Worcester Magazine Nov. 29 - Dec. 5, 2018

NOV. 29 - DEC. 5, 2018 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

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Worcester’s triple-deckers the ‘backbone’ of city’s housing

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the cover

Triple-deckers line Elm Street in Worcester Worcester’s triple-deckers the ‘backbone’ of city’s housing Story on page 11 Photo by Elizabeth Brooks, Design by Kimberly Vasseur

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news Expanded urban development plan sparks concerns about demolitions BILL SHANER

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s part of an expanded urban development plan to account for the Worcester Red Sox project in the Canal District, the Worcester Redevelopment Authority has identified 18 new buildings for demolition. But we don’t know which buildings – not yet.

Per a city spokesman, the new proposed urban development plan, technically called a “notice of project change and phase I waiver request,” does not include a list of buildings on the chopping block, as it has not yet been finalized. Instead, an amendment will be provided to the WRA board at a future meeting, possibly next Tuesday.

The designation doesn’t mean the buildings will come down anytime soon, but it does mean the WRA reserves the right to acquire and demolish the buildings if investment from the private sector does not bring it up to a certain level of use and rehabilitation. Similarly, dozens of buildings have been targeted for rehabilitation under the expansion.

Though the full list of 18 proposed demolitions has not been made public, four structures are listed in the report as historic resources that may be impacted: The Corner Lunch at 133 Lamartine St. is listed as “proposed for rehabilitation”; Residential buildings at 10 Lunelle St., 86 Lafayette St. and 10 Millbury St. have been identified as “proposed for demolition.” The Lunelle Street home is a single-family and the Lafayette and Millbury Street homes are triple-deckers.

Geographically, the expansion the WRA is requesting redraws the western and southern borders of the renewal area to include the west side of Green Street, Kelley Square and certain properties south of Lamartine Street. The original urban renewal plan, passed in 2016, encompasses the downtown area around city hall, stretching down to the Canal District down Madison Street, stopping short of Green Street.

At the City Council meeting Tuesday, councilors expressed concern about the plan – some for the neighborhoods around the ballpark, and others for the future of the ball-

Screenshot of the expanded renewal plan park itself. Councilor Candy Mero Carlson, in the latter camp, called for a public hearing on the proposed plan for the Dec. 18 council meeting.

Councilors Sarai Rivera and Khrystian King pressed the city manager to ensure the process is an open one that takes into consideration perspectives from surrounding residents.

“I, like Councilor Rivera, want to make sure the neighborhood’s voices are heard,” said King.

Citing legal action taken by the Save Notre

Dame Alliance, Councilor Konnie Lukes asked if the process of extending the urban renewal area leaves the city open to lawsuits that could hang the project up. Chief Development Officer Mike Traynor said the approval is critical to property acquisitions necessary to make the project work, but said he was unsure a lawsuit could hold approval.

For his part, City Manager Ed Augustus Jr. likened the expanded plan to the urban revitalization plan in the downtown, which targeted several dozen buildings for eminent domain if under-use continues. He pointed

to the downtown plan, saying none of the buildings targeted for demolition in that plan have come down.

“We have no plans to take any property other than properties that have been previously identified,” he said.

Instead, he said, the plan gives the city an opportunity to look at development opportunities in the future. There are seven properties immediately around the ballpark which have been identified for acquisition from the WRA.

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news

Traffic to pot shop causes woes in Leicester BILL SHANER

as far away as Quebec and Florida and a sizeable portion of what town officials called “cannabis hen Leicester Police tourists” – people coming down Chief James Hurley just to see what the fuss was opened his comments to the crowd at an emer- about.

After dealing with the long lines gency meeting this week to discuss traffic and parking problems at the and congested streets, Leicester residents, many of them visibly new pot shop in town, you could miffed, filled the Leicester Town see the words on his face.

“It’s been a busy week for us,” he Hall auditorium Tuesday night for an emergency meeting to address said. “We’ve seen a tremendous traffic and parking concerns at influx of traffic.

