Beacon Hill Civic Association Community Corner

By Patricia Tully,  BHCA Executive Director

Use the BOS:311 App –It Works!

It’s easy to feel frustrated these days with all that is going on around us. Broken sidewalks, litter, and graffiti only add to that frustration. However, the City of Boston has a tool that works if we all use it regularly.

In my almost daily walkabouts around the neighborhood, I always find something to send to BOS:311. On August 24th, I noticed excessive trash in front of 180 Cambridge Street. I filed a report on my phone with the 311 app, and sent this first picture with it. When I arrived to my desk 5 minutes later, I had an email saying the complaint had been received and it would be dealt with. To my surprise, not even an hour after the first message, I had another email stating that the matter had been closed and the trash removed. Doubtful, I went to look and, sure enough, the sidewalk was clean.

The BHCA encourages neighbors to use the BOS:311 app on their mobile devices freely and often to report missing bricks/dangerous sidewalks, litter, overflowing trash cans, resident trash out illegally (not on trash pickup days – early mornings), rodent sightings, abandoned bicycles, graffiti, dead trees, and many other unsafe situations.

There are multiple ways to get in touch, including through the mobile app, by calling 311, tweeting, or through the City of Boston website at www.cityofboston.gov/311. Together, we can work towards cleaner and safer streets and sidewalks.

As a reminder, if your issue is an emergency (house fire, crime in progress, etc.), please dial 911.

Temple Street Park Water Supply

Residents on Temple Street have a little something to be pleased about after a long period of life-altering noise and construction with the redevelopment of the Archer-Donahue buildings.

These buildings at the top of Temple Street were once owned and occupied by Suffolk University, and were used as classroom and administrative space, a theatre and a large cafeteria for students. In July of 2015, the developer acquired the buildings from Suffolk and plans were created to transform these buildings into residential condominiums.

When Suffolk occupied these buildings on Temple Street, they took care of the watering with a long hose from the Suffolk building across the street to the Temple Street Park. Since then, the developer (JDMD Owner LLC), through the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), agreed to certain Public Benefit Commitments, including providing monies for a permanent water supply installation at the park itself.

Last week, this installation was finally done, thanks to coordination between the City of Boston Parks Department, Consigli Construction, the BHCA and the Friends of Temple Street Park. Now the park will have its own water supply, and when the Archer-Donahue residences are complete later this month and the bricks and paving repaired, life will hopefully return to normal in the Temple Street Park, an urban oasis for the neighborhood. 

Show us Your Mask!

At the BHCA we encourage everyone to stay safe and keep others safe by wearing a mask in public.  Send us a photo at [email protected] of you sporting your BHCA masks out and about and we will feature it here and in our weekly email newsletter.

Upcoming BHCA meetings and activities:

Beacon Hill Meet & Greet – Monday, September 7 at 6pm (contact the BHCA office for details)

Join us!

If you haven’t yet become a member of the BHCA, we invite you to join online at www.bhcivic.org/become-a-member.

 Your input on quality of life issues on the Hill is important to us, and we rely on you, our neighbors, to bring your comments and concerns to our attention. By joining our membership, you strengthen our numbers and add credibility to our purpose as advocates for Beacon Hill. Please call our office at 617-227-1922 or email the BHCA Executive Director at [email protected] with any questions, comments or concerns, or to learn more about how you can get involved in your community. 

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