Suffolk University - Beacon Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 51 text:

Donald J. Robbins Journalism Pia M. Romano Biology ' Education 9 ' THE BEACON Qfl by Clif Garboden c 1987, Primer Column r Originally published in The Boston Globe Magazine November 29, 1987 Reprinted by permission. Boomtown Boston New buildings spreading like crab grass Someone who last visited us in. say. the mid- ' 60s. when the shiny-new Prudential Tower was the only true sky- scraper in sight (standing out like a cheap appliance in architectural harmony only with the Magnavox facade of its neighbor, the old Hynes Auditorium), wouldn ' t recog- nize the place today Boston will never be the same Look fast, take pictures Our fa- bled low skyline, once dominated by. of all things, the State House dome, is already a memory We are no longer quaint, under- stated, or classy We are at last getting what we always secretly coveted — big buildings like New York ' s Charm is kaput Like Montreal or Edinburgh. Boston soon will be divided into an old and a new city — one for tourists and poor people and anti- quarian hobbyists, the other for business Old money kept things modest, new mon- ey built to the skies Of course, the low-rise city contour whose possing we lament was itself the result of a building spree When folks first settled Boston, it was a modest tract of what is now downtown real estate almost completely surrounded by water Several hills dominated the original skyline, chief among them Tnmountain. a trio of elevations each with two names — Mount Vernon or West HSI. Pemberton or Cotton, and Beacon or Sentry Pemberton and Mount Vernon were dwarfish adjuncts to Beacon, which towered roughly 150 feet above harbor level In 1634. settlers put up a signal-fire tower (or beacon — get it?) atop the tallest of the sibling mounds The beacon served the community through the Revolution but then fell to disuse And in 1789 rt fell to a windstorm Which was fine with future-thinkers of the day who ' d wanted to trash the eyesore anyway Gentleman architect and civic planner Charles Bulfinch (1763-1844). who later gave us the State House and much of the Bostonian architecture now cowering in the shadows of such monstrosities as International Place, designed and raised cash to erect a 60-foot Done column witn an eagle on top to replace the beacon It was a monument to the Revolution and bore the inscription. While from this eminence scenes of luxuriant fertility, of flourishing commerce, and the abodes of social happiness meet your view, forget not those who by their exertions have secured to you these blessings Not very catchy, but then, not many people bothered to struggle up Beacon Hill for a close look How Bulfinch must have gloated, confident that his column would forever overlook the mod- ern city he was helping to create Alas, nothing defeats progress like more progress By 181 1 the new Boston was overcrowded Developers wanted more land, and so they undertook the ambitious job of filling in Boston ' s wetlands Down came Mount Vernon and Pemberton Down came the top of Beacon Hill, its soil dumped into the Mill Pond that lay between what ' s now Haymarket Square and North Station And with it. down came Bulfinch ' s column His family objected He objected but was too preoccupied with temporary financial ruin resulting from the development of Franklin Place (between Milk and Summer streets) to do much about it. In 1898. a replica of his monument was set up behind the State House, where it blocks traffic to the day The replica was a nice gesture If we can ' t preserve the past in the face of headlong expansion, we can at least re-create it for old times ' sake Perhaps that same spirit will somedqy move some nostalgic builder to erect a replica beacon tower, complete with period-authentic smudge pot. on top of the ugliest skyscraper in town Just to keep us humble.

Page 50 text:

Charlene D. Rideout Steven W. Ridgway Jeanne M. Riley William T . Riley Government Economics Journalism Management Accounting Olga Rivera Management Barbara Rixon Management John F. Rizzo Accounting Michelle A. Roos History John D. Rorke Accounting Maria Gabriela Rosende Computer Science Rebecca E. Rowe Communications Andrea Jo Ryan Communications v A

Page 52 text:

Dario V. Sansevero Government Carla Santarpio Management Karen Sawan Education Eugene M. Schepici Accounting Brenda Sena Management . Dennis D. Shaw Elementary Education Dante Santone Biology Mark Schwartz Accounting Patrick W. Senfuma Accounting Salpi Elizabeth Sarafian Marketing Kevin A. Scully Criminal Justice Dorothy Marie Shea Management