The small town of Leicester had Cultivate, the new pot shop along Route 9. been tasked with handling one The shop is one of just two to of two pot shops to open in the state with Cultivate. The store and open around the state, the first to open east of Colorado. The deanother in Northampton remain, mand has translated to hundreds nine days later (pending nothing happens after press time), the only of cars full of customers waiting hours to get into the store and an two pot shops in North America offshoot road of Route 9, on which this side of Colorado. According to the Cannabis Control Commis- many of the Leicester residents in attendance live, turned into an ad sion, the pair grossed $2.2 million hoc parking lot. in the first five days of operation.

The store opened Tuesday, Nov. Over the past week and a half, 20 and the line of customers comthe store has drawn visitors from

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ing in has been constant since.

Neighbors complained at the forum that getting in and out of their houses has been impossible.

Dawn Gauthier, a resident near the store, repeatedly described her experience since the shop has opened as “living in a fishbowl.”

After one particularly heated exchange between her and Police Chief James Hurley, in which she yelled from her chair about how the arrangement wasn’t fair to residents, she stormed out of the meeting. Though it was perhaps the most heated exchange, the room was tense for most of the two hour meeting.

Officials from both the town and the business said the demand has been unprecedented and hard to plan for. But they told attendees the inconvenience is temporary. As more stores open around the state — there’s expected to be several dozen more open by the end of the year — the demand will decrease.

Demand at Cultivate since it opened last Tuesday has caused traffic backups on Route 9 and long lines of cars on Old Main Street.

ELIZABETH BROOKS

One resident, Rick Niddrie, said the problem is the Cannabis Control Commission’s causing.

“Imagine if at the end of prohibi-

tion they opened two package stores in the state,” he said. “I think [the neighbors] have every reason

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to be upset.”

Cultivate owner Rob Lally took questions from the crowd, and said safety is a top priority for the company. He said they plan to expand a parking lot and search for other parking situations as well.

The traffic, he said, was exacerbated by the holiday traffic.

“We continue to work with the neighbors and the town to make this a safe environment,” he said.

In order to get into Cultivate, customers were put in a queue of cars on a road off Route 9 called Old Main Street. They wait on the L-shaped road to get into a parking lot at Breezy Garden Farms, where they are then shuttled over to the store by van.

Many residents living along Old Main Street, including the owner of Breezy Garden Farms, complained the customers were causing a ruckus while waiting in line.

Kim Miczek, resident and farm owner, said the shrubs outside her house have become a bathroom for people waiting in the sometimes hours-long lines.

“This is an issue for me,” she said.

Miczek was among several calling for more communication between Cultivate and its customers.

One speaker, Alyssa Mullins, asked the company employ a fast lane for people that know exactly what they want, and let them fill out their order ahead of time, similar to the way the popular brewery Treehouse does it in Charlton.

Responding to pleas for more social media communication, Cultivate officials complained their pages are removed or banned from social media because of the business they’re in.

But not every resident was angry with the company. Complaining about a business being too successful, said resident John Shocik, should not be the American way.

“This is what the town of Leicester needs and this is what the town of Leicester voted in,” he said. “I think these people should be applauded at least for trying to come here and make the best of a situation nobody expected.”

On the Talk of the Commonwealth radio program with Hank Stolz on 102.9 FM in Worcester Wednesday morning, Augustus stressed the city has no plans to take down any additional properties. He specifically said the Smokestack Urban Bar-B-Que building and the Burger King were not being considered for demoli-

Bill Shaner can be reached at 508767-9535 or at wshaner@worcestermag.com. Follow him on Twitter @ Bill_Shaner.

tion, though they fall within the expanded plan.

Per the report, the expansion consists of 33 properties on 21 acres, an 18-percent increase in terms of land mass. The Medstar ambulance garage, AMC Demolition Inc., Table Talk Pies, Smokestack Urban Barbeque, Burger King, the Gulf Station and several triple deckers are specifically named in the report.

