Bells Rung In Belmont To Commemorate Armistice Day Centennial

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Photo: Belmont Veterans Agent Bob Upton reading the names of each Belmont resident who died in WWI.

It was just about two dozen veterans and residents who came out on a cool, bright Sunday morning, Nov. 11 to the World War One memorial just outside of Belmont Center to mark the day 100 years ago when the guns fell silent for the final time.

Belmont’s commemoration of the Armistice Day Centennial was likely one of the smallest and shortest in the state, if not the country. But thanks to Bob Upton, the town’s veteran agent, the Town of Homes was able to join the ceremonies around the globe to honor the young and in some cases not so young who fought and died in “the war to end all wars.”

“I’m so glad that there are people in this town that will come out for what is a truly historic remembrance,” said Upton.

The steeple bells of First Church Belmont and the United Methodist Church in Cushing Square were ready to ring out while a bell was set up in front of the memorial to record the losses Belmont bore a century ago.  

At 11 a.m., on the 11th day of the 11th month, traffic was stopped along Common Street and the church bells chimed. Finally, the bell at the memorial tolled 10 times for the residents who died in combat and from illness during the war: 

  • Joseph Cirino
  • Victor Craigie
  • William Finn
  • Frederick Lincoln
  • Dearborn McAleer
  • Hugh Nimmo
  • Carleton Patriquin
  • William Smith
  • Leon True 

In the past year, another resident, John Cormier, whose name and sacrifice was lost for nearly a century, was added to the roll of honor.

Veterans from Korea, Vietnam and the recent conflicts in the Middle East stood at attention, residents had hands over hearts in paying their respects.

And just like that, the ceremony was done. Vehicles resumed driving along Common, the bells around town were quiet and people went on with their weekend chores.

[VIDEO] Smoky Fire In Belmont Center Damages Stores, Studio, Residence

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Photo: Firefighters battling a two-alarm fire in Belmont Center.

A two-alarm fire damaged a number of businesses, a yoga studio and a residence in the heart of Belmont Center just after 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 24.

According to Belmont Fire Chief David Frizzell the smoky blaze started in a nail salon in the basement of the building occupied by Leon and Co. hair salon on Leonard Street. The fire quickly moved up the walls of the building which was renovated a number of times over the years. The fire reached the top floor of the bodytrio studio at the corner of Alexander Avenue. Fire crews from Belmont and Cambridge fought the stubborn smoke and fire inside the walls.

Most of the damage to the structure was limited to water and smoke, said Frizzell.

Town Accepts Belmont Savings’ Gift Of A Town Clock For The ‘Delta’

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Photo: Hal Tovin, Belmont Saving’s executive vice president and Kayla Murphy, vice president, senior marketing manager with the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation’s Town Clock proposal.

Soon, commuters and residents will know just how late they are running passing through Belmont Center as the Board of Selectmen last week accepted a new town clock to be placed in the “delta” in front of Belmont Savings Bank whose foundation is providing the funding. 

The 15 foot tall, four face clock, black with gold highlights that will include a plaque from the foundation about the gift, will be manufactured by the Electric Time Company of Medfield, a leading tower, post and bracket clock firm (they made the street clocks at DisneyWorld, restored the clock at Harvard’s Dunster House and installed clocks in the scoreboards at AT&T Park in San Francisco and Chicago’s historic Wrigley Field). 

The Belmont Savings Bank Foundation, created in 2012 a year after the bank converted from the mutual holding company to stock holding company, is spending $26,000 for the clock and its installation on the “delta,” said Hal Tovin, Belmont Saving’s executive vice president, COO and a director of the Foundation. Since its inception, the foundation has provided $1 million in grants and gifts to non-profits in the communities the bank does business. 

The idea of a town clock was proposed by Bob Morrissey, the foundation’s chair, a gift to the town that is purposeful, recognizable and a centerpiece for “a sophisticated town center.” The delta – which had a controversial creation – was created during the renovation/reconstruction of Belmont Center completed in 2016. The town will be responsible for the maintenance and cleaning after the clock is installed. 

Just where the clock will be located is still up in the air. While the bank had proposed it close to the corner of Leonard Street and Concord Avenue near the historic horse water trough (with the upside down “1884” date), Selectmen Chair Adam Dash said town and police input should be provided to all the tower not to be a visual impediment to drivers entering the Center.

