Jul

27

Roslindale’s Own Best of Boston

Filed Under Eat | Leave a Comment

Sophia's GrottoCongratulations to Sophia’s Grotto for being named Best of Boston 2009 citywide for Affordable Al Fresco Dining!  Another Courtyard tenant, the Boston Cheese Cellar, received honorable mention for Best Cheese Shop citywide. The Courtyard is certainly a local treasure in the summer months – thanks to community efforts and a commitment by owner Stavros Frantzis to  transform the old dumpster-filled lot behind Birch Street in 2002.

Jul

6

Local Businesses Holding Strong

Filed Under Live, Work | Leave a Comment

A piece of good news in a down economy: Since July 2008, Roslindale Village has seen a net gain of 2 businesses, with 15 net new jobs created to support the local economy. It’s a sign that while times are tough for everyone right now, neighborhood business districts are retaining customer loyalty and faring better overall than malls and big box stores. Supporting local businesses first is one way we can all help this trend continue. Read more

Jul

2

Adams Park – the heart of Roslindale

Filed Under Live | Leave a Comment

It is called Roslindale’s beauty spot, this small triangular park in the heart of Roslindale. The home of community traditions such as the summer Farmers’ Market, summer evening concert series, and the annual Egg Hunt and Tree Lighting Ceremony, Adams Park is a centerpiece for the Roslindale community and the jewel of its commercial district.

The park’s footprint is tiny – only 3/4 acre – making it one of the smallest greenspaces in a neighborhood flanked with expansive open spaces. In 1965, the Parks Department approved the cutback of 22 feet from both the south and eastern corners of the park, in order to improve the traffic rotary pattern. Yet Adams Park is a much-needed haven for residents and local employees, a landmark to welcome visitors to Roslindale Village, and a symbol of the neighborhood’s history and its recent revitalization.

History
Established in 1920 when the City of Boston purchased the land, the park was named in honor of Irving William Adams, reportedly the first Massachusetts man to die in World War I. He lived at the corner of Edgemont and South Streets and attended Longfellow School. Irving W. Adams was born on December 23, 1893. Before enlisting in the Army as a young man of 23, Adams was a leather salesman. He was killed at Rambucourt, France on February 9, 1918.

The site on which the park lies was once owned by Roslindale resident Charles Wise of Amherst Street. Around the turn of the century, Mr. Wise, then a city councilor, offered the City of Boston the land for the low price of $5,000.00, after a fire nearly razed the Tafts Tavern which stood on the site. The city rejected the offer, reportedly due to Roslindale residents’ objections.

After the city refused to purchase the land, Wise redeveloped it. He rebuilt a second floor of the tavern, which served as the public library until the municipal building (at the corner of Washington Street and Ashland Avenue, now Cummins Highway) was built. He also built a row of one-story buildings along Poplar Street, and a two-story structure on South Street, which became Roslindale’s first movie theatre and public lunch room. The Parks Department tore down these buildings to clear the land when they later purchased it in 1919 for the sum of $20,000.00.

Memorials
Two war memorials are showcased in Adams Park, commemorating the Roslindale men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces.

The World War I memorial is nineteen feet high and bears the inscription “Roslindale honors its victorious sons and daughters in World War I. In the glory of their youth we shall remember them.” There is an interesting story behind the World War I monument. A house-to-house canvas for contributions was undertaken to raise the needed funds. The sculptor was to be a noted artist named Henry Albert Atkins, who designed a memorial to cost $30,000.00. A miniature display of the monument was shown in the window of Waters Candy and Ice Cream Parlor, on South Street. Since the goal was never reached, the collected funds remained dormant in the bank until 1955.

That year, local resident Fred Davis noticed that the “Old Roslindale Memorial Association” was one of the dormant accounts listed in the paper that would soon revert back to the state. He went to court to reactivate the funds and hired another man to create an affordable memorial in Atkins’ style. Mr. Gordon Carr of the Erikson Monument Co., Quincy Massachusetts designed the monument and the Jones Brothers Co., Barre, Vermont produced it in 1958, 38 years after the first monument was planned.

The large granite urn was erected in 1945, and is entitled the “Gold Star Mothers World War II Memorial.” This monument was erected by the same Fred Davis, who was the owner of Davis Monument Company on Washington St. In 1990, a line of memorial inscription commemorating the men and women who served in Vietnam and Korea was added to the World War I monument.

A third memorial, a historical tile mosaic installed in 1987, is detailed below.

Maintenance
The chief caretaker of the park for the longest period was Boston Parks Department’s employee and Roslindale resident, Thomas J. Prendergast. He maintained the park for 24 years, from the period of 1956 to 1979, when he retired. There is a tale that tells of the time when Mr. Prendergast was assigned a post other than Adams Park. The residents of Roslindale protested to the Mayor in order to have him reinstated.

The Boston Parks Commission, at the request of area residents in 1990, dedicated the curved walkway as Prendergast Walk for his outstanding stewardship.

The Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund, Townscape Institute, Boston Neighborhood Development Employment Agency, and the Roslindale Historical Society spearheaded the first of a series of improvements to the park in 1984-1986. These initial improvements included replacing the central walkway, adding brick detail and placing a mosaic and six “Louis Armstrong” style benches in the middle of the walkway.