Within the urban renewal plan

area, the WRA has the power to acquire properties via eminent domain to either rehabilitate or demolish.

The original urban renewal plan included three properties up for demolition. The new plan, along with the expanded boundaries, identifies 21.

The report is a draft, and needs to be approved by the state under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. It precedes an official

amendment to the document, which goes through an extended approval process, starting first with an introduction at the WRA meeting next week, and ending with City Council approval. The Council will have to hold at least one public hearing on the proposal before approving it.

Bill Shaner can be reached at 508-767-9535 or at wshaner@ worcestermag.com. Follow him on Twitter @Bill_Shaner.

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GUT CHECK: It was quite the testy meeting in Leicester earlier this week as neighbors of the new pot shop, Cultivate, lined up to air grievances about traffic, long lines and people walking up and down Route 9. As you read in my second news story this week, Cultivate was one of only two pot shops to open up in Massachusetts last Tuesday, leading to draw from around the east coast. Some took the likely temporary situation a little harder than others. Dawn Gauthier, a woman sitting in the third or fourth row, repeatedly spoke out of turn, shouting at the town officials that it was like “living in a fishbowl” over by the store. When the police chief told her she wasn’t exactly being helpful, she stormed out of the meeting, followed by an unidentified man, probably her husband. I was sitting next to MassLive reporter Jackie Tempera, who walked off after the pair to get some additional comment. When she got over there, I shit you not, I witnessed the guy shove her into the wall before he continued, without looking back, to storm out the door. When Tempera got back, I asked if what I saw was real and she confirmed, but she downplayed it – “I’m strong,” with a shrug. I gotta say, I was getting some real dirty looks from some people in the crowd and the environment was pretty uncomfortable. Leicester, I think, needs to think about why it’s so angry and take a deep breath. Maybe head down to Cultivate and pick up some gummies.

AND WE’RE OFF: It’s officially two weeks to the Dec. 11 vote on the split tax rate, and city councilors got a thick packet of assessments and valuations and numbers and all that Tuesday night. I got one too, but if we’re being honest I haven’t had the chance to go through it yet. So instead, I’ll focus on the personalities. Who would ever come to this column for tax analysis anyway? Though the councilors on Tuesday night didn’t talk much about the information, Councilor Konnie Lukes tipped her hand a little. She asked Chief Financial Officer Tom Zidelis how long they could possibly delay the vote without entirely messing up the process. What ensued was yet another cherished exchange between Lukes and Zidelis. Lukes asked Zidelis what the “drop dead” deadline to pass a rate. Zidelis said Dec. 11. Lukes asked what would happen if they pushed it to the Dec. 18, and Zidelis said it would put a lot of pressure on his office. Lukes countered with “We’ve done it before,” to which Zidelis replied, “Prior to you doing that, I had a full head of hair.” Ah, classic.

The kind of exchange that can only be produced by decades of simmering resentment. Worcester City Hall at its finest.

BAG BAN: I’m late on this, but I had an early deadline last week because of Thanksgiving and I still think this is germane enough a nugget of City Hall politickin’ to include in this here column. In short, the plastic bag ban might actually happen. You’d have to probably go back several Worcester Magazine news reporters to figure out when Konnie Lukes started putting this idea on the table, but this time, last week, a very weird coalition of councilors came around to support it. First one: Sarai Rivera, who argued the bag ban is a good idea for environmental reasons. Rivera going to bat for Lukes?

WTF? Second, George Russell hopped on the idea. Russell putting his name on something that might hurt small businesses? WTF? See, as Russell argued, so many other towns, including Shrewsbury, have passed a bag ban that it’s not putting Worcester businesses at a disadvantage anymore. The item ended up going to the city manager with backing from the whole Council, meaning there’s a chance we’re going to see a plastic bag ban actually get done here in Worcester. Cool.

