At 11 a.m. today, Thursday, October 29, the land and building at Baker and Spring streets were scheduled to be sold at auction. Universal Hub reported the date on October 6. Paul E. Saperstein Co. of Holbrook was set to run the sale, and the winning bidder would have needed a $25,000 deposit.
The auction is off. Universal Hub followed up on October 9 to say it had been canceled. Tony's Place keeps its building and land and stays open. The auctioneer's listing now reads "Cancelled."
That empty slot on the calendar sets up the next six weeks. From now through December 5, most of what's happening in West Roxbury happens at places that have changed shape, picked up someone else's date, or nearly lost their own, and are still on the same corners. A library is turning 150. Its addition sits on land that came to it after a fire. A pizzeria owned by one family since 1969 is still making pizza. A citywide drop-off pushed out by a September storm has landed in a West Roxbury park, and the Holiday Market is set up in a bank parking lot and the auto shop next door.
Since 1969 at Baker and Spring
Universal Hub's background piece tells the story. Elio Imbornone, who came from Sicily and grew up in the North End, bought Tony's Place from his boss in 1969. Since then his family has made pizza and other Italian dishes there. The restaurant sits at the corner of Baker and Spring streets, on the Spring Street side of the neighborhood, away from the Centre Street business district.
In September and October, most of the dining news in West Roxbury was about storefronts getting new tenants. This fall's Tony's Place story went the other way. A date was set, and then it was dropped. The family that has run the restaurant for more than half a century still owns the building it runs in.
The Library That Grew Onto Its Neighbor's Lot
The West Roxbury Branch Library has been on the same block for a long time, and it has kept growing there. Per the Boston Public Library's history of the branch, it got to its current shape in four steps.
- 1876. The Boston Public Library took over the collection of the West Roxbury Free Library and opened the West Roxbury Delivery Station.
- 1896. The delivery station became a full branch.
- 1922. The branch moved to its current location at 1961 Centre Street.
- 1977 to 1989. A fire destroyed the West Roxbury Congregational Church next door, and the land was deeded to the library's trustees for an addition. The addition opened on September 24, 1989, with community rooms, a gallery and a reading garden.
The fourth step explains how the branch is used today. The library's 2013 facilities review listed the 1961 Centre Street building as opened in 1922 and renovated and expanded in 1989. It also recorded the West Roxbury Historical Society as housed there at the time. The community rooms built on the church lot hold the branch's gatherings, and that's where most of the library's fall calendar takes place.
November 16 Is the Anniversary Night
The Friends of the West Roxbury Branch Library are marking the 150th with their 4th Annual Meet, Greet, and Eat on Monday, November 16, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the branch. Remarks start at 6 p.m. The event listing describes it as free and open to the public. It promises food and drinks, time with other library regulars, some of the branch's history, and ways to get involved in future Friends events. Donations are optional.
The Friends are a volunteer 501(c)(3) that supports library programs, the building's spaces and gardens, and awareness of what the branch offers. That garden work traces back to the reading garden that opened with the 1989 addition.
Nine days earlier, on Saturday, November 7 at 2 p.m., the Friends are bringing Smack Dabs to the community room for a music performance.
November has a few holidays, so check the hours before you head over with returns or a laptop. The branch page lists these changes:
- Friday, November 6: closes early, at 4 p.m.
- Wednesday, November 11: closed all day
- Wednesday, November 25: special hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Thursday, November 26: closed all day
Regular hours run Monday through Saturday. The branch is closed on Sundays.
Millennium Park Picks Up a September Errand
Millennium Park is hosting an event that was first planned for another date. Boston's Zero Waste Day drop-off was first scheduled for September 26. According to the city's events listing, it was postponed and moved because of the nor'easter expected that day.
The new date is Saturday, November 21, from 8:30 a.m. to noon, at Millennium Park, 315 Gardner Street. It's free. The city describes it as a drop-off for household hazardous waste and certain waste ban items, for safe disposal. Anyone who missed the September drop-off has a second chance in their own neighborhood, five weeks before the holidays. Before you load the car, check the city's event details for the list of what's accepted.
The same city listing has another November stop close to home. Age Strong is holding a free Medicare Open Enrollment Clinic on Monday, November 30, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, 1 Morrell Street.
December 5 Happens in Two Parking Lots on Centre Street
The last big date before mid-December keeps the same pattern of borrowed space. West Roxbury Main Streets is holding its Holiday Market on Saturday, December 5, from 4 to 7 p.m. It takes over the parking lots of Rockland Trust at 1920 Centre Street and B & M Auto next door.
Main Streets lists the following:
- Local vendors and kids' activities
- Santa, plus a possible Grinch appearance
- Raffles with prizes donated by local businesses
- Seasonal music and hot chocolate
- Hive Mobile Bar, an Airstream serving beer, wine and cider, hosted at B & M Auto
- B & M Auto's Christmas tree lot, open that evening for trees, wreaths and greenery
The tree lot is the useful part. If the tree is already on your list, you can buy it during the market, from the same lot hosting the bar and the vendors, without making a separate trip later in the month. The market starts at 4 p.m. on a December Saturday, so by the end of the evening the two lots will be lit for the holiday instead of by daylight.
The Weeks Between, by Address
Put together, the calendar from now to early December covers three parts of the neighborhood and a handful of buildings.
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 7, 2 p.m. | Smack Dabs performance | Branch community room, 1961 Centre St. |
| Mon., Nov. 16, 5:30–7:30 p.m. | 150th anniversary Meet, Greet, and Eat | West Roxbury Branch Library, 1961 Centre St. |
| Sat., Nov. 21, 8:30 a.m.–noon | Zero Waste Day drop-off | Millennium Park, 315 Gardner St. |
| Mon., Nov. 30, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Medicare Open Enrollment Clinic | Elks Lodge, 1 Morrell St. |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 4–7 p.m. | WRMS Holiday Market | Rockland Trust, 1920 Centre St., and B & M Auto |
Two of the five dates are at the library, which is 150 years old and has occupied the church lot next door since 1989. A third was moved from September to Gardner Street. The last one fills a bank lot and an auto shop lot on Centre Street. And on Spring Street, the October 29 auction is off and Tony's Place is open under the same family that has run it since 1969.
At Muncey Group, we keep track of the corners that hold West Roxbury together, from a 1922 library building to a pizzeria at Baker and Spring. If you're thinking about staying in the neighborhood or moving to a different part of it, and you want to know what's within walking distance of each street, we'd be glad to talk it through. Schedule a Consultation, and bring your list of the places you'd want to keep close.
