GNO Spa & Salon to open new state-of-the art facility
By Dan Murphy

With a grand opening tentatively set for mid-2010, G2O Spa & Salon will soon have a new state-of-the-art facility at 276-278 Newbury Street.
According to Joyce Hampers, owner of G2O and Emerge Spa and Salon on Newbury Street, the new 14,000 square-foot facility will replace the 11,000 square feet G2O now occupies in two buildings at 336 and 338 Newbury Street. Demolition is currently underway on the project, which will conjoin two adjacent buildings and add a new fifth-floor penthouse. Metric Construction of Brighton has been selected as the general contractor, and the architect is Guy Grassi, president of Grassi Design Group, the Boston firm that designed Emerge in 2006.
"The whole design will have a sleek, modern look for an upbeat, savvy clientele," Grassi said.
The penthouse addition, which Grassi described as a spectacular co-ed wellness center, will include a sunken whirlpool, indoor and outdoor terraces and fireside lounges.
The fourth floor will feature a fantastic "experience room," an herbal infused steam area with heated benches, audio, crystals and applications of alternating hot steam, icy fog and tropical rain showers. Another section of the fourth floor will house a salt-air inhalation room, featuring a rock-wall saltwater fall. Other fourth-floor amenities include luxurious men's and women's locker rooms and a media sensory "nap room".
The third floor will house several spa treatment rooms, including a suite for couples. On the second floor, there will be a hair salon, styling areas, a "color bar" and a pedicure area, all overlooking Newbury Street. The first floor will have a reception area, a nail salon and retail, while offices will be in the basement.
"With the completion of this facility, Boston area residents will be able to avail themselves of all of the services and amenities of a luxurious spa resort without the expense and trouble of ever having to leave the city,” Hampers said.

The Back Bay Architectural Commission (BBAC) unanimously approved proposed ground-floor renovations of the 13-story office building at 535 Boylston St. last week, subject to its approval of the design for a new glass vestibule.
According to John Martin, a principal of Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects, the vestibule would extend between 2 and 3 feet from the building façade, underneath an existing canopy. A revolving door at the entryway would be replaced with a new double-door vestibule, and a renovation of the building’s front lobby is also planned. The proposed redesign includes lowering the glass to the floor in all tenant storefronts, thus eliminating an existing 18-inch-high sill. The canopy will be renovated and faced with stainless steel, along with the mullions and spandrel panels of the new storefronts.
Martin said TD Bank has signed on as the tenant of the space at the corner of Clarendon Street that was previously occupied by Citizens Bank and will move into the location in the fall of 2009 after the rehabilitation is finished. TD Bank is proposing the elimination of hanging signage boxes in front of the first-floor windows and will seek approval for new signage from the BBAC once designs are finalized.
Renovations to the space occupied by Finagle A Bagel are also planned, along with additional exterior and interior improvements. This aspect of the project has a projected completion date of first quarter 2010 and will be reviewed by BBAC at a future design review hearing, Martin said.
Completed in 1963 and renovated in 1995, 535 Boylston St. was known as the William J. McCarthy Building before Westport Point Capital LLC, a private partnership between Erin O'Boyle and Mary Lou Boutwell, two local developers, purchased it last year. Centro Watt, a joint venture between Watt Commercial Properties of Los Angeles, Calif., and Australia-based Centro Properties Group, sold Westport Point the building and the adjacent 13-floor office tower at 545 Boylston St. for a total of $77 million.

If David Gilson's dream is realized, the new farmers' market at the Prudential Center will make Thursdays in the Back Bay like market days in Provence. At this market, local businesses will have a presence. Gilson explained that in Europe, when markets and locals blend, everyone does better.
This veteran farmer's market vendor sees the Prudential Market as an opportunity for Back Bay shops and restaurants to "...show customers how fresh, local products relate to their business." "The attitude of this market will be inclusive, whether it's the music schools having students perform or area restaurants having access and showcasing some of their talented chefs and menus," Gilson said.
It's fitting that Sel de la Terre, with it Provençal-inspired cuisine, was the first neighborhood restaurant to embrace the concept. Chef Louis DiBiccari calls their participation in the market an extension of the Boulangerie program begun 10 years ago at the Sel de la Terre on State Street.
"We'll have an opportunity to showcase more farm-to-table cooking," said DiBiccari. He explained that Chef Frank McClelland of Sel de la Terre and L'Espalier has purchased a Massachusetts farm. On this property, he's planting some of the products the restaurants will use this season. "Our composed salads will be an expression of what he is growing," said DiBiccari.
Besides composed salads, Sel de la Terre will sell sandwiches, breads, cookies pastries and some of the produce from Chef McClelland's farm at the market.
Other vendors will sell Asian greens, fruits, vegetables, plants, cut flowers, bread, cheese, chocolate, and pastries. More alliances will be announced as the season progresses.
Gilson credits Andrea Simpson, director of marketing for Boston Properties, with leadership of the project and for reaching out to help area merchants benefit from the market. "This is helping local businesses, and it's helping farming families stay in business. We'll all get more customers if we work together," said Gilson.
The market will take place on the Boylston Plaza (between the Hynes Auditorium and the entrance to the Shops at the Prudential) every Thursday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., from May 21 through October 29.

Mark your calendar because they will be back

Next Tuesday, May 26, the Boston Landmarks Commission will be taking testimony on the possible landmark designation of the Esplanade. We urge all concerned residents to attend this meeting. Let’s pack the room as the commission seeks to hear input from citizens on their views of whether to approve the site to landmark status.
Many residents may not remember or possibly couldn’t believe that the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) was considering only 18 months ago cutting down hundreds of trees and paving over huge parts of the Esplanade for automobile traffic as the permanent repairs for the Storrow Drive Tunnel were made in three years.
A small group of residents banded together and sought to have the Esplanade put on the docket for landmark status. This move stopped the DCR planned conversion of the Esplanade into a highway and made the DCR proceed with temporary repairs of the tunnel that have an expected life of not more than 10 years.
This means that as sure as the sun rises in the morning, the permanent repairs will have to be made in the future. This also means that without landmark status, the Esplanade will probably be torn up and opened to traffic because the permanent repairs to the tunnel will have to be done in about five years.
The DCR hasn’t learned that the Esplanade is more than trees and open space. The agency doesn’t have all the answers and has continued in some instances to not seek broad community input. While the repairs to the tunnel have been exemplary, the issue of constructing the fence around Ebersol Field has shown the DCR sometimes just doesn’t get it.
Written comments may be sent by May 29 to the Boston Landmarks Commission, Boston City Hall, Room 805, Boston MA 02201, or you may want to attend the May 26 hearing at 7p.m. in Room 900 of City Hall.
We need your support, whether written to the Boston Landmarks Commission or in person, to help preserve the Esplanade for future generations of children and adults. Let us preserve the Esplanade so that a similar mistake committed almost 60 years ago when the Esplanade was disconnected from the neighborhoods of Back Bay and Beacon Hill with a single vote in the State House of Representatives – it approved paving the parkland and the construction of Storrow Drive - can never be repeated again.