While the selectmen warmly accepted the gift from the bank, just who will have final say on where and if it can be installed without bumping up into town bylaws. Office of Community Development Director Glenn Clancy noted the clock will require a zoning review as it likely falls under the signage provisions.

Charles Clark, the Planning Board chair, said the best way to look at the clock is as a sign “and if so it doesn’t meet the signage bylaw” due to height and other considerations. But Clark also said that since clocks are not specifically noted in the zoning code, it will likely fall under a catch-all “other” category which will free it from a lengthy special permit process.

According to Tovin, the clock could be up and running soon after final approval by the town is completed. 

You Can Ring My Bell: Belmont Farmers Market’s Opening Day Thursday, June 7

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Photo: The Farmers Market is back for another season.

The Market Day bell will be heard throughout Belmont Center as the Belmont Farmers Market returns for another season on Thursday, June 7 in the Claflin Street Municipal Parking lot. Opening Day events include:

• 1:55 p.m.: Fanfare by Dave Douglas of the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra.
• 2 p.m.: Ribbon-cutting by Patrice Garvin, Belmont’s Town Administrator and the ringing of the Market bell.
• 3:10 p.m.: Fred Astaire Dance Studio demonstration.
• 4:30 p.m. Irish and Anglo-American folk songs with Lindsay Straw.

Here is a list of this season’s vendors.

Storytime

• 4 p.m.: The Belmont Public Library returns with stories for kids and parents.

Community Table

The Popup library sponsored by the Belmont Public Library. Browse and check out a variety of books.

Belmont Food Pantry

Bring non-perishable items to support the Belmont Food Pantry. Drop them off at the Manager’s Tent.

Location: The municipal parking lot in Belmont Center, at the intersection of Cross Street and Channing Road, behind the now-closed Foodie’s Market on Leonard Street. Get directions at Google Maps.

Getting there The Market is near the MBTA commuter train and the 74 bus stops in Belmont Center. The market also has bicycle parking. Also, observe parking regulations on the street and in the lot.

Dates:  Thursdays, June 7 through October 25.

Hours:  Our hours change after Labor Day because the sun sets earlier:
•2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. from June through Labor Day
• 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. after Labor Day until the end of October

Weather: The market is open rain or shine (but not in violent storms). Events and Storytime may be canceled even if the Market is open; check with the Library on very hot or stormy weather.

BREAKING: Foodie’s Closing Thursday After Failing To Attract Customers

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Photo: Au revoir, Foodies

The rumors have been swirling around Belmont Center for the past few months: Foodie’s Market was on its heels financially. Business owners on Leonard Street heard the number of customers coming to the store had never materialized as the Roxbury-based business and landlord, Locatelli Properties, had hoped. Recently, the market suddenly removed an application before the Zoning Board of Appeals to place a small cafe in the store to attract people to have lunch and dinner in the store. 

“It’s not a good sign,” said Gerry Dickhaut, owner of Champions Sporting Good and president of the Belmont Center Business Association, said just last week. 

Today, the scuttlebutt proved true. According to a spokesperson at Foodie’s headquarters in Boston, the supermarket in the former Filene’s’ store will close on Thursday, May 31, nearly a year after opening in the center. 

“All I can say is we are closing our Belmont operation. That’s it,” the spokesperson said.

No reason was provided, yet a person who works closely with Foodie’s speaking on background said a highly-competitive food marketplace – a Whole Foods, a Trader Joe’s, and two Star Market locations are within two miles of the smallish (15,000 square feet) Foodie’s outlet – and the market’s challenging layout in the basement of the new building which forced shoppers to climb down a long stairwell from the Leonard Street storefront proved a “hard nut to crack.” 

Belmont Farmers Market Ready To Park Itself In Belmont Center For 13th Season

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Photo: Hal Shubin (left) and Suzanne Johannet of the Belmont Food Collaborative before the Belmont Board of Selectmen.

What a difference two weeks can make.

The last time the leadership of the Belmont Food Collaborative – the group that runs the Belmont Farmers Market – was before the Board of Selectmen on Jan. 22, it was a slightly frosty reception as it comes to secure the board’s OK to bring the market back to Belmont Center for a 13th season.

