The Beacon Hill Architectural Commission again voted to continue its determination on the Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro’s application during its April 18 hearing at City Hall
Frank McGuire, project architect, outlined two concepts for the building at 25 Charles St., both of which include plans to relocate the hotel’s main lobby and entry to the corner of Charles and Branch streets while offering two alternatives for realigning the building’s windows openings and patterns along its Charles-, Branch- and Chestnut-street sides.
Commissioner Miguel Rosales instructed the applicant to return to the commission with more information on the proposed hardware for the new entry door and the awning fronting Charles Street, as well as a final window design. “Your application is incomplete…and you need to resolve the window issue,” Rosales said.
The commission voted to deny without prejudice an application for the Charles Street Garage at 144-158 Charles St. to remove three existing AT&T antennae and hardware from a chimney and replace them with four antennae inside three, new fiberglass canisters on the roof, which would have been visible from a public way.
Regarding a violation continued from Feb. 21, the commission voted to approve four requested items for the American Meteorological Society headquarters at 45 Beacon St., including the applicant’s requests for replacing two granite bollards at the east and west corners of the Carriage House; lowering the door elevation at the rear of the Carriage House for safety egress; rehabilitating brickwork at the rear of the Carriage House; and accepting existing grading at Spruce Place, while denying a request for a proposed asphalt berm at the rear wall of the Carriage House, due to a preference for installing a more historically appropriate granite curb instead.
In another matter, the commission unanimously approved the application for 41 Chestnut St., with the provisos that the restored entry door at the front façade is painted with Benjamin Moore’s Newburyport Blue shade, rather than Lady Liberty as was proposed.
The commission voted to approve an application to replace a non-historic front door and associated hardware at the front façade of 55 Chestnut St. with the proviso that the applicant explore using other colors than what was proposed, preferably black, to repaint the door, its surround, the window trim, window sashes, shutters and window box.
Likewise, the commission voted to approve an application for 158 Mt. Vernon St. to replace an existing wooden garage door at the rear elevation, along with the door posts and header, and repair and reset brick pavers, with the stipulation that the new door is painted black.
The commission voted to deny without prejudice an application for 74 Chestnut St. to replace an existing wooden garage door at the rear elevation with a black, steel garage door on the grounds that the proposed material is inappropriate for that use in the district.
In a matter held over from Feb. 21, the commission voted again to continue its determination for an application for 28 Pinckney St. that it had previously approved in June of 2015.
The scope of the proposed work includes replacing an existing in-filled garage door opening with a new overhead garage door, which would be painted black; removing paint from existing masonry; and restoring curb-cuts and the sidewalk.
Meanwhile, the commission gave the green light for the installation of a black, steel handrail at 33 Chestnut St., with minor provisos, while also approving an application for 25 Phillips St. to replace three two-over-two windows on the second story at the front façade in kind, replace a door at the rear elevation, restore a brick-in window opening and install a bathroom vent.
The commission approved the latter application with stipulations that the new window be slightly recessed to obscure its view from a public way, and that the applicant return to staff with more information on the proposed brick-and-mortar work.