A bigger Fisher: President McGovern looks to extend school's reach, improve its image by Kim Cannon
CAPTION: Thomas McGovern.
Since 1903, Fisher College has been quietly and inconspicuously providing students individualized and enriched education from its small campus on Beacon St. The school has weathered the ups and downs of the business of academia, continuing to move forward when other Boston-area colleges of its size have had to shut their doors. But just continuing on is not enough for new college president Thomas McGovern.
“I want people to know we’re a good, solid institution – and a good citizen of Boston,” McGovern says. “We really have to work on our image so that we’re no longer the best kept secret in the Back Bay.”
About four months into his tenure as college president, McGovern has big goals for Fisher. He is just the eighth president in the school’s more than 100-year history, and McGovern has real ties to the school. With a background in government and transportation, he joined the Fisher faculty in the 1970s. McGovern came to Fisher because of its commitment to continuing education programs, which at the time attracted many Vietnam veterans taking advantage of the GI Bill to the school. A Vietnam vet himself, McGovern had earned his master’s degree by taking advantage of the GI Bill.
McGovern became a full-time member of the faculty in the early 2000s, and though he left the college in 2006 to pursue consulting opportunities, he was very pleased last year when a nationwide search for a successor to former president Charles Perkins ended with him as the choice.
“This is the only job I ever would have returned to academia for, and I couldn’t have been more pleased,” he says.
Although he’s spent much of his time in his first months on the job wrapped up in assessments by various government and educational boards, he has taken time to set some goals for the school. Traditionally a two-year college, Fisher has been moving toward a four-year culture and is seeking approval for three new baccalaureate degrees to add to its existing business management program. McGovern says he is “confident” in gaining that approval by the year’s end.
With college enrollment at its highest numbers in more than two decades, there is definitely positive momentum toward growth. But McGovern wants Back Bay residents to know that this growth does not mean the school will be seeking to expand its Beacon St. campus by acquiring other Back Bay buildings. For example, when the school bought and restored the historic One Arlington Street building a few years ago, it opened only as an academic building – not as a dormitory. Instead, McGovern is eyeing Suffolk University and Emerson College’s recent expansion moves for inspiration in that area.
He wants Back Bay residents to know that Fisher is a part of the community, and that open houses and tours of One Arlington Street and the rest of the campus are available. Meeting space is also available.
“We are trying to be good neighbors,” McGovern says.
McGovern’s other overarching goals include moving the school from a tuition-driven financial model to look more toward external funds, such as grants. And, McGovern wants to continue building Fisher’s reputation as a leader in online learning.
But McGovern isn’t spending all of his time in his office crafting missing statements and pondering Fisher’s future. He’s also intent to enjoy the school’s present -- ending one recent day cheering at a Fisher-Fitchburg State basketball game and another at a student rally. His larger goals, though, are never far from his thoughts.
“We need to put ourselves on the map,” he says.
What to eat on Sunday? If pizza's the answer, you're all set by Dan Salerno
When the hometown favorite Patriots face off with the Big Blue Wrecking Crew on Sunday, another clash of champions will be taking place right here on Newbury Street.
That’s because Super Bowl Sunday is not just a day when the NFL settles its biggest score, it’s also a time when Americans across the country indulge in copious quantities of that most quintessential of sports-spectator cuisines: pizza.
And in the Back Bay proper (between Massachusetts Avenue and Arlington Street), your two main choices for slices can both be found on the same little block of Newbury Street, at Upper Crust and Bostone Pizza.
While these two crusty competitors both stake out territory on the EF block of Newbury, and while both have their fans and admirers, there are plenty of differences between the two that are worth pondering before you place your orders on Sunday
In many ways, Upper Crust can be considered the Patriots of this pizza turf war. With eight locations throughout greater Boston and eastern Massachusetts, Upper Crust, like the Pats, has a built-in track record of success and a reputation as a regional powerhouse. The first location, on Charles Street in Beacon Hill, opened unheralded in 2001, the very same year a similarly unheralded Patriots squad stunned the football world by beating the Rams to capture their first title.
Since then, both Upper Crust and the Patriots have skyrocketed to dominance.
Owner Jordan Tobbins credits the success of Upper Crust first and foremost to the quality of the pizza itself, which he described as “Neapolitan style” with a “Boston twist.”
The pizza has a thin, crisp crust, reminiscent of the pies one might find in southern Italy, where pizza was born. Although Upper Curst uses gas ovens, not the wood-burning brick ovens of Naples, the use of a stone deck allows from a much higher heat than a traditional gas ovens, which in turn leads to a crisper crust, said Tobbins.
