As the first phase of a statewide “green” initiative, the Mishawum Park Apartments and four other affordable-housing developments are being equipped with solar panels.
Boston Community Capital, a financial institution that invests in low-income communities, has partnered with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, State Street Bank and Borrego Solar to launch the Solar Energy Advantage Program, which, according to a BCC statement, intends to “finance energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy and environmental improvements for affordable housing.” In all, 5,000 rooftop solar panels will be installed to serve the 3,000 residents of Mishawum Park, Washington Elms and Walden Square in Cambridge, North Village in Webster and Riverview in Pittsfield.
Dick Jones, BCC executive vice president and president of the Energy Advantage Program, said installation of the panels at Mishawum Park, which began in September and should be completed before Dec. 31, cost approximately $3 million. The panels will create roughly 31 kilowatts of solar power capacity. Once the Mishawum Park project is completed, it will be the largest rooftop solar-panel installation in the state, he said.
And this could potentially mean big savings for the development.
Over the course of the next 20 years, the cost of generating energy via solar panels at a fixed rate with a small escalation cost would be a little lower than the traditional rates. But Jones said if the energy cost doubles — like it has in the past five years — the new measure would mean an accumulative savings of $1.5 million over course of 20 years.
As for why Mishawum Park was chosen as one of the project locations, Jones said the selection was based on a feasibility study that began a year and a half ago and analyzed shading, strength of rooftops and other variables.
“People typically think of solar panels in places like California and not as being cost effective in New England,” Jones said. “To find a good spot in the city is exciting, especially in low-income housing where [solar energy] has typically been ignored.”

City officials for the Rutherford Avenue Corridor Study and residents met on Wednesday, Nov. 19, to discuss some traffic and design concerns on the City Square portion of Rutherford Avenue. The recently released 2009 calendar by the Friends of the Charlestown Library, which shows houses and buildings on Main Street circa 1899, was presented to Vineet Gupta at the meeting. This wonderful calendar has a couple Sullivan Square-area photos, including a nice one of a portion of a street with a couple of buildings on it that now no longer exists. The street was once located in what is now a large parking lot in the middle of Sullivan Square at the corner of Main and Gardner streets.
Pictured at the meeting, left to right, are: Charlestown Neighborhood Council member Paul Clausen, City of Boston Transportation Planner Rachael Mercier, Director of Planning for the City of Boston Vineet Gupta, planner and engineer consultant at Tetra Tech Rizzo Mike Hall and Charlestown area resident and activist Tom King, who worked successfully for the early, rather then later, park construction of Paul Revere Park. Not pictured: Friends of City Square Park Governor Ken Stone.

CAPTION: The future home of Max & Dylans at 100 City Square.

The owners of a new restaurant set to open at 100 City Square prior to the holidays appeared before the Charlestown Neighborhood Council Basic Services Committee last week to outline their plans for the operation.
Max & Dylans, the latest venture for Tavern on the Water owners Brad Delback and Chris Damian, was described by Delback as “a family, casual, American comfort-food restaurant.” (Delback and Damian also own and operate Scollay Square at 21 Beacon St. and the original Max & Dylans, which opened Sept. 9 at 15 West St. in the Theatre District). The restaurant will have an occupancy of 214 people, and on-site entertainment will be limited to TVs and “piped-in overhead music,” Delback said. Parking provisions will include 50 spaces located on the premises.
The restaurant will open at 11 a.m. and its kitchen will close at 10 p.m. during the week and 11 p.m. on weekends. Despite a license that allows for a 1 a.m. closing time, the owners said the bar would likely close one hour after the kitchen.
“We’re a restaurant that serves alcohol, not a bar that serves food,” Damian said. “It’s somewhere you’d meet after work to have a glass of wine and a sandwich.”
As for what would set Max & Dylans apart from Meze and Copia — the two ill-fated restaurants that previously occupied the location — Delback said the new establishment would rely on business from Freedom Trail tourists during the summer and neighborhood patrons during the winter.
“It won’t be a destination restaurant, like Meze and Copia,” Delback said. “The past restaurants failed because they weren’t geared toward the community.”
Damian said a truck would need to be parked outside the restaurant once a month for sewer cleaning, but truck deliveries wouldn’t be made to the front of the restaurant on busy Chelsea Street. He added that the restaurant wouldn’t offer shuttle bus service to events at the nearby TD Banknorth Garden.
In response to allegations made by several Navy Yard residents that owners were unresponsive to concerns about noise and other issues related to the operation of Tavern on the Water, Delback countered: “We do address theses situations, We take them seriously and will continue to do that.”
Lynne Levesque, who co-chairs the Charlestown Business Climate Improvement Committee, and Meredith Bryan, owner and manager of the Coldstone Creamery ice cream parlor located next door to Max & Dylans at 100 City Square, offered their support for the new restaurant.
“Business breeds business,” Bryan said. “We need to open our arms to new businesses.”
The CNC representatives in attendance voted unanimously in favor of Neighborhood Council Chairman Tom Cunha’s motion to endorse the license change and hours of operation for Max & Dylans as presented. The restaurant owners agreed to appear before the Neighborhood Council again in six months to review the operation thus far.
The owners also agreed to Cunha’s request that Max & Dylans seek local employees.

Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center will unveil its revamped Web site this week.
Besides featuring a new look with current photos, Bob Cutler, the program’s executive director, said the site will include descriptions of all current Learning Center programs, as well as up-to-date scores and game and practice schedules. Another new feature will allow parents and players to register online and securely update their personal information at the start of each season.
“Coaches will have better communication with parents,” Cutler added. “They can use the site to e-mail parents and post messages for parents and players.”
The site will also feature Web links for the organization’s community partners, including Charlestown Against Drugs, the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition, the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club, the Charlestown Working Theater and the Boston Blazers, the professional lacrosse team that launches its inaugural season at the TD Banknorth Garden in January and will serve as the official charity of the Lacrosse & Learning Center.
Cutler said the new Web site will reduce the cost of the program by allowing staff members to “work smarter.”
“It’s a huge timesaver for me,” he said. “I’ll be able to help kids in the Learning Center, rather than managing paperwork. The whole idea [behind the new Web site] is for the staff and coaches to run the program more effectively.”
The Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center Web site is available at www.charlestownlacrosse.org.

CAPTION; Charlestown Recovery House founding board members Tommy Howard and Kevin Smith.

In anticipation of the Charlestown Recovery House’s second annual fundraiser this Sunday, founding board members Tommy Howard and Kevin Smith took a moment to reflect on how the first event held at the Knights of Columbus Hall last November exceeded their expectations and went on to raise $30,000 for the substance-abuse treatment facility.
‘We were overwhelmed,’ Howard said. “It was like [the 1989 film] ‘Field of Dreams’: Build it, and they will come.”
Smith added, “The line went down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk. People from all walks of life came and made contributions.”
The outpouring of support is perhaps even more surprising given the fact that the Recovery House didn’t even open until June.
The Hayes Square facility currently provides in-house treatment for 25 males and has a waiting list. “If a bed opens, it’s usually filled within 24 hours,” Smith said. Patients are required to live at the site for six months while holding jobs.
”The House isn’t just to deal with substance abuse issues; it’s to deal with other issues that [patients] might have,” Howard said. “The difficult part getting sober is learning to stay sober.”
But despite the fact that the bricks and mortars are now in place, this year’s fundraiser is particularly important to the future of the Recovery House because the board members must make up an annual shortfall of between $50,000 and $60,000.
“We now need to money to fund beds,” Smith said, adding that state budget cuts usually affect human services first. “The state only funds 17 out of 25 beds. We have to make up the difference ourselves to keep the beds full.”
This year’s event will feature local comedians Tony V. Steve Macone, and Howard said, with any luck, fellow entertainer and Charlestown native Steve Sweeney will make a return visit.
“The support we’ve received thus far has been tremendous,” Howard said.
While they credit much of the success so far to the hard work of their fellow board members Jim Travers, Paul O’Donnell, Paul Tryder and Kristine Lundgren, Howard and Smith point to the Recovery House as a true community collaboration.
“It wasn’t built by just individuals,” Howard said. “It was built by the community for the community.”
The Charlestown Recovery House fundraiser takes place at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 75 West School St., on Sunday, Nov. 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are $50 each and can be reserved by calling Noreen Manning at 617-549-3470, Elaine Donovan at 617-755-2763, Sis Morrissey at 617-817-3156, Tommy Howard at 617-233-7801 and McKenzie Ridings at 617-241-9446.
The Charlestown Recovery House helpline can be reached at 617-242-2500.