Suzanne Johannet, collaborative’s president, and Hal Shubin, the chairman of the farmers market, were seated next to Kevin Foley, manager of Locatelli Properties and landlord of many businesses along Leonard Street in Belmont Center. For the second year, Foley came to the board to bring up a continuing sore point of the Farmers Market taking nearly 20 parking spaces in the rear of the Claflin Street Municipal Parking Lot on what he describes as “one of our busiest days of the week.” 

“Before we talk where and when the Farmers Market is located, that we look at this issue carefully each year and look at parking demand and adjust accordingly,” said Foley at the January meeting. In the past, Foley suggested either moving the market to another location away from the center or changing the markets’ operation times and the day it takes place such as Monday, noting that several new businesses have opened in the center with a new restaurant scheduled to arrive this summer.

For the Collaborative, Foley’s continued criticism of the markets’ use of the public lot was baffling. “What do you want, Kevin?” said Johannet, saying that Market customers bring business to his tenants, specifically during the summer when business drags.  

While open to the market returning for its second decade at the site, the Selectmen were “frustrated,” according to member Mark Paolillo, that long-standing agreement for the collaborative and Locatelli to sit down at a meeting “discuss” the parking issue had not taken place for well over a year. Due to the dispute, the Selectmen delayed acting on granting the Collaborative the right to set up shop in the parking lot “until you get together as was promised,” said Paolillo.

Fast forward to Monday, Feb. 5 and the much warmer encounter between the board and collaborative. 

Working with new Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, the Collaborative met with Foley and representatives from the Belmont Center Business Association and as Johannet told the board, it appears the Farmers Market was a lesser concern to Foley than the overriding worry of providing an adequate number of “core parking spaces” for patrons of the center’s retail operators. 

Johannet said Foley had been using the market “as a football” to express his frustrations with the town over the broader issue of parking supply and demand.

Garvin said Foley would like the town to create some “reprieve” for the employees to take pressure off of shoppers and those eating at the center’s restaurants. In an effort to help the business community, the town and market will continue to monitor parking levels and hold ongoing discussions with all sides, said Garvin. 

Despite Foley’s protestations, the Selectmen were solidly in the market’s corner. “The town owns the parking lot, not Kevin Foley,” said Selectmen Chair Jim Williams. In the end, the board voted unanimously to allow the Belmont Farmers Market to use the 19 spaces each Thursday, 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (6 p.m. in September and October) from June 7 to Oct. 26 to bring fresh produce and locally made goods to residents, to the applause of supporters in the audience.

According to Shubin, the collaborative is reviewing options that would allow the market to avoid being caught between the parking needs of businesses and the town, which could include asking for a multi-year approval.

“We can now get excited about our 13th year,” said Johannet.

de Magistristos OK’d To Open ‘Neighborhood’ Eatery In Macy’s Block

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Photo: Damian de Magistris 

It doesn’t yet have a name, but a new eatery from the Belmont family that brought upscale il Casale will be up and running in Belmont Center next year.

That’s the outcome from the Planning Board that voted to waive the town’s bylaw on restaurant parking requirements allowing the de Magistris family to open a “neighborhood restaurant” in the renovated Macy’s Block.

“We’ll start work on the space in the fall and open by spring [2018],” said Damian de Magistris to the Belmontonian after the decision made at the Planning Board’s meeting held Monday, Sept. 19.

The town’s zoning bylaw requires one parking space for every two seats in a proposed restaurant. With the new site set to hold 133 seats, the de Magistris family was required to provide 67 spaces dedicated to the new business.

After the Planning Board advised the family to come back with additional data back in July, it came to Monday’s meeting with parking statistics and two videos. 

According to Len Simons, an attorney for landlord Locatelli Properties assisting the de Magistris family with its application, there is “a lot of parking spaces available” in the parking lots in the rear of the building and on-the-street at the peak times of 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and Saturday afternoons around 12:30 p.m.

Simons also said supplemental information indicates that about 70 percent of employees will be taking public transportation to the new outlet. 

de Magistris told the board the family sees the new dining spot “a bit as a service to our community.” But requiring multiple visits before the board “are stressful for us financial” since “we want to make this work.” said de Magistris.

In the end, the Planning Board gave relief to the zoning requirements with the condition that employees understand where they can and cannot park.