The toppings shy away from the traditional, however, giving the pizza its “Boston flair.” Many of the specialty pies are named for Boston landmarks, and come topped with combinations one would not likely encounter in the old country. “The State House,” for instance, combines pepperoni and Italian sausage with the more working-class and distinctly American ground hamburger. A signature white clam pizza, meanwhile, evokes nearby New Haven much more than the sunny coasts of Amalfi.
Owner Jordan Tobbins also attributes his franchise’s success to the quality of Upper Crusts’s ingredients and the consistency throughout their many locations. Like the Patriots’ Bill Belichick, Tobbins knows that consistency and teamwork are key.
“All our prep people are trained at the same location, we use all the same equipment,” he said. “It’s important when people find something that they like that they know they can get the same quality at any location.”
Bostone Pizza, located almost directly across the street, might be called the underdog in this contest: a fairly new, mom-and-pop style slice joint without the same entrenched name-recognition as its competitor. However, like the Giants, one underestimates this pizza gem at his own peril.
If Bostone reminds one of the underdog Giants, it seems fitting that they are what owners Danny Aguilar and Caryn King describe on their web site as the Back Bay’s “authentic New York style pizzeria.” New York style pizza means, of course, the big, cheesy, foldable slices one would find on the streets of Manhattan or Brooklyn, dished out from places that warm the hearts and fill the bellies of Giants fans, like DiFara and Famous Ray’s.
Unlike the very crisp Neapolitan crust across the street, Bostone’s gas ovens produce a base that is crisp on the outside, yet chewy and pliable beneath, allowing eaters to employ the famous New York “pizza fold.”
In addition to its New York style thin crust, Bostone specializes in a wide variety of Sicilian pizza, or “squares.” These thick crust, square shaped slices have bounteous toppings like tomato and basil, spinach, or meat lovers, and a garlicky sauce that gives way to an audible airy “crunch.”
The Sicilian slices inspired Bostone’s motto, emblazoned on signage and t-shirts, “It’s hip to be square.”
Beyond pizza, Bostone also serves a wide variety of subs (steak and cheese, meatball, chicken parm), salads, and pasta entrees. For the Super Bowl, they are offering a number of special deals, with a discount for customers who come in to pick up their orders.
The Licensing Board for the City of Boston granted the Pour House’s request for a revision of their current liquor license.
The license now states that no alcohol may be served after 1 a.m. to patrons not having ordered food from the menu. Although Pour House sought to have this condition apply to those only seated at tables, the condition remains and applies to all patrons.
The board also approved the transfer of Marcello’s wine and beer license to incoming restaurant Bottega Fiorentina. The license was granted with five conditions that Bottega agreed to.
Those provisions and conditions include; an 11 p.m. closing time for the interior of the restaurant, a 10 p.m. closing time for the exterior dining patio, alcohol be served only with food ordered from the menu, trash be compacted inside and put out no more than one hour before collection, and that all deliveries occur between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., but not between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. nor between the hours of 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
A lot of interest: St. Celia's puts lot on the market; funds will pay for renovations by Stephen Quigley
Four contenders are apparently bidding millions of dollars for a valuable vacant 11,000 square foot lot owned by St. Cecilia’s Church in the Back Bay.
The lot, which is being marketed by the real estate firm Meredith and Grew, is located across from the Berklee College of Music at the corner of St. Cecilia Way and Cambria Streets.
Official news of the sale of the property was made to parishioners of St. Cecilia’s by Father John Uni at the church’s town meeting following Sunday’s morning mass. About 125 people were in attendance.
“If this sale goes through, then much of the work that needs to be done on St. Cecilia’s rectory and parish hall could be accomplished,” he said. “The last major renovation of the church was completed in the early 1950’s,” Father Uni added.
He also said that with proceeds from the expected sale of the vacant lot, the church could fulfill its 21st Century mandate in order to fund outreach programs for young people and for the disenfranchised living in the parish neighborhood.
Father Uni made no mention of the price being negotiated by brokers from Meredith and Grew.
Meredith and Grew declined to comment on the negotiations for the sale of the property.
According to Boston church historians and those who are familiar with the history and the evolution of the St. Cecilia’s Parish, it was built in the 1880’s with small donations made by the thousands of servants who worked in the homes for many of Back Bay’s wealthiest families.
The servant workers desired their own parish and place of worship over that of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
In 1914, St. Cecilia’s added the parish which exists today, and which is in need of major renovations.
Today, St. Cecilia’s church, the parish hall and the rectory are used as meeting places for many of the parish’s outreach programs.
Should the sale of the vacant lot take place for millions, as is expected, plans call for the parish center to use a large portion of the expansive lower church.
At the Sunday mass, Father Uni asked parishioners for input, ideas and suggestions for the rehabilitation of the parish center.
A number of parishioners expressed the feeling that the coming year will be a very exciting time to be a part of St. Cecilia’s.
Cordis Management is guided by a simple principle: quality over quantity by Kim Cannon
CAPTION: A view from a home that was rehabbed by Cordis Management. As you can see, a magnificent view is one of the unit's notable features.
