This month marks the beginning of a new era for the Boston Center for Adult Education as the self-described “oldest, nonprofit adult education center in New England” relocates to 122 Arlington St.
According to Executive Director Susie Brown, BCAE purchased the two-story building that was once home to a film and television studio, a parking garage and a medical lab circa 1981. A complete overhaul of the building’s interior and the refurbishing of exterior brickwork cost approximately $3 million and took six months to complete. This facility replaces the Gamble Mansion on Commonwealth Avenue, which was home to the 76-year-old school since 1941. At 10,000 square-foot, the new site is actually 4,000 square-feet smaller than its predecessor, but Brown said the new space is much more functional.
“The Gamble Mansion was built as a single-family home, and the classrooms were bedrooms,” Brown said. “The new space was designed with teaching and learning in mind.”
The new facility will boast a state-of-the-art culinary center that was built in partnership with Mansfield-based Yale Appliance & Lighting and includes two kitchens equipped with high-end Gaggenau and Thermador appliances. This space will allow for expanded culinary programming, such as a “celebrity chef series” featuring Andy Husbands of Tremont 647, Grill 23’s Jay Murray and other talent from top Boston restaurants.
The front of the building facing Arlington Street and a wall in the first-floor kitchen will be built of glass, giving passersby a view of the action inside.
“The whole concept of the building is to make it warm, inviting and interactive,” Brown said. “It will be a really vibrant, high energy, contemporary place to be.”
Besides 14 classrooms, a student lounge equipped with Wi-Fi and an expanded compute lab, the building will also house modern music and art studios. The music studio will provide an intimate concert setting for BCAE’s “Live Music Out” programming, while Brown said the art studio would make use of the space’s ample natural light to provide a creative atmosphere.
In addition, a new dance studio will accommodate a hip-hop class, among other unique offerings. “We’re trying to be cutting edge and contemporary with what we’re doing,” Brown said.
BCAE also plans to expand its programming in all areas, including offering daytime cooking classes and other courses in an effort to appeal to neighbors.
“We want to work with neighbors to find the programs that best suit them,” Brown said. “We want to be a part of the community.”
For more information or to register for classes at the Boston Center for Adult Education, visit www.bcae.org or call 617-267-4430.

Amid speculation that the Copley tower project has been put on hold due to the economic downturn, the developer said it is still a priority, but gave no indication as to when construction might begin.
Simon Property Group of Indiana has proposed a 47-story tower for Copley Place, containing 280 residential units, a 54-000 square-foot addition to Neiman Marcus and 60,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space. Construction on the project was reportedly to begin in 2010, with a completion date slated for 2012.
Simon has filed a Project Notification Form with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, but asked that its January meeting with the Citizens Advisory Committee formed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino be postponed.
Les Morris, a spokesperson for the developer, stated: "Simon has requested additional time to complete the [Draft Project Impact Report] process before resuming the CAC meetings. This project is a priority for us, and we look forward to continuing our work with the CAC and the city."
BRA spokesperson Jessica Shumaker confirmed that the developer had requested additional time to respond to inquiries from the city.
“[Simon] asked to take more time to finish up and, given the economy, to answer questions, but they’re still committed to the project” Shumaker said.
Meanwhile, State Rep. Marty Walz, who previously expressed concerns regarding the tower’s proposed height and shadow impact on both Commonwealth Avenue Mall and Copley Square Park, hopes Simon can better explain its position on the project.
“Based on the developer’s statement, it’s unclear whether the project was on hold or whether the developer was proceeding with the environmental review process at a slower pace than was originally anticipated,” Walz said. “I look forward to further communication with Simon on the status of the project.”

As he looks forward to the opening of Stephi’s on Tremont this Thursday, general manager Leo Fonseca anticipates it becoming a South End destination in the same way that its sister restaurant, Stephanie’s on Newbury, is in the Back Bay.
“One of the most exciting things is that the neighborhood doesn’t have a place like this,” said Fonseca, who has served as general manager of the Newbury Street restaurant since 2004. “I think we’re going to be very busy. That’s the goal.”