Initially dubbed Roast 75 (as in 75 Leonard St. the street address), the new site would be a “new warm, inviting neighborhood restaurant,”  incorporating an inexpensive, farm-to-table concept “that you can go to every day,” said Dante de Magistris when the family first revealed its plans before the Planning Board in July. 

“It’s a nice beautiful spot there,” said de Magistris.

Power Outage 2.0: Tuesday’s Lights Out Set For 11 PM

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Photo: Out goes the lights.

A wide swath of Belmont including Belmont Center to the Waverley Square neighborhood will experience a second “eclipse” in as many days.

But the blackout on   will occur when Belmont Light switches off the power to 67 streets as the municipal electrical utility starts the process of transferring the current electrical delivery system to one fed through the new Blair Pond substation which was commissioned earlier this summer. 

The streets impacted by the outage can be found here.

Belmont Fire and Police departments and other emergency service have been coordinating with the utility to ensure that the public’s safety will be met.

Call Belmont Light at 617-993-2800 with any concerns or questions.

Updates can be found at Belmont Light’s web page and on Facebook and its Twitter feed.

Planning Board Parks il Casale’s Next Belmont Eatery

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Photo: Dante de Magistris before the Planning Board.

Everything appeared to be going swimmingly for the local team seeking to open a new restaurant in the former Macy’s building in Belmont Center.

The site review application before the Planning Board which met on Monday, June 10 at the Beech Street Center couldn’t have come with a better pedigree. The de Magistris brothers (“We all grow up in Belmont,” said one brother at the introductions) who run the prestigious award-winning il Casale restaurant at 50 Leonard St. are seeking to open a second Belmont location, a new dining experience for residents to experience.

Likely dubbed Roast 75 (as in 75 Leonard St. the street address), the new site would be a “new warm, inviting neighborhood restaurant,” according to Dante de Magistris, the chef, and co-owner of il Casale, speaking for the family. The eatery would incorporate an inexpensive, farm-to-table concept “that you can go to every day,” he said.

The “front” door would be the back entrance facing the two parking lots along Claflin Street. ‘It’s a nice beautiful spot there,” said de Magistris.

Architect Neli Ialamov of South End-based McMahon Architects said little would be done to the brick exterior. The interior would consist of a lower basement storage area and a main floor dining area with an open “show” kitchen so diners can see the cooks in action. 

Architect Neli Ialamov of South End-based McMahon Architects.

But for the Planning Board, it wasn’t what the customers would be ordering that interested them; rather where those patrons would park their cars that held their interest.

Len Simons, an attorney for landlord Locatelli Properties assisting the de Magistris family with its application, told the board it would be seeking relief from the town’s zoning bylaw requirement of supplying one parking space for every two seats in the restaurant. With the new site set to hold 133 seats, the de Magistris family will need to provide 67 spaces.

That would be an issue as the landlord’s parking lot located adjacent to the operation only has 61 spaces total which needs to supply existing retail and restaurants.

In the family and Simons’ view, the restaurant could get by with 54 dedicated spaces in which several spots would be daytime permitted commuter parking in the nearby lot behind the Leonard Street fire station and the municipal location.

With a total of 382 parking spaces in lots and on the street in Belmont Center,”[t]he thought is that there should be enough parking to satisfy the requirements of the zoning bylaw albeit not on the same lot as the restaurant,” said Simons.

Simons also said 70 percent of the expected 25 employees would take mass transit to work and since a growing number of diners are arriving via ride-hailing companies such as Lyft and Uber, the actual number of spots the restaurant would need will be reduced even further.

But as Board Chair Elizabeth Allison noted, “the numbers [of space] are not the problem.” While not disputing the data presented to the board, Allison wanted to see “firmer” facts on the number of restaurant seats and parking spaces in lots and on the street in the Center in chart form rather than just off the top-of-the-head figures. She also said the board would be reviewing past actions on relaxing the parking bylaw for restaurants to be “consistent” if it would grant relief.

And while the board wishes to be “business friendly,” Allison said it also wanted to “be friendly to all business” in the center, not crowding out one set of retailers for another.

But it was when they realized that the board was not going to vote on the application Monday – scheduling a return visit of the application on Aug. 1 – that the faces of the de Magistris brothers took a distinctly anxious turn. And little wonder as it was revealed the board’s three-week delay on a possible vote was putting the il Casale team “between a rock and a hard place,” according to Simons.

