Shreve building's days may be numbered
Developer planning new stores, offices at site in Back Bay
By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | October 12, 2007
Developer Ronald Druker is planning a new office and retail complex for the site of the Shreve, Crump & Low building at Boylston and Arlington streets in the Back Bay, a sentimental favorite that some Bostonians want to preserve.
Druker wants to tear down the 103-year-old Shreve building on the corner and three others he owns on Boylston Street, including the Women's Educational and Industrial Union building. He would replace them with "a landmark for the next century or beyond," he said yesterday.
Druker was reluctant to discuss details before he submits formal plans to the Boston Redevelopment Authority. But he acknowledged the plans call for building to the maximum height allowed, at least 90 feet.
A year ago, about 30 city residents petitioned the Boston Landmarks Commission for a hearing to designate the Shreve building, erected in 1904 as the Bryant and Stratton Commercial School for women, as a landmark. That would have protected the facade, with its elaborate Art Deco portion, added when Shreve moved in around 1930, and an original decorative cornice.
But the commission voted against even holding a hearing, saying that the architect was not particularly significant and that, while the building has local importance, it lacks renown be yond Boston.
To be designated a landmark, a building must have "historical, social, cultural, architectural, or aesthetic significance to the city and the Commonwealth, the New England region, or the nation," executive director Ellen J. Lipsey wrote, in turning down the petitioners' request in October 2006.
In July, the Landmarks Commission voted, after a hearing, not to give landmark status to the Dainty Dot, an old industrial building on the edge of Chinatown. Developer Ori Ron plans to build a residential tower there, retaining a few exterior walls, but neighbors are continuing to push for preservation of more of the structure.
Shreve, Crump & Low, established in 1796, for decades was the place where the Yankee elite shopped for jewelry, silver, and gifts to celebrate the high points of their lives.
Shreve has moved a block away, to the corner of Boylston and Berkeley streets, and is operating after being bought out of bankruptcy.
Its former building is empty but remains important, said Tim Ian Mitchell, an architect and spokesman for the group of Boston residents who want to save it.
Besides wanting to preserve the work of the architect who added the ground floor decoration, Mitchell said, the group believes that "Shreve's has made outstanding contributions to the cultural, social, and economic history of New England."
"For luxury goods, it was the place of choice for families of wealth," he said.
Although it is not unprecedented for groups to try to make their case a second time, Mitchell said he would wait to see what Druker proposes before deciding whether to continue to fight for the building.
"With Mr. Druker, there's some possibility he can actually bring something to this part of the city that will be noteworthy and significant," Mitchell said. "I couldn't say that for everybody."
Druker developed the Heritage on the Common residences and more recently the Atelier | 505 condominiums in the South End.
The Arlington Building, as it was known, actually extended to the east in the early years, when a railroad station occupied the area and separated downtown from the Back Bay. Part of the complex was amputated when Arlington Street was extended, and the wall along Arlington was extensively reconstructed, with new windows, to make it consistent with the front, at 330 Boylston.
"That advance of connecting Boston, making the transition from sleepy little town to modern urban center, was really significant," Mitchell said.
Druker, a third-generation builder in Boston, said merging the new and the old usually doesn't work well.
"A new building well executed by a local developer who cares about the city, designed by a fine architect, will be far better than to create a 'facadectomy' that is not good architecture or good design," he said.
"The Arlington Building is a nice building," Druker said. "It is not, however, a landmark. Lincoln didn't deliver the Gettysburg Address there."
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Developer planning new stores, offices at site in Back Bay
By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | October 12, 2007
Developer Ronald Druker is planning a new office and retail complex for the site of the Shreve, Crump & Low building at Boylston and Arlington streets in the Back Bay, a sentimental favorite that some Bostonians want to preserve.
Druker wants to tear down the 103-year-old Shreve building on the corner and three others he owns on Boylston Street, including the Women's Educational and Industrial Union building. He would replace them with "a landmark for the next century or beyond," he said yesterday.
Druker was reluctant to discuss details before he submits formal plans to the Boston Redevelopment Authority. But he acknowledged the plans call for building to the maximum height allowed, at least 90 feet.
A year ago, about 30 city residents petitioned the Boston Landmarks Commission for a hearing to designate the Shreve building, erected in 1904 as the Bryant and Stratton Commercial School for women, as a landmark. That would have protected the facade, with its elaborate Art Deco portion, added when Shreve moved in around 1930, and an original decorative cornice.
But the commission voted against even holding a hearing, saying that the architect was not particularly significant and that, while the building has local importance, it lacks renown be yond Boston.
To be designated a landmark, a building must have "historical, social, cultural, architectural, or aesthetic significance to the city and the Commonwealth, the New England region, or the nation," executive director Ellen J. Lipsey wrote, in turning down the petitioners' request in October 2006.
In July, the Landmarks Commission voted, after a hearing, not to give landmark status to the Dainty Dot, an old industrial building on the edge of Chinatown. Developer Ori Ron plans to build a residential tower there, retaining a few exterior walls, but neighbors are continuing to push for preservation of more of the structure.
Shreve, Crump & Low, established in 1796, for decades was the place where the Yankee elite shopped for jewelry, silver, and gifts to celebrate the high points of their lives.
Shreve has moved a block away, to the corner of Boylston and Berkeley streets, and is operating after being bought out of bankruptcy.
Its former building is empty but remains important, said Tim Ian Mitchell, an architect and spokesman for the group of Boston residents who want to save it.
Besides wanting to preserve the work of the architect who added the ground floor decoration, Mitchell said, the group believes that "Shreve's has made outstanding contributions to the cultural, social, and economic history of New England."
"For luxury goods, it was the place of choice for families of wealth," he said.
Although it is not unprecedented for groups to try to make their case a second time, Mitchell said he would wait to see what Druker proposes before deciding whether to continue to fight for the building.
"With Mr. Druker, there's some possibility he can actually bring something to this part of the city that will be noteworthy and significant," Mitchell said. "I couldn't say that for everybody."
Druker developed the Heritage on the Common residences and more recently the Atelier | 505 condominiums in the South End.
The Arlington Building, as it was known, actually extended to the east in the early years, when a railroad station occupied the area and separated downtown from the Back Bay. Part of the complex was amputated when Arlington Street was extended, and the wall along Arlington was extensively reconstructed, with new windows, to make it consistent with the front, at 330 Boylston.
"That advance of connecting Boston, making the transition from sleepy little town to modern urban center, was really significant," Mitchell said.
Druker, a third-generation builder in Boston, said merging the new and the old usually doesn't work well.
"A new building well executed by a local developer who cares about the city, designed by a fine architect, will be far better than to create a 'facadectomy' that is not good architecture or good design," he said.
"The Arlington Building is a nice building," Druker said. "It is not, however, a landmark. Lincoln didn't deliver the Gettysburg Address there."
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