The Committee on City and Neighborhood Services of the Boston City Council held a public hearing Thursday to explore the possibility of bringing a new outdoor café to the Boston Common.
City Council President Mike Ross, who sponsored the hearing with City Councilor Bill Linehan, suggested that a plaza at the corner of Boylston and Tremont streets be restored and entered into a long-term lease of no less than eight years.
“It’s an opportunity to bring a world class café to a part of the Common that really needs it,” Ross said. “I can’t stress how important it is that we do the right thing now.”
Antonia Pollak, commissioner of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, said the Boys & Girls Club had executed a lease for the site, which was set to expire after the summer of 2010.
Since 1996, Emerson College has operated an outdoor café at the location under a sub-lease agreement with the Boys & Girls Club, a venture that Pollak said has met with limited success. Pollak said the Boys & Girls Club could put the plaza out to bid for a short-term lease in the spring of 2010 after the college issues a formal release from its current agreement for the site.
Also, Pollak said the “pink palace,” located near the Common’s tennis courts and ball fields, could accommodate a café. Renovations to the site were estimated to cost $1 million, besides the restaurateur’s start-up costs, but unlike Emerson’s outdoor dining area, with its removable tables and chairs, she said the pink palace is a permanent structure.
“The Landmarks Commission asked us to find a new use for it,” Pollak said, adding that the commission and the Parks and Recreation Department have final approval on any major changes to the Common. “We hope to open [the matter] for public comment during the winter months.”
In December of last year, the Special Committee on the Boston Common, composed of Ross, Linehan and City Councilor Sal LaMattina, chairman of the Committee on City & Neighborhood Services, submitted a report that addressed the future of the Boston Common, regarding its maintenance and physical infrastructure, public safety and financial opportunities and challenges.
The committee’s report recommended opening a new outdoor café on the Common as one way of revitalizing the area, citing the success of the Shake Shack, a year-round take-out eatery with outdoor dining that now operates in New York City’s Madison Square Park.

This summer, Champions Sports Bar & Restaurant is moving to a new state-of-the-art space at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.
“Champions is going to be a great addition to the neighborhood and the city,” said Boston Marriott Copley Place General Manager David Giblin. "It’s got so much to offer, and we expect it will attract a diverse group -- from sports fans, to the after-work cocktail crowd, to foodies looking for a great, casual meal.”
Designed by the international architectural firm, Gensler, the new Champions will be located on the hotel’s second floor, at the crossroads of Copley Place and the Shops at the Prudential Center. (The old Champions was located on the first floor, while its new space was formerly occupied by the Terrace Bar).
The new facility will overlook a bustling pedestrian thoroughfare, accessed by 14,000 people on any given day. The restaurant’s open, circular design will be reminiscent of the European piazza, and the curvilinear bar area will offer unobstructed views of a 12-by-24-foot HDTV screen and 40 plasma HDTVs. A curved wall of LED lights subtly changes color throughout the day, ushering the space from morning into night.
Champions will have 95 seats in the bar area and 160 seats in the restaurant, with a variety of options for guests gathering in smaller or larger groups. Two versatile private dining rooms will seat 60 each and feature fully customizable audio/visual options. A semi-private room will accommodate up to 20 guests.
Besides its all-American grill menu, Champions will offer 34 beers on tap and a wide variety of wine and traditional cocktails, as well as creative signatures drinks, including the Pomegranate Sidecar (Grand Marnier, Courvoisier) and the Sideline Cooler (Ketel One Vodka, cucumber, lime).
“We aim to make Champions a real gathering place, and we look forward to introducing it to our guests, neighbors and friends this summer,” Giblin said.
Meanwhile, the Boston Marriott Copley Place is undergoing an extensive renovation that includes a new lobby Great Room, luxury suites and health and fitness facilities, two additional first-floor meeting rooms, a redesigned front desk area, and an expanded Starbucks coffee bar.
For more information, visit www.CopleyMarriott.com or call 617-236-5800. Champions Boston is also on Facebook (Keyword: Champions Boston).

As part of the launch of a new Champions Sports Bar & Restaurant at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, a 30-foot construction wall has been transformed into a tribute to local champions.
“The construction of the new Champions presented us with a unique opportunity to honor some of our hometown heroes,” said Boston Marriott Copley Place General Manager David Giblin. “Rather than use the space for traditional restaurant advertising, we decided to honor local individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to our community."
The Wall of Champions not only separates the restaurant construction site from the heavily trafficked intersection of two popular shopping centers, Copley Place and the Shops at the Prudential Center, but it also lists the names of widely recognized and non-traditional Bostonians who have made significant contributions to local communities, schools or charities.
Honorees include Team Hoyt, the inspirational father-son team from Massachusetts who raise awareness about the issues that the disabled face every day. Rick and Dick Hoyt’s dedication to training and competing in some of the world’s most challenging competitions has led them to complete 216 triathlons, including six Ironman distances, 20 duathlons and 25 Boston Marathons.
Other honorees on the wall include: Cam Neely, the legendary Boston Bruins player and founder of the Neely Foundation; Joe O’Donnell, founder and chairman of Boston Culinary Group, trustee of the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and founder of The Joey Fund; Travis Roy, spinal cord injury survivor and founder of The Travis Roy Foundation; and Dr. Howard Weinstein, chief of pediatric hematology/oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and founder of the Massachusetts General Marathon team, which raises money for the hospital’s Pediatric Cancer Program.
The wall, which will remain on display throughout the restaurant’s construction, honors the Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and New England Patriots championship teams, as well.
To nominate personal champion(s), log into the Champions Boston Facebook page (Keyword: Champions Boston). Selected nominees will be added to the Wall of Champions before the restaurant opens.

Upper end real estate marketplace strong

Money goes to money.
This is what real estate transactions reveal for the month of May in the Back Bay.
Last month, out of the 12 most expensive homes sold in Boston, six of those sales occurred in Back Bay.
At 100 Beacon Street, a unit sold for $6.4 million. At 255 Marlborough and at 259 Marlborough, units sold for $3.1 million and $2.7 million respectively, while a unit sold at 157-159-Newbury for $1.95 million, at 303 Berkeley Street for $1.925 million, and at 313 Marlborough for $1.9 million.
That’s almost $20 million in Back Bay real estate sold in one month with only a handful of locations.
What remarkable and extraordinary proof it is - that all is well at the highest levels of the marketplace in the Back Bay.