Fort Point

The wheels on the bridge go round and round - well, they used to, anyway.

Read about the "retractile draw" design that makes the bridge unique.

Library of Congress photos.

H/t Doug Shugarts.

Seth Greenberg, who gave us Mistral, is planning a similar restaurant on Melcher Street in Fort Point.

Greenberg told the Boston Licensing Board today he hopes to open an "upscale modern French bistro" called Bastile Kitchen/Chalet this September in a building now under construction at 49 Melcher St.

The $2-million venture will feature a 230-seat main dining room and a 70-seat area for private functions. Greenberg is proposing to buy the liquor license now held by Four Green Fields on Washington Street downtown.

Because this is Boston, a key issue for the licensing board is the proposed restaurant's closing time. Greenberg is seeking 2 a.m. closing time, which he said would let him serve private parties from the nearby convention center. City Councilor Bill Linehan, however, opposes closing times in that part of his district past 1 a.m.

Both Linehan's office and the mayor's office asked the board to hold off action on the liquor-license request until after Greenberg meets wtih nearby residents, sometime in the next three weeks. The board decides tomorrow what action to take on that request.

A terrified citizen reports four-wheeled hooligans have taken to flattening the signs that tell them to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks on A Street:

The pedestrian crossing sign has been destroyed again. The speed people drive down this road is crazy, when do we get a 4 way stop?

Grub Street Boston reports Fort Point is getting a gourmet shop that promises to have the largest cheese counter anywhere near downtown.

A Fort Point resident is seeking liquor and food-serving licenses to open a wine bar in the Channel Center Street building where he lives.

Brian Bresnahan's lawyer, Diane Modica, told the Boston Licensing Board today his proposed Internal Matter, 35 Channel Center Street, would give the area's burgeoning population of residents and workers a place to hang out after work and "have a glass of wine and eat something special." Bresnahan, a photographer, hopes to eventually add unspecified performances to the space, Modica said.

The board votes tomorrow on his requests, although board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer cautioned the board might not have any beer-and-wine licenses to hand out - which means Bresnahan would either have to reapply for an alcohol license and hope one became free or go out on the open market and buy one.

Bresnahan acknowledged that while he has worked in the food-service industry for several years, he has no experience running a restaurant. However, staked with a loan from his parents and a dream, he began talking to residents of his building several months ago about buying the space for Internal Matter. Modica said he's gotten overwhelming support for the proposal.

Bresnahan has lived in the building for five years.

Boston Restaurant Talk gets some details on Ming Tsai's proposed Blue Dragon restaurant.

The Globe and Phoenix report.

Fort Point Blog provides the proof.

There was a nice sunset over the Gillette plant tonight (if not quite as dramatic as yesterday's), as seen from near the convention center. A few minutes later, the sunset was more muted, but completely different, over the Haul Road, as seen from the bridge between the convention center and the Silver Line stop:

Hello, we must be going.

The sign welcoming you to Fort Point is one of the last things you see before you cross the Summer Street bridge from Fort Point into downtown (the other side of the sign says "Welcome to South Boston").

The Fort Point Pier opened today:

With its broad floating dock having a planked deck surface only 12.5" inches above the waterline, generous in cleats and other potential tie-up points, Fort Point Pier is perfectly suited as a FREE, public launch point to Boston Harbor for kayak, canoe, stand-up paddle board (SUP), sit-on-top (SOT), rowboat, scull, surf ski and windsurfer/sailboard.

The pier offers all amenities necessary for easy onshore parking, pickup, drop-off, and portage of a kayak or similarly lightweight watercraft.

UPDATE: BFD identifies the cause of the fire.

Remains of the crossover. Photo by BFD.

The Boston Fire Department reports a three-alarm fire broke out shortly before 11 p.m. at 27 Melcher St., in the warren of large, old interconnected buildings off Summer Street.

The fire, in a four-story high crossover between two buildings, sent one firefighter to the hospital with a separated shoulder and another to the hospital with an arm injury, the department reports. Damage was estimated at $200,000, the cause is under investigation.

27 Melcher. Photo by BFD.

Boston Police are investigating why a woman fell to her death down a shaft in a Summer Street building tonight.

The Boston Fire Department, which initially responded to a call for a person down a shaft at 281 Summer St., said their search was at first hampered because the roof was dark and the building has more than one shaft. After more than an hour searching - and breaking down walls to several shafts - rescuers found her body at the bottom of a shaft on the third floor, the department says. The building is eight stories tall on one side; seven on another.

She was declared dead at the scene. The medical examiner's office will conduct an autopsy.