S. Boston Community Health Center
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City Stops Short of Complete
Shut-down at Walsh Community Center
 Last
week, the City of Boston’s Centers for Youth and Families
announced that the Gavin Foundation will take over the Walsh
Community Center, usually called the Walsh Gym. The Walsh
Gym is home to many youth programs, including South Boston’s
CYO league, the Pop Warner cheerleaders, and physical
education classes for two charter schools. In addition, it
was open daily for eight hours, Mondays through Fridays, as
a drop-in facility for young athletes. Unfortunately, eight
of Boston’s 26 community centers had been targeted to close
because of the City’s budget shortfall in fiscal year 2011,
which began on July 1 first. The Walsh Gym was among the
eight to be shuttered, a decision that was strongly
protested, both by local residents and by the drop-in
athletes led by Eddie McGuire. On June 30, the final day of
Boston’s budget deliberations, the City Council voted to
approve the budget. The Center for Youth and Families then
contacted the Gavin Foundation in something of a desperation
move, because it was apparent that the gym faced immediate
closure. After extensive discussion, Willie Ostiguy, the
Chairman of the Gavin Foundations’s Board, and John McGahan,
the Gavin’s President, agreed to administer selected formal
programs in the Walsh Gym. However, the popular drop-in
program would be cancelled, which amounts to a partial
closure of the gym. The closure issue is complicated by
plans to replace the Walsh Gym’s roof and floor. This
project remained in the City’s capital budget, even though
the Walsh’s operating personnel were released on June 30.
The question is one of the glass being half empty or half
full. The Gavin Foundation has taken on a facility that
would have otherwise been shut down. By itself, the Gavin
cannot keep the gym open as much as it used to be. We can
only suggest that volunteers from South Boston’s private
citizens step up to assist the Gavin Foundation in restoring
the Walsh Gym to what it was in the recent past. No one else
is going to do that for us.
South Boston Hit by Multiple Fires, with Arrest for Arson
An update had some fires of note
so far in July: An arrest for suspected arson has been made
in connection with the warehouse fire on D Street. Fire
broke out at 2:45 a.m., Thursday, July 8, in the abandoned
Gate of Heaven Convent on I and East Fifth Street. The fire
started in an area to the left of the chapel, and quickly
went to two alarms, because of the large size of the
building. There were no injuries suffered, but one of the
jakes was taken to the hospital to check out a sprain. He
was treated and released. Damage to the convent was
estimated at $100,000. Another two-alarm fire ripped through
Seafood Specialties on West First Street at 11:15 last
Monday morning. The adjacent Loi Seafood Incorporated was
heavily damaged by smoke and water. No one was injured, but
damages amounted to an estimated $250,000. The causes of
these two fires are still under investigation.
Police Demonstrate in South Boston
over Bonuses and Details
Saturday evening, July 10, well
over a thousand police officers from all over Massachusetts
assembled in a quarter-mile-long formation, led by the
pipers of the Boston Police Gaelic Column. They marched on
the National Governors Association gathering in Fort
Independence on Castle Island to protest state budget cuts
that had reduced Quinn Bill payments and permitted the use
of civilian flaggers on road projects. The protest was loud,
including blasts from vuvuzelas, the horn of choice at the
soccer World Cup matches, but otherwise, it was orderly.
South Boston Crime: Down, Except for
Breaking-and-Entering
During the last eight weeks, the
overall number of crimes reported in South Boston has
decreased, despite summer weather and continued joblessness.
However, there has been a disturbing uptick in commercial
breakings-and-enterings, which resulted in major thefts of
goods and money. This has been true all over the City, as
well as in South Boston. This trend is probably caused by a
very few individuals committing multiple crimes, which could
well be drug-related.
South Boston Candidates for
Representative Speak at Forum
A debate among South Boston’s
five candidates running for Brian Wallace’s Fourth Suffolk
State Representative seat took place last Monday evening in
the Condon School cafeteria. This was the first in a series
of debates leading up to the Primary Election on Tuesday,
September 14, to select the two candidates who’ll run in the
General Election on November 2. The candidates, in
alphabetical order, are Jake Bombard, Patrick Brennan, Nick
Collins, Mike McGee, and Mark McGonagle.
South Boston Community Calendar. . .
The final installment of the
Starry Nights Concerts presented by Bay Assisted Living
on their front lawn at 1380 Columbia Road takes place a week
from tonight, Thursday, July 29, at 6 p.m. Richie Bern will
sing a variety of his and your favorite tunes. You are
welcome to attend, but please - bring your own lawn chair.
National Night Out is a countrywide celebration of
urban neighborhoods. South Boston will celebrate its own
Neighborhood Night Out on Tuesday evening, August 3. The
locale will be our own Marine Park around the bandstand.
Look for the evening’s plans to follow soon. Please accept
this summer reminder. You may recall that a rooftop fire
erupted in an apartment building in Charlestown recently. It
was caused by propane-fueled grilles used illegally on the
building’s roof. Boston’s ordinances are very specific.
Propane grilles can only be used on ground level decks and
porches – no exceptions. Charcoal grilles may only be used
in your yard or driveway – no exceptions, either, including
inside your garage. Becoming homeless is too high a price to
pay for grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, no matter how good
they taste. It’s some way off, but please reserve Saturday,
September 18. That’s the date of the 11th annual Street
Festival, sponsored by the South Boston Chamber of
Commerce. It’s a gala event with non-stop entertainment on
two stages, which attracts upwards of 10,000 people.
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