Hey, there! Log in / Register
Upscale restaurant planned for Hynes Convention Center
By adamg on Wed, 02/24/2010 - 12:06pm
Updated to remove an erroneous reference to Radius.
The Lyons Group and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority are planning a full-service restaurant for the Hynes on Boylston Street.
The proposed Towne Stove and Spirits, which actually has the support of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, could open mid-spring. The Boston Licensing Board decides tomorrow on a request from the Lyons Group to transfer another liquor license to the new eatery.
Meg Mainzer-Cohen of the Back Bay Association told the board at a hearing today the restaurant would help boost street traffic at that end of Boylston Street.
City Councilor Maureen Feeney, who represents Dorchester, said she liked the idea so much she was willing to speak publicly in favor even though it's not in her district. "This is such an exciting proposal," she said.
Towne would have 300 seats indoors, 80 seats on a patio and three bars.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Feeney
Given that Councillor Feeney was able to stash her Chief of Staff over at the Convention Center Authority after her office budget was slashed due to her not presiding over the Council as President, I'm sure she'd be enthusiastic about anything that James Rooney supported.
well
While I'm generally in favor of anything new in this burg, the last thing we need is yet another faux Ye Olde Fancy Restaurant. If I see Duck Confit on the menu at another restaurant I'm going to vomit. How about a place to eat for people under 50 who are cognizant enough to realize they aren't in a parisian bistro.
You're not the target
You're not the target audience. It's conventioneers and tourists.
well
You're right. But what isn't for tourists and suburbanites in back bay/south end?
Boo Lyons
I want to point out one thing about Patrick Lyons and his recent dis of the Fenway. In October I read in the Fenway News about Lyons' lone opposition to the work done to rehab the sidewalk on Boylston St. between Mass. Ave. and Hemenway St. Patrick Lyons, owner of the building occupied by T-Mobile, refused to go along with the plan. As a result the sidewalk in front of T-Mobile did not get rehabbed and looks like the gap tooth in an otherwise beautiful smile. I was appalled at his position and have not patronized any of his businesses since (not like any are worth it). I can't decipher the rationale for his refusal, but I believe his inaction speaks volumes about his current concern for the Fenway as a neighborhood, where he generates millions of dollars. I read that he had done some high profile charity work in the distant past, so it leads me to believe that the amount of PR he would have received was not enough for him to buy into the project.
http://www.fenwaynews.org/business/how-dream-becam...
Extra! Back Bay Neighborhood Association Supports Something!
I think that people are missing the real story here.
The Back Bay Neighborhood Association supports something! Too bad the handicapped people wanting to get on the T weren't asking to open a restaurant. Their application would have gone swimmingly!
I'm not opposed to Handicaped accesibility,
but wasn't a landmark damaged while working on this project?
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/art...
Sometimes things made before the ADA passed just CAN'T be updated easily or cost effectively.
Ease and cost effectiveness isn't the point
Access is. End of story. Banning morons from making moronic comments isn't easy or cost effective, either, but it's still a worthwhile goal.
I don't know if...
I would consider pointing out that a valid concern by a resident group that turned out to be well founded to be a "moronic comment."
Name calling on the other hand....
(And yes, I realize that I am now 'name calling' by pointing out the name calling.)
Ditto above
You need to get your information straight - the Neighborhood association never opposed the elevators for handicapped access - they simply asked the T to move the one on the North side of the street to the East side of Dartmouth to protect the Church (we all know how that worked out) and they said move the elevator on the south side of the street to the more modern entrance of the library to protect the McKim building and because they believed there was a giant steam pipe where the T wanted to construct the elevator. To date the T has cracked the granite benchwork on the McKim library, permanently removed some of the historic elements of the library steps and voila - found a giant steampipe right where the neighborhood association said it would be (not sure if they moved the pipe or the elevator but it has delayed construction by months).
Unfortunately the press only reports on the 15% or so of proposals that are opposed and rarely does a good job reporting the reasons for opposition which are usually extremely well considered based on literally decades of experience (the vast majority are concerns over trash, rodents and noise - just like every other neighborhood and most of the rest are considerations of the historic district - see paragraph above).
Radius?
So is Radius closing?
but he has one
Yah, I was more surprised by that part as well. Plus, didn't it just make the news that the licensing board is after him because he HAD a liquor license he's not using? Right here in UH matter of fact :)
http://www.universalhub.com/2010/powerful-lyons-gr...