The world of general contracting and construction involves scaffolding and chisels and drywall and most often – men. But mother-daughter duo Gayle Fiato and Sasha Durand, who comprise Cordis Management, have found a way to make it in this testosterone-driven industry. In fact, they more than just make it – they excel, and are generally thought of as leaders in Boston’s high-end renovation niche. Fiato and Durand have overseen renovations of some of the best brownstones on Beacon Hill and most luxurious elevator-building condos in the Back Bay. The secret to their success?
“We only take on a few projects at once,” Fiato says. “We’re very selective about our clients and about the projects we take on so that we can devote full attention to them.”
Fiato has been in the business for two decades, although it was not the career path she thought she’d follow. In the beginning of her career, she worked for an architect in New York City before moving to Boston to pursue opportunities in marketing. During the late 1980s real estate boom, she redid her own home in Charlestown, and the success of that project brought inquiries from friends and colleagues about her weighing in on other projects.
“It kind of snowballed,” Fiato says. “My usual joke line is that I was overqualified to work at McDonald’s, so I got into construction.”
Durand, Fiato’s daughter, likewise did not begin her career in contracting. She was also working in marketing before deciding to switch paths and join her mother about three years ago. And, Fiato boasts, they still haven’t had their first fight.
But they have been fighting the pressure to expand. Success has built up Cordis’s reputation, and they find that their services are consistently in demand, despite efforts to remain small.
“We like being small, under the radar,” Durand says. “All of our marketing depends on word-of-mouth.”
And because they only take on a few projects at a time, their clients can be assured of superior attention to detail.
“With every job, we are all about happy clients,” Fiato says. “We want to be able to say when we walk out that door that we really did it.”
And that means overseeing what is most often a complete gutting of a living space. A typical client will buy a unit in a townhouse or high rise that for them might be a second or third home. Sometimes they buy two adjacent units with plans to expand. Fiato and Durand will plan for everything from raising the ceilings to improving the insulation for noise control to custom framing, decorative plastering, installing custom flooring, and even building specialized closets that are specifically designed to fit the length of the client’s suits.
Throughout the process, they are making sure the contractors have parking in the parking-challenged Back Bay and Beacon Hill neighborhoods. They’re arranging for cranes to lift in materials and equipment through upper-story windows because most brownstones do not have elevators. And they’re making sure the work is not too disruptive for the clients’ neighbors.
Additionally, they’re constantly meeting with the clients, the architects and the designers to make sure that everyone is on the same page and the job is progressing as it should. Over the years, Fiato and Durand have built up strong relationships with Boston’s best sub-contractors, although they say that this is one area that has changed substantially since they began in business. Twenty years ago, Fiato says, it was not a challenge to find quality craftspeople with solid training, but it’s not the same today.
“Younger people just don’t seem to be into the trades any more, and finding high quality help has become more difficult,” she says.
That said, it’s still a business that both mother and daughter love and will continue in for the foreseeable future.
“We’re just really proud of the work that we do, and we love the challenge,” Durand says.
There is a tendency in the Back Bay for life to go on as usual for many of our residents no matter what is happening in the world outside. In fact, there is a great deal of insulation from the world’s trials and tribulations if you live in the Back Bay.
That being said, we wanted to remind those of you who are unaware that the Super Bowl is being played late Sunday afternoon that what is outside the Back Bay is going to come inside, that the unto itself world of the Back Bay, is inevitably going to be affected by the broadcast of the Super Bowl.
What does this mean?
It means that restaurants without wide screen televisions will not be crowded. Even a splendid place like the Oak Room will have many tables available when the opening kick-off takes place, and the Patriots reach for sports immortality begins.
We warn those of you planning to be at Sonsie on late Sunday afternoon that your desire to meet people and to fraternize Back Bay style will be put in jeopardy by the unnatural pull of the game.
In fact, even in Back Bay, more residents will watch the game than not, a testament to the changing demographic and to the popularity of the New England Patriots.
Not everyone living in Back and watching the game will admit to it. This is understandable. Back Bay residents are not, by their nature, avid television fans, let alone avid football and sports fans.
Back Bay residents are the type of people who read and who think, who drink fine wine and who enjoy the company of friends without television – that is – without a flat screen television.
However, even Back Bay residents should be more inclined to pay attention to this Super Bowl as this Super Bowl is about making history – and Back Bay is about history.
The Patriots are about to do what no professional football team has ever done – and they’re about to do it better than any team in the history of the game.
So when late Sunday afternoon arrives, we recommend to our Back readers that they find themselves a quiet place and a television, I the hope they will find the football game enjoyable and even fun.
The Patriots are the best thing going in organized sports.
Partake of this as though it were fine wine – and enjoy.
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