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10th
Anniversary Boston Main Streets Gala and Foundation Launch
Corporate Buddies; Norm Williamson,
Pres. Hyde Park Cooperative Bank, Karen O'Connell, Director HPMS, Ken
Pierog, Pres. and Paul Bunker, V.P. Hyde Park Savings Bank enjoy the Gala.
Over 500 invited guests attended the
sold out Gala held at the Boston Center for the Arts with U. S. Senator
Kennedy and Mayor Menino.
__________
Direct from our members...
As a small business owner who works
primarily from my home and as a resident of Hyde Park, I appreciate the
newsletters, networking breakfasts and other special events sponsored by
HPMS. They help me stay connected to other local business owners and the
community as well as being a resource of valuable business information. I
hope to become more involved as time allows.
- Lisa M. Portscher,Business Member and owner of Double Wing
Professional Services
Find
Out...
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Welcome
I
hope you enjoy this issue featuring many photos from the recent BMS 10th
Anniversary Gala, it was a great night to celebrate our accomplishments
citywide and to launch an exciting new initiative for our future, the
Boston Main Streets Foundation. I am honored to have been elected by my
peers to serve on the Board of the Foundation. We will develop long term
strategies to increase the economic power and resources of neighborhood
commercial districts while also building financial capacity for the local
Main Street programs.
Karen
B. O'Connell, Esq. Executive Director
A
Small Town In The City
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HPMS Applies For "Small
Changes" Beautification Grants
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Fairmount
Gateway Site to be developed.
Small
Changes is a new beautification grant program created by Mayor Menino
and the Boston Parks and Recreation Dept. to "fund moderately
priced yet significant beautification projects" that will enhance
the quality of life in the neighborhoods. As a qualified non-profit
organization, Hyde Park Main Streets was pleased to submit two grant
project applications by the deadline of May 6, 2005. One is entitled "Logan
Square Streetscape Improvement Project and the other is the
"Fairmount Gateway and Beautification Project." The
latter project features a pedestrian archway at the top of the street
leading up from the Fairmount Commuter Rail Station to the business
district and was singled out for mention in the "Boston
Globe" article about the citywide grants.
HPMS
proposed both projects to continue our emphasis on physical
improvements in the district and to specifically implement
recommendations of the APA award winning study of Hyde Park by MIT's
Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. The study surveyed residents,
businesses and stakeholders and found an often stated need for
streetscape improvements and a desire to create a sense of place, of
neighborhood identity. A key action was to focus on physical design
interventions at the Fairmount Station since it was identified as a
strategic gateway location for the business district. Also, we have
already taken action at this site with the mural under the bridge and
now the landscaping project with the Hyde Park YMCA this summer so we
are effectively building on step by step improvements for a better
final result.
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National Trust/ Main Streets
Conference In Baltimore
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City
of Baltimore, Fell's Point Neighborhood, site of this year's conference
"Cool Cities. Old Buildings. New Attitudes."
Last
month I attended the annual National Main Streets Conference in
Baltimore with over 1,700 attendees. Billed as the premier conference
for commercial district revitalization and organized by the Main Street
Center of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this is an
event I enjoy both for the educational sessions and resources plus the
time to network with Main Street Program Directors from across the
United States. The opening plenary speaker was City of Baltimore Mayor
Martin O'Malley who gave an excellent speech about the renaissance of
city living and urban neighborhoods. Boston Main Streets has a long
standing relationship with Baltimore Main Streets which is the second
urban Main Street Program to be established after Boston. Mary Pat
Fannon, the Director of Baltimore Main Streets, was a very gracious
host for the conference and a familiar face to many of us from Boston
from her fact finding trips here including yes even a tour of Hyde Park
last fall.
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WiFi Through Main Streets For
Hyde Park
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Hyde
Park Main Streets hopes to be the next Main Street district selected
for free WiFi and is in the Process now of finalizing a site for the
antenna. We are waiting for the installation team to complete its work
in West Roxbury and then come check out our location. WiFi is wireless
Internet access that through this initiative would potentially extend
to the majority of the business district. With the launch of our own
web site and the availability of customized web pages for any of our
Business Members hosted by HPMS, the time maybe perfect for WiFi in
Hyde Park.
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June 2005 Calendar - Meeting
Schedule
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Guests
enjoy fine food from over 100 local restaurants, musical entertainment
and a silent auction featuring many Red Sox items donated by the Boston
Red Sox Foundation who also contributed $25,000 to help charter the new
BMS Foundation.
ER
Committee - Mon, 6:00 PM, June 6th
Promotions
Committee - Mon, 6:30 PM, June 13th
Design
Committee - Thur, 6:00 PM, June 23rd
Hyde
Park Fishing Tournament & Raffle - Wed, June 22nd
Board
of Director's Annual Meeting - Tues, 6:00 PM, June 28th
Missed
a meeting? Contact us for monthly minutes compiled by volunteer
committee members and available by e-mail.
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 U.S. Senator
Kennedy speaking at the Gala honoring Boston Main Streets and Mayor
Menino.
If Hyde Park is your home, why not
make us your home page at www.hydeparkmainstreets.com and be better
connected to your community.
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