Bill Shaner, reporter wshaner@worcestermag.com Twitter: @Bill_Shaner

news

the beat

Through the month of December, the Worcester Public Library will be accepting food in exchange for overdue book fees. The Food for Fines program

offers patrons the ability to both clear their late fees and contribute food to the Worcester County Food Bank. Starting Thursday, Dec. 1, recommended donations include cereal, rice, beans, soup, stew, chili, dry and canned pasta, macaroni and cheese, canned fruits and vegetables, canned tuna and chicken, and peanut butter and jelly.

The Red Sox will bring World Series trophies to the Worcester City Common Friday as part of the Festival of Lights celebration Friday.

Visitors can take pictures with the trophies before 4:30 p.m. when the festivities start. Festivities include performances by Brynn Elliot and Worcester Public Schools students, as well as activities like horsedrawn carriage rides and free ice skating.

The Worcester Regional Research Bureau is recommending the city implement stricter penalties for illegal trash dumping and offer free trash drop-off to help mitigate the city’s issues with litter.

The bureau also recommended that the city move from recycling bins to clear plastic bags to help keep recycled litter from blowing around streets on trash day. For what it’s worth, the report also noted that up until 1932, the city’s trash disposal system consisted of 8,000 pigs, which ate 10 tons of trash per day.

The Department of Public Works plans

The Worcester City Council last week voted in a Business Improve-

ment District in the downtown area immediately surrounding city hall.

The BID is comprised of about 140 businesses, which will each pay a fee equal to 3 percent of property taxes to pool into a roughly million-dollar fund for trash collection, beautification projects and marketing, among other things.

The Citizen Wine Bar, along with Still &

Good Chemistry, the Worcester medicinal marijuana dispensary,

got provisional approval from the state to begin selling recreational cannabis. But the business still has to clear a few bureacratic hurdles, including a license from the city and an inspection from the Cannabis Control Commission, before it gets the go-ahead to sell pot. The business is meeting with the License Commission this morning to apply for a retail marijuana license from the city.

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Stirand People’s Kitchen will close after New Years Eve. The Niche Hospitality Group announced the closure at the 1 Exchange St. location shortly after news the building was sold to another owner, Exchange Waldo, LLC.

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to invest $1.8 million in sidewalk repairs and Americans with Disability Act improvements this fiscal year, per a memo submitted to the City Council this week. The investment will target sidewalks in busy areas and near schools and churches.

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opinion editorial

Lower speed limit not answer in Worcester

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nless you don’t drive — or you drive with your head buried in text messages — you’ve noticed a growing problem in Worcester. No matter where you’re heading in the city during the day, you can bet on encountering a traffic jam at some point almost like clockwork. Yet, to hear some city councilors tell it, would-be Dale Jarretts are sinking the pedal to the metal and treating local roads like their own personal race tracks.

That’s not to say there isn’t speeding in places around Worcester. There is. But that is not the number one problem on Worcester’s roads. Trucks on streets they shouldn’t be on because GPS told them to “turn here.” Drivers who apparently don’t get that your supposed to stop for a school bus when the red lights are flashing. Or the ones who think the police cruiser or ambulance behind them is flashing its lights just for fun. Construction projects that shut down multiple roads for no apparent reason. Traffic signals that operate with no rhyme or reason. Faded crosswalks you can barely see in the daylight.

This isn’t an attack on any person or department, it’s fact.

If city councilors want to fix

72 Shrewsbury St. Worcester, MA 01604 worcestermag.com Editorial 508.767.9527 editor@worcestermag.com Sales 508.767.9530 sales@worcestermag.com President Paul M. Provost Publisher Kathleen Real-Benoit Editor Walter Bird Jr.

real problems on our roads, there are plenty of areas to start with other than the speed limit. The city’s default speed limit of 30 miles per hour is fine. You want to know what encourages folks to speed?

Mistimed traffic signals that have motorists racing from one green light to make the next before it turns red.

Or how about addressing the cluster muck of a problem at areas like Lincoln Square at rush hour, when folks coming off Salisbury are trying to find their way into the right lane at the foot of Lincoln Street to get onto I-290 east? All while ignoring the folks traveling north on Lincoln from downtown. Oh, and those drivers are ignoring the ones trying to cut over from Belmont onto Lincoln.