The new location, located at the space formerly occupied by Garden of Eden at 571 Tremont St., has been completely renovated at a cost of $2 million. “You hear the expression, ‘We took it down to the studs.’ We took it beyond the studs,” Fonseca said, adding it would cost between $5 million and $6 million to build out a space similar in size to Stephanie’s on Newbury today.
The Tremont Street restaurant has a bar equipped with two 50-inch HDTVs and a private dining room that can be used for meetings and conferences. During the summer months, an additional 20 customers can be seated at outdoor patio and the front-facing doors open to the street to offer patrons inside an outdoor dining experience.
Stephi’s will serve the same affordable fare as its predecessor, along with brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. “We’re sticking with comfort food and our comfort food roots,” Fonseca said.
“There are a lot of really good restaurants in the South End with good chefs whom I respect, but they’re mostly high-end,” Fonseca added. “It’s not the type of food you want to eat every day.”
Since the new restaurant is less than half the size of its predecessor at 3,200 square feet, executive chef Corey Comeau, who has served in the same role at Stephanie’s on Newbury since 2004, can take a few more liberties with the menu. Among the additions are a lobster shepherd’s pie, hot smoked trout and jumbo sea scallops and little neck clams with spinach fettuccini.
“Not feeding thousand’s of people allows us to be more creative,” Fonseca said.
More than anything else, though, Fonseca hopes that Stephi’s will be an inviting spot in the neighborhood, like the original Stephenie’s.
“We hope to have the same place in the hearts of the people in the South End as we do with the people of the Back Bay,” Fonseca said.

Maybe you've heard of the Junior League, like it's some sort of mythical service agency of your mother's era. Actually, it's a hundred-plus year old agency still thriving.
In fact, it's planning their annual charitable ball this Saturday at the Ritz Carlton overlooking Boston Common to raise money for some ageless volunteer work for Boston women and children. As they prepare for the fundraising gala, the organizers want you to know: This is not your mother's Junior League.
"We're not the 'Girls with the Pearls' these days," said JLB's External Communications Director Kimberly Parker. "We've been trying to get away from that stereotype for a while now." Parker worked in medical sales for years until she resigned to raise a baby with her husband. "We can be stay-at-home moms, we have attorneys, we have physicians, consultants, teachers, nurses -- You name it, we've had it. We're a very well-rounded group of women."
Gayle Bourdeau, chair of this year's "Service and the City" ball, had also been initially wary of joining when a friend in Delaware told her about it.
"I didn't want to do the Muffy-Buffy thing," she said. So when she moved to Beacon Street in the Back Bay and became a real estate lawyer and wanted to give back to the community as well as make some friends in her new town, she looked into the Junior League. At the informational session, she saw women like herself - smart, professional women.
"There are some stay at home moms, but mostly it's career women who are giving back," said Bourdreau, who says she has also made friends in the three years she's been a member. "We travel on vacation together, I have friends I talk to on a daily basis."
She started out working with the JLB Arts Program, where group mentors help fifth-grade girls with arts activities at the Boston Renaissance Charter School a few Saturdays a month. "Each month we teach them about a different art, then go on field trips to art museums. We have a cooking month where we take them to Pizzeria Uno's kitchen," said Bourdreau. "Our program enables girls to express their unique individuality within a fun, mentoring atmosphere."
This year, the arts program consisted of 22 Junior League volunteers and 26 girls from the BRCS, she said.
Other volunteer projects this year include Done in a Day, Foster Care Review, JLB Digital Impact, JLB Events, Dress for Success, Germaine Lawrence, Leader Within, and Learning Circles.
Bourdreau since moved onto the ball committee, when she realized that programs such as the arts project need annual funding. The ball is the JLB's only fundraising event. Last year, they raised $50,000 at Fenway Park; this year, they've lowered the cost of the ticket to $150, and all are invited.
This year's ball theme, "Service and the City," highlights the leaders, volunteers and supporters of the JLB's service projects, trainings and community initiatives. There'll be plenty of auctioned items, and area businesses are still donating items despite the economy. Dress is "formal cocktail attire."
The JLB celebrated its 100th anniversary a couple of years ago.