The mosaic, entitled Star Pool, created by artist Be Allen, reflects Roslindale’s history and incorporates objects of its past. These include the metal fragments from the famous train wreck of 1887, and bottle fragments from the Taft’s Tavern, which stood on the site during most of the nineteenth century. Roslindale Village Main Street helped with the design review.

Roslindale Village Main Street, working with the Boston Parks Department and the Browne Fund, initiated further improvements in 1989-90, which included the replacement of the curved walkways and entry pillars, new landscaping, and cleaning the granite statuary.

Since 1985, the park’s annual maintenance has been provided through an innovative public-private partnership between Roslindale Village Main Street, the Boston Parks Department, and local corporate sponsors, including Bank of Boston, Bank of America and most recently, The Cooperative Bank of Roslindale. In 2010 the City of Boston’s Parks Department resumed the parks’ primary maintenance, but plans for improvements continue through RVMS and other local community groups such as Roslindale Green & Clean.

Jul

2

Annual Roslindale Events

Filed Under Events | Leave a Comment

March
Bay State Model Railroad Museum Open House March 5 & 6, 2011

April
Egg Hunt in Adams Park – April 23, 2011
Boston Shines Volunteer Cleanup – April 30, 2011

May
Lilac Sunday at Arnold Arboretum – May 8, 2011

June – October
Saturday Farmers’ Market – June 4-October 29, 2011
Summer Concert Series – July, 2011 dates TBA

September
Taste of Roslindale – September 22, 2011
Roslindale Day Parade – October 2, 2011

November
Roslindale Open Studios – November 6 & 7, 2011
Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony – Saturday, November 26, 2011

December
Roslindale Village Holiday Wander – Thursdays, December 2011
Bay State Model Railroad Museum Open House – Sunday, December 4, 2011

Jul

1

Roslindale Consumer and Demographic Information

Filed Under Work | Leave a Comment

2010 Tufts Economic Development Report on Roslindale Village

RVMS 2007 Resident Survey on Roslindale Village

MIT 2005 Planning Study and Market Analysis of Roslindale Village

Boston Redevelopment Authority 2008 Roslindale Strategic Plan

BRA Roslindale Neighborhood Profile

BostonProspector.com - find up-to-date demographic and business information within 0-5 miles of Roslindale Village

General Demographic Information Resources

U.S. Census Bureau
4 Copley Place
Suite 301
Boston, MA 02117-9108
617-424-4501
The Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about the nation’s people and the economy.

LoopNet.com
888-567-7442
LoopNet is a leading commercial real estate information services provider offering a suite of products and services tailored to the national and local needs of the commercial investments industry.

Jul

1

Permitting, Licensing and Business Support

Filed Under Work | Leave a Comment

Boston Office of Business Development (OBD)
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-635-0355
The Boston Office of Business Development provides entrepreneurs and existing businesses with access to financial and technical resources. From business façade improvement and small service loans, to financial and network referral services. OBD ensures that Boston business owners get the support they need to succeed.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
10 Causeway Street, Room 265
Boston, MA 02222
Phone: 617-565-5590
The SBA provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run and grow their businesses. The regional office is located in downtown Boston.

MA Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (OSBE)
1 Ashburton Place, Room 2101
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-788-3610
OSBE works with the Commonwealth’s service providers of technical assistance and financing, as well as directly with small businesses. It provides information, assistance, and training for companies to thrive and grow in Massachusetts

Boston Small Business Resource Guide – a step-by-step guide to permitting and licensing requirements for starting a business in the City of Boston

General Business Support

Massachusetts Small Business Development Center
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Boulevard
McCormack Building, 5th Floor, Room 403
Boston, MA 02125
617-287-7750
The Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network provides high-quality, in-depth free business advising, training and capital access which contributes to the entrepreneurial growth of small businesses throughout Massachusetts.

JP Neighborhood Development Corp (JPNDC)
31 Germania Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
617-522-2424
JPNDC’s small business development program assists businesses in the Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and Mission Hill area with business start-up, expansion, and success.

Center for Women in Enterprise
24 School Street, Suite 700
Boston, MA 02108
617-536-0700
The Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women start and grow their own businesses. CWE offers education, training, technical assistance, women’s business enterprise certification and access to both debt and equity capital to entrepreneurs at every stage of business development.

WomanOwned.com
WomanOwned.com provides online business information and networking assistance as well as a number of resources for setting up, running, and growing businesses.


Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development
892 Worcester Street
Wellesley, MA 02482
781-489-6262
The Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development is a private, non-profit partnership of business, industry leaders, and government dedicated to the economic growth of Massachusetts.

Special Business Programs

Boston Buying Power
Phone: 888-317-3923
Boston Buying Power, a program of the Office of Business Development,  allows small businesses to benefit from highly competitive electricity and natural gas rates through a citywide group purchasing program.

Boston Neighborhood Restaurant Initiative
Office of Business Development
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
Contact: Keith Hunt
Phone: 617-635-0615
Boston Neighborhood Restaurant Initiative is designed to provide more neighborhood retail services and create jobs. The primary focus is creating new sit-down, family-style restaurants owned and operated by local entrepreneurs as well as supporting existing restaurants and locally owned franchises.

Next Page →