Or distracted drivers. Perhaps the biggest safety threat on our roads right now are drivers whose attention is everywhere but on the road in front of them or the vehicles around them.

The Police Department’s Traffic Division has been back in place since late last year, but they can do only so much with a finite budget. To the naked eye, there appear to be fewer speed traps, but some areas have mobile radar speed signs.

These make sense, and while

there is a cost to them, it would seem cheaper than paying for police to man stretches of roads around the city. Some studies show speed reductions of 10-20 percent when such signs are in use. Other studies show as little as a 1 mile-perhour reduction in speed when the speed limit is lowered.

Worcester would not be alone in lowering its speed limit. Boston has reduced its to

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feature Worcester’s triple-deckers the ‘backbone’ of city’s housing

STEPHANIE JARVIS CAMPBELL

sure they’re well maintained,” he said.

At one point in the city’s history, rom the views of the highways according to Petty, more than 50 and all along the side streets, percent of the population lived the distinct clapboard and in triple-deckers. Today, about 50 shingled triple-deckers of percent of available housing is still Worcester are prominent in the the three-decker. Total housing city’s landscape. Rich in stories in Worcester is 68,613 units, and of family ties, neighborly connections and friendship, the buildings of that, 38,083 are rental units, with only a 1.8-percent city-wide have weathered changes in the vacancy rate, according to the city’s economics, demographics mayor’s office. and more. And although not all “For three generations,” Petty are historical by designation, these said, “the triple-decker has been three-story houses are, indeed, the backbone of housing stock.” important to Worcester’s history That’s just one of the reasons and serve as a bridge from the past he would like to see the buildto the present and future. ings renovated and maintained.

Many a meal has been shared Among his goals are ensuring among residents of the triplethe triple-deckers are energydeckers; many a friendship forged among the neighbors on the street. efficient, making funds available Some are still inhabited by original for reinvestment, beautifying the owners’ families, while others have neighborhoods and seeing that the become more roommate-centered. buildings are owner-occupied.

“When you have owner-occuMany have been updated through pied, you have stronger neighborthe years, and while approximately 40 are listed on the National hoods,” said Petty, whose grandfather came from Ireland and owned Register of Historic Places, others a three-story on Hitchcock Road in are in dire need of repairs due to Worcester. decades of neglect. But with more than 4,900 triple-deckers in the city (based on fiscal year 2018 numbers), think of what Worcester would look like without these buildings.

“In many cases, the triple-decker istorically, Worcester’s has been standing for more than three-deckers were owner100 years,” said Mayor Joseph Petty, occupied, allowing for income who talked about the importance of from the other rented floors. revitalizing these iconic buildings in The triple-deckers were built durhis inaugural address after being reing the last quarter of the 19th elected in 2017. “We want to invest century and first quarter of the it them to make sure they’re around 20th, within walking distance of for another 100 years.” the city’s industrial factories and Even the youngest of the triplemanufacturing shops. In her 1977 deckers, the ones built around book, “Worcester’s Three-Deckers,” 1920, are approaching 100 years published for the Worcester Bicenold. And as the city experiences a revitalization in its downtown area, tennial Commission, Marilyn Spear wrote that the first such residence as well as in the Canal District, Petty wants to see attention turned had been credited to Newark, N.J., in 1855, but that the triple’s “true to the triple-deckers as well.

“We want to invest in the multi- home has been New England, especially Massachusetts and Rhode family neighborhood and make Island.”

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discovered those who lived on what he called Chandler and Vernon Hill were often wire-workers at Washburn and Moen North Works; in South Worcester, machinists at Knowles Loom Works, later Crompton and Knowles; on Union

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er: A Study in the Perception of Form.” Barnett talked about six different models of tripledeckers, including the straightline economy version, which has front porches that are part of the rectangle forming the building, and the ones with protruding bays rounding off the edges of the façade.

Other versions have columned porches, tower-like bays and peaked roofs.

