves a developer’s request to change the usage of Building 33 from office to residential space, there will be more apartment options in the Navy Yard.
“I think rental is the highest and best use [for the building], and we’re committed to it as this point,” Terry Conroy Jr., president of Conroy Development Company, said at an Sept. 19 meeting of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council Development Committee. “There aren’t a lot of rental units [in the Navy Yard], and it’s a huge opportunity.”
Stoughton-based Conroy Development Company, the group behind the proposed 350-unit apartment building on Cambridge Street, plans to convert the 47,600-square-foot, three-story building located at 33 Third Ave. into 49 rental units. Rehabilitation of the building comes at the cost of $5 million and includes exterior improvements and roof repairs. (Conroy said that an effort would be made to preserve exposed bricks and wood beams in the building’s interior). Pending approval from the BRA, which is expected in late October or November, the six to eight month construction project would begin.
The building would contain 14 small one-bedroom units that would rent for $2,000 a month, 25 conventional one-bedrooms that would rent for $2,800 a month and 10 two-bedroom penthouse units that would rent for $3,400 a month, Conroy said.
Conroy also assured CNC Chairman Tom Cunha that Building 33 wouldn’t be marketed as condos in the future.
Besides expressing concerns over trash removal, CNC members questioned whether adequate parking would be made available for tenants.
Brian Callahan, the attorney representing Conroy Development Company, said the developer was in negotiations with Massachusetts General Hospital to secure 50 parking spaces for tenants at Building 133. Callahan also anticipated that many tenants would commute to work via the City Water Taxi, which departs from Pier 8 in the Navy Yard, thereby mitigating traffic.
In the early ‘80s, Conroy Development Company acquired the building that dates back to the 1850s. Building 33 has sat vacant for the past year and one-half after its last tenant, Partners HealthCare, relocated to the Schrafft Building.
“We had a chance to walk away from the building, but we have a commitment to the Navy Yard and the building,” Conroy said.
The CNC Development Committee voted to approve the proposal and recommend its ratification at the Oct. 2 CNC meeting. The BRA is accepting public comments on the project until Oct. 12. Correspondence can be sent to Geoff Lewis, Boston Redevelopment Authority, One City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201-1007.

Celebrate Fall 2007 took place at Shipyard Park in the Navy Yard on Sunday afternoon. The free family event, sponsored by Friends of ther Charlestown navy Yard, the Charlestown Working Theater and the Charlestown Mothers Association, celebrated the Autumn Equinox and included a magic show by Mike Bent’s AbraKidabra, live music from Ray Cavicchio’s Brass Band, as well as face painting and balloons for children.

CAPTION 1: Pictured, left to right, are Victoria Pamias and Shayla Hanscom.

CAPTION 2: Leslie and Shakema Scarlett and Sincere Kelley with her face painted.

CAPTION 3: Shown, left to right, are Cole Mansfield and Brady McKinley.

CAPTION 4: A member of the Ray Cavicchio Brass Band is shown.

When Marion Dancy first moved to the Navy Yard 23 years ago, it was a far different place than it is today.
“The marina was dirty and full of ruts and rats,” said Dancy, president of Friends of the Charlestown Navy Yard. “There weren’t a lot of property owners. Most [residents] were renters at Constitution Quarters and Shipway Place. It’s changed a lot since then.”
Dancy, who emigrated with her family from London to Pittsburgh at age 7, first moved to New England to attend Brown University as a freshman undergraduate, and she never left. After graduating from Brown, she took a job as a systems analyst with RCA Computer Systems in the old WRKO building in Government Center. Dancy and her future husband, Terry Cullen, relocated from Sudbury to Charlestown in 1984 — a move that was prompted in part by their shared love for sailing, as well as its proximity to downtown Boston.
“We put our boat in the marina and learned about the Navy Yard,” Dancy said. “We loved the water and the history of the area, so we decided to move here.”
In the late ‘80s, Dancy was well aware of the issues facing the Navy Yard through Cullen, who served on the Charlestown Neighborhood Council then and worked closely on the Charlestown Navy Yard Master Plan.
“I was familiar with what was going on, but since I had an intense career, I wasn’t around much,” she said.
This all changed in the fall of 2001, when Dancy, like many others working in the high-tech industry, fell prey to corporate layoffs and lost her job of 25 years with the Compaq Computer Corporation. (She had previously worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, which Compaq acquired in 1998).
“At this point in my life, I was around more, Dancy said. “I had more time to invest in quality-of-life issues.”
Dancy volunteered to design the Web site for the recently-formed Friends of the Charlestown Navy Yard before getting involved with ongoing development issues in the neighborhood, particularly in regard to projects involving the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
In late 2005, Dancy was named president of the organization and committed herself to building on its mission of reaching out to the rest of the community.
“One of the things we’re trying to do with Charlestown is bring the rest of the town to the Navy Yard,” she said.
Over the past two summers, Friends of the Charlestown Navy Yard has partnered with the BRA to sponsor a concert series at Shipyard Park in the Navy Yard, and last Sunday, Friends, the Charlestown Mothers Association and the Charlestown Working Theatre staged Celebrate Fall 2007, a free family event to observe the Autumn Equinox.
But despite the emphasis on family activities, Dancy is quick to point out that the organization is committed to addressing drugs, crime and other issues now facing the community.
“Friends wants to be an organization that is not focused on just one issue,” Dancy said.
Last month, Friends sponsored a Candidates’ Night for State Senate hopefuls, where 3,000 whistles were distributed to vulnerable parties in the community in an effort to raise awareness of the Boston Police Department’s Neighborhood Crime Watch program.
Besides forging partnerships with other local organizations, Friends also hopes to attract participants from other parts of town.
“One thing we would like to do is attract additional board members from other parts of Charlestown, and that’s something we’ll actively be doing,” Dancy said.
Above all else, Dancy hopes that the work of Friends will not only attract newcomers to the Navy Yard but also unite Charlestown as a whole.
“I’ve lived in Charlestown for 23 years, so obviously I care about my home,” she said, “and the waterfront is a wonderful place in Boston for everyone to enjoy.”

Turner Construction Company has filed a lawsuit against Trammell Crowe Company that alleges the developer misled the company into finishing the HarborView condo complex in the Navy Yard despite not having sufficient funding to finish the project.
According to published reports, the New York-based construction company filed a complaint in Suffolk Superior Court last month that stated the defendants “conspired to cause Turner to provide $10 million worth or work” towards the completion of the 224-unit residential complex.
The lawsuit claims Trammel Crowe of Dallas, Texas, defaulted on loans payments to Eurohypo AG and Prudential Insurance Company of America due to sluggish sales of HarborView units. Turner completed the $100 million project before learning that Trammel Crowe was unable to pay monies owed to the construction company in full, according to the defendant.
In a written statement released Tuesday, the defendant’s spokesman Jim Broghesani said: "Trammell Crowe is still reviewing the lawsuit and will have no further comment at this time."
Last month, Trammel Crowe announced that HarborView would be “repositioned for sale as an upscale, mixed-use rental community.”
Turner representatives could not be reached for comment.