Apparently, the de Magistris’ are “on the cusp of obtaining a liquor license” from the Board of Selectmen, said Simons, which, in turn, will allow them to finalize a financing package needed to begin construction on a space they are paying rent.

“At the risk of seeming aggressive,” Simons asked if approval of the site review application could be granted at present with conditions attached. But Allison nixed the suggestion, and Aug 1 would be the next time the team can plead its case to the board.

After spending 10 minutes discussing strategy with Simons in the Beech Street Center’s parking lot, Dante de Magistris summed up the board’s decision with a shrug of the shoulders.

“It’s an ongoing process. It’s a beautiful process,” he said without a bit of cynicism in his voice.

 

Turning A New Page: Doors Open at Belmont Books In Center

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Photo: Belmont Book’s Matilda Banker-Johnson with the book purchased by the editor of the Belmontonian.

The long sheets of paper have been taken from the windows, the shelves are almost all filled with books and while you will need to wait a little bit longer to get a cappuccino, the Town of Homes has seen the return of its very own bookstore as Belmont Books opened officially for browsers and bibliophiles on Friday morning, June 16.

“It has taken us five years to get to this point,” said Belmont resident Chris Abouzeid, who with his wife, Kathy Crowley, own the general bookstore. 

Abouzeid, who was a bookseller for Porter Square Books for many years, said it’s “basically scary” opening up a new store. “We’re new to retail, and we don’t make any pretense otherwise,” he said, noting they had plenty of help from friends in the business. 

The two-floor store – large children’s and young adult sections upstairs – with its new bright interior at 75 Leonard St. is the second business to settle in the renovated Macy’s/Filene’s building following Foodies Urban Market by a month.

Residents who have followed the build-up via the store’s Twitter feed 

“We knew this was a community that wanted a bookstore after fighting to try and keep the last one,” said Abouzeid referring to the Charlesbank Bookshop that closed in January 2010. “We wouldn’t have tried this if they community didn’t seem to care.”

And town residents have been eagerly anticipating the opening, many following the daily updates via Twitter and other social media sites.

“All we’ve heard for the last eight months is ‘when are you opening? when are you opening?'” said Abouzeid. 

The opening came at an advantageous time as “[w]e really wanted to open this weekend because of Father’s Day and give people an opportunity to buy their summer reading before leaving town [the] schools closing,” said Abouzeid, who along with Crowley, is an author. 

Abouzeid and Crowley are entering a market dominated by the online behemoth Amazon (which on the same day purchased Whole Foods) which has millions of titles on hand which they sell at a discount that a solo store can not match.

But evidence indicates that customers are not abandoning the local shop. While the number of bookstores nationwide has declined by 12 percent from 2012 to 2016, membership in an independent booksellers trade group has grown almost 13 percent in the five years to 2016.

“E-book sales have flattened, and folks are showing that they prefer to hold a real book and that includes young people that you might not expect. They are on electronic devices all day long, so a book is more relaxing.”

He also spoke of the environment of a book buying experience is heightened by searching for a new book in a store, especially in one that is new to the community.

“Just the colors, the feeling, the atmosphere. You can’t get that shopping online,” said Abouzeid. The staff, who will be making recommendations and emphasizing customer service, will also be a draw for shoppers.

“Hopefully, over time, we’ll get to know our customers that come in regularly. We’ll know six months down the line before a new book is coming out so we can make a suggestion to buyers who are fans of the author,” he said. “And you’d be surprised that you’ll get seven-year-olds who say, “Do you have this book” and we can answer them right away.”

Store manager Matilda Banker-Johnson, who has been working in bookstores since she was 16, said one of her primaryr4 goals is an attempt to carry books customers want to read – and conceivably purchase – “so they’ll feel like they belong here.”

The store’s inaugural event will feature two local debut authors as “The Salt House” writer Lisa Duffy talks with Crystal King, author of “Feast of Sorrow” about their books on Thursday, June 22, at 7 p.m.   

Belmont Books is located at 75 Leonard St. in Belmont Center.

Hours:
Monday-Saturday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Thursdays: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Parking is on Leonard Street and in the municipal parking lot behind the Center.