Spear also referenced a 1965 thesis by Roger A. Roberge, “The Three-decker: Structural Correlate of Worcester’s Industrial Revolution,” for which he studied street directories to collect the names, addresses and occupations of 5,000 city residents who lived in tripledeckers from 1870 on. Roberge

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Mayor Joseph Petty on King Philip Road in Worcester

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PART OF HISTORY

In Worcester, the first triple-decker construction was either on Endicott Street or John Street, possibly in the 1850s, she wrote, adding, “The Norcross Brothers, who built some of the oldest three-deckers, did not begin operations in Worcester until 1869, moving here from Salem. Larz M. Petterson, who built the house at 23 Elizabeth Street in 1886, recorded three-deckers on Hooper Street as being somewhat older at the time. The street directory for 1886, the first such publication, indicated three-deckers on both Endicott and John Streets. Alicide Chevalier, arriving in the city at the age of nineteen, found the trend for building three-deckers well established. He began working as a carpenter and later was the contractor for dozens of threedeckers.”

Spear pointed to research by Dr. Peter M. Barnett, an art historian faculty member at Clark University who studied the architecture of Worcester’s three-deckers, and published his findings in a 1975 paper, “The Worcester Three-deck-

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Hill, leatherworkers at Graton & Knight; and on West Boylston Street and Greendale, Norton Co. employees. Owner-occupied rates were high in these areas as well, Roberge had found, with Chandler Hill at 100 percent, Vernon Hill at 92 percent and South Worcester at 75 percent, and usually more than one family member working.

Increased immigration was another contributing factor to the rise of three-deckers, leading to a demand for more housing. The Swedish, French Canadian, English Canadian, Irish, Polish and Lithuanian populations all increased dramatically in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and as a result, the three-decker “structure was chosen, not because of cultural expression of varied homelands, but

because it met the residence needs common to all groups arriving in Worcester in that era,” Spear wrote.

From 1890-1900, a total of 2,325 three-deckers were built; hundreds more followed in the years after.

In 1912, these apartment buildings were selling for $5,000, and lots cost 10 cents a foot, according to Spear’s book. (These days, the average three-decker is assessed at $226,891, according to the assessor’s office.) But by the 1920s, automobiles made land more accessible, meaning employees didn’t need to live close to work for walking purposes, and inflation hiked construction costs while rents increased. Triple-deckers became less desirable and economical to construct and own, and the last building permit issued, Spear

wrote, was in 1932.

Attempts have been made in previous years to renovate some of the city’s triple-deckers. In the late 1960s, Spears noted, a group known as Massachusetts Individuals Concerned About Housing embarked on a rehabilitation project in the Elm Park and Crystal Park areas with assistance from the Worcester Redevelopment Authority. Then, in 1974, the Vernon Hill area was chosen to partake in a program put together by city officials, the Worcester Area Chamber of Commerce and any interested three-decker owners. It was estimated that approximately 100 triple-deckers were brought up to code through loans provided by 10 local banks.

Today — with the triple-deckers still prominent in the city, but most more than a century old — Worcester officials are looking at ways to help homeowners renovate their buildings. Petty said city officials are currently gathering data on the triple-deckers and are eyeing the Housing Bond Bill that Gov. Charlie Baker signed in May. The bill authorizes the capitalization of Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which would allot no more than $50 million to be authorized to “rehabilitate” single- to four-unit housing, including triple-deckers, in gateway cities. The revolving loan funds would be determined by the Department of Housing and Community Development and would specifically target properties that have been cited for building or sanitary code violations, according to the bill.

Because the city’s three-deckers are old, many of them have lead paint and other severe code violations; inefficient boilers, roofs and windows; and a single heating source, like a parlor stove or gason-gas stoves that don’t adequately heat the apartments, thereby causing high utility bills. Many of the

buildings have succumbed to rot, mold and mildew, and also are in violation of fire safety codes.

“They were built with balloon frame,” said Worcester Building Commission John Kelly. “If you built one today, you would have to fire-block each level, from the first floor to the second to the third to the top. When they built them, they didn’t have fire blocking. Fire could go in the walls; it could right up to the top.”

A triple-decker built in today’s world would require fire-rated sheetrock in between each floor, said Kelly, adding, “There are ways, and it’s being done – gut a whole three-decker and modernize … and it would be a lot safer.”

BUILDING WHERE THEY LIVE

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ne such company is doing exact that. Worcester-based Sustainable Comfort Inc., in collaboration with WalkerThomas, a brokerage and property management company, and architecture firm Civico, has purchased and completely renovated several triple-deckers in Worcester – and has plans for more in the city. Their work has created shared housing, helps preserve neighborhoods and upgrades run-down buildings in what they call the Stanton Loop, a cluster of buildings on that street, Alga Avenue, Adolph Street and Vinson Street. They currently have 10 triple-deckers, two of which are currently in renovation stages.

The partners — Albert LaValley, president of Sustainable Comfort, Taylor Bearden, CEO of WalkerThomas, and architect Andrew Consigli of Civico Development — met through mutual friends and formed a collaboration that resulted in buying their first building, at 44 Gage St., in January 2017.

“That was originally where we were thinking we’d concentrate, and then we found Stanton Street,” Bearden said.

Bearden, who grew up in Alaska and came to Worcester as an undergraduate student at Clark University, quickly came to appreciate and love the city’s three-deckers.

“I didn’t have that tangible sense of history. Where I lived, most of it was built in the ’70s postAlaska Pipeline,” he recalled. But, in Worcester, he realized, “everyone’s ordinary home was a piece of history. I started to realize how much history was in these neighborhoods.”

Likewise, LaValley found himself in Worcester as an undergraduate student at WPI. Although he grew up in the western part of the state, he said, “My town had 2,000 people and 3,000 cows.” But, he said, “Worcester was kind of starting to have a resurgence at that time. The city still felt a little rough, which was a shock for someone growing up in the sticks.”

He, too, found himself becoming fond of the city, even buying a house in Worcester when he was still in college. When the Connecticut-based company for which he worked decided to move operations to Indiana, LaValley and his team bought a piece of the business, which would become Sustainable Comfort.

After purchasing and renovating that first three-decker on Gage Street, the partners continued their efforts to create sustainable housing for the city. As graduates, they knew having affordable, quality housing was — and is — key to keeping students in the city.

“It’s rare for people to actually stay in Worcester after they complete their degree,” LaValley said.

“There isn’t a ton of housing for recent graduates with entry-level salaries who don’t have a family but still need a way to split costs.

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Joseph Volpe, standing in the kitchen of his tripledecker, which features the original wainscoting.

Volpe resides on Stanton Street, and is a lifelong resident of triple-deckers in Worcester.

ELIZABETH BROOKS

Worcester needs to compete for young people if it wants to continue to grow. As the city works to entice more graduates to stay, the demand for affordable, shared housing will only increase.”

Upgrades in their buildings are expected to save tenants an average of $800 in reduced utility bills. At 24 and 30 Stanton St., for example, the apartments have lowflow water fixtures; high-efficiency heating, cooling and domestic hot water equipment; new windows; air sealing; low-VOC products; better ventilation and insulation, as many of the triple-deckers were never insulated when built. Some of the spaces have been reconfigured as well, such as turning the kitchen into working eat-in kitchens, as many triple-deckers do not have countertops; transforming the wet pantries into a

second bathroom; and creating additional bedrooms. Because most of the people who rent Sustainable Comfort’s buildings are unrelated, having more bedrooms and bathrooms is useful, according

to Bearden. And even though their apartments are shared by roommates and not family members, “It still feels like a neighborhood, which I love about triple-deckers,” Bearden said.

With each building comes an opportunity to try something new: In one Stanton Street apartment, they created a private back porch for the first floor; another has, instead of baseboard heaters, a European-style radiator, which is more expensive and harder to install, but is streamlined and becomes