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Timeline
of a flawed public process:
·
1997 – Pinebank Strategy Report recommended public uses, a
non-profit development and management structure, seek initial
support from a combination of city stabilization funds and private
investment (NOT DONE)
·
1997 - Structural engineer recommended “…undertaking now
the permanent repair of the exterior” (NOT DONE)
·
1997 – funds appropriated in City of Boston Operating
Budget to “Restore burned out roof section and rafter. Secure
building and limit other sources of weather infiltration”
$750,000. Funds remain in the FY07 budget now and now to be used for
demolition. (NOT SPENT)
·
1997 – Pinebank Strategy Report emphasized need to
stabilize the building. Recommended building be secured. (NOT
DONE)
·
2001 - Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR Coordinator,
Historic Landscape Initiative, National Park Service, Preservation
Initiatives “it is without question, worthy of preservation and
rehabilitation.” “what sort of message are we sending to our
constituents that a pre-existing feature, fully integrated into the
overall scheme by Olmsted is today, disposable?”
·
2006 – Support at public workshops is overwhelming for
reconstruction. (Ignored)
·
2006 - Boston Landmarks Commission sub-committee meets
repeatedly without keeping minutes in violation of state Open
Meeting Law.
·
2006 - Boston Parks Department design for site after
demolition ignores public support for reconstruction
·
2007 - Demolition plan ignores
preserving “pristine” interior wall recommended by Structures
North report
·
2007 Removal of exterior veneer brick shows a structurally
sound wall
·
2007 - Structural engineers CBI Consulting finds
Pinebank can be saved in total or in part
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The
Experts Speak (new)
Cynthia Zaitzevsky, author of Frederick Law Olmsted and the
Boston Park System, states: "" and "the sole survivor
of the
estates that bordered the pond in the late eighteenth century."
(more)
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Visions of Pinebank
Emerald Necklace
Conservancy supports demolition! - "We cannot help but to recommend that the Boston Parks
Department be granted permission to remove the remains of
Pinebank". [see ENC letter]
National Association of Olmsted Parks (NAOP) supports our
vision "Destruction...would result in the permanent loss of the
central cultural landscape element of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr.'s
original design for the Emerald Necklace." [see NAOP
letter]
Our
Vision:
* Reconstruction as a sustainable Green building for
community use as a cultural center for music and the arts
* Capital funding from both public and private sources
* Financially self-sustaining program
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Quote of the day: "The task of buildings
isn't just to shelter us; it's also to speak to us, and to remind us
of who and where we are". (John Ruskin)
This
grand old mansion showed more strength in demolition than Boston has
shown in character. The question to be asked is why was a building
this sound condemned; or is it really Boston itself that should be
condemned?
This website will continue to document the history of Pinebank; the
goal is to learn from this willful action by Boston officials.
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The Plea Unheeded
Mr. Menino:
In your State of the City Address,
"We must be a city that values its cultural assets".
The people of Greater Boston wanted Pinebank.
Before demolition, we asked on this website and in letters
hand-delivered to your City Hall office and your Readville home,
"Will your legacy be the destruction of the only remaining
pre-Olmsted cultural landscape in the Emerald Necklace?"
Apparently, the answer is
"YES". Your words are empty, Mr. Mayor.
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Veneer brick has been removed. Note that
the interior brickwork is sound, and the wall shows no sign of
weakness. As one workman said to a Friend, "they don't build
them like that anymore". (photo dated 1/7/07)
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Who
are we? Meet the Pinebank Team
Hugh Mattison, President, founder of Friends of Pinebank and environmental
activist
Anne Lusk, PhD, Vice President, founding member of Historic Stowe (Vermont) Read
about the heroic - and successful - effort to save the Old Stowe
High School (Stowe Guide & Magazine, Summer / Fall 2006, - more)
Bill Powell, Director, Architect and Brookline elected Town Meeting Member
Dorothy Clark, Director, writer,
singer, instrumentalist and recording artist
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DeMolition
Watch (SAT. 02/04/2007)
Watch the sequence below for a summary of Pinebank's III life
and death
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See more demolition
images
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Vision
for a future:
"Tanglewood in Boston"
Pinebank Center for the Arts would
serve
could have served a diverse population of over 170,000 who live within a one-mile radius.
Overlooking Jamaica Pond, this former Victorian Queen
Anne Style mansion provides provided
both
interior space for a main performance center, and a landscape of slopes,
fields, and dells which achieve could have
achieved a natural intimacy with
the Park. On summer evenings and weekends,
visitors enjoy could have enjoyed concerts and performances by local artists (see
letter
from New England Conservatory) on the south
terrace, or view could have viewed the pond through the stately pines just as Boston society
of former generations. A magical area of the Emerald Necklace provides
respite to its visitors.
A flexible floor arrangement allows could have
allowed (more)
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Friends
Hugh Mattison, Anne Lusk, and restoration expert Rob Daves (left to
right) discuss apparent solid condition of structure on Jan. 13,
2007.
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Memories from local residents:
Sharon writes: "She still has the music in her. I can feel
it." (more)
Voice of the People:
a meeting place like Pinebank
could help restore the threads that keep us together. (more)
We've added this new page - we encourage you to send us your
memories of Pinebank.
Also, see our photos page
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Saving
a Jewel of the Emerald Necklace
(Boston
Globe, 9/11/06)
In a letter to the Boston Landmarks Commission, Jane Holtz Kay, noted art historian and author of Lost Boston
"Not only is this a fine work of architecture reminiscent of
Boston's pre-eminent position...."(more)
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