It was launched in 1906 by a sewing circle of debutants who made bandages for the Civil War effort. Modeled after the New York Junior League, the Boston chapter was started by young debutante Sarah Lawrence, who wanted Boston's sewing circles to be more useful, to target the social problems and needs of the greater Boston Metro community.
An annual lecture series was initiated in the Hotel des Tuileries, older members formed committees to place volunteers in social service agencies and to visit the sick and aged. An entertainment committee performed for children and other audiences. A literary committee read books on the period's social and industrial problems. In 1908, they donated $100 to the Instructive District Nursing Association; in 1916, the Sewing Circle League became the Junior League of Boston, and by spring of 1917, the JLB had contributed $1,800 to five different charities.
During World War II, JLB members assisted with the war efforts, and in the 1960s produced a film to help with public understanding of the mentally challenged, and a book, the "Guide to Boston for the Handicapped."
In the 1970s it established and managed a child abuse center for the state Welfare Department. In the 1980s and 1990s, the JLB focused its attention on empowering women and promoting the arts. Its Good Grief program helped children to cope with death, a program that was turned over to the Boston University School of Medicine. The JLB also founded WIRE, the Women's Informational Referral and Educational Service. The program included a van that toured neighborhoods distributing educational materials on area services to women all over the city.
The JLB is now the second-oldest Junior League chapter, and is thriving, with more than 1,200 members. The Junior League today has 293 chapters in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and England, all focused on the health and education of women and children.
Some of its members joined because their mothers and grandmothers were members. Many join after graduating from college. New members complete 24 hours of volunteer service and 16 credit hours of training, then become active members. After 7 years, some choose to become less-active as "Sustaining" members.
Not Parker.
"I would like to continue volunteering a few more years," said Parker. "I love doing this and I want to stay as active as I can."
Parker found out about the Junior League through friends and joined the Nashville chapter. When she moved to Boston, she knew that joining the Boston chapter would help her make friends and to get to know the city better.
This month, the JLB opens its membership to new women, until June 1. The nonprofit is open to all women 21 and older, of all races, religions and national origins, anyone who wants to make a commitment to volunteering. Prospective membership meetings in April; the membership year begins in August. This year, over 300 JLB volunteers will contribute more than 7,000 volunteer hours, and they expect to welcome 150 new members in August.
Provisional membership is $350, and to become an active member you must complete 24 hours of project or committee participation and attend 75 percent of committee meetings. There are meetings and cocktail parties, breakfasts and training sessions, selling "Boston Uncommon" cookbooks, and generating $150 in funds, such as purchasing event tickets.
Typically college grads become active members, but in Boston, the average age of active members ranges up into the 40s, so the "Junior" part isn't so accurate here. The majority of members are second and third generation members. This year's JLB president, Sarah Calabrese, followed in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother.
The 117 Newbury Street JLB headquarters has been there almost since the club started. They own the four floors, leasing out space to Kate Spade. One floor is for offices, another for board meetings, there's a homey fireplaced living room, and the dining room is lined with portraits of past presidents. The space is available for 50-person events, such as bridal showers and corporate events.
The new cookbook "Boston Uncommon: A culinary journey through Boston's distinctive neighborhoods," came out a couple of years ago, updated after more than 10 years with such timeless local recipes as the Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins, Union Oyster House New England Clam Chowder, and Parker House Rolls, as well as contributions from famous local chefs including Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger.
Even though the recipes came from reliable sources, the recipes were then triple-tested before making their way into the cookbook.
Since their initial publication in the 1950s, more than 18 million copies of local Junior League cookbooks have been sold, with proceeds supporting programs that further the League's mission.
The books are sold at Talbots, Barnes and Noble, and online. Copies are available for $29.95 plus at the Junior League of Boston's website www.jlb.org.
Tickets are still available for the ball, which will feature live music and dancing, and live and silent auctions for travel packages, restaurants, sports tickets, and signed memorabilia.
"The Service and the City Ball" is a wonderful opportunity for the community and the women of the League to come together and support the projects and volunteer training that have made a difference in neighborhoods across the Greater Boston Area for over 100 years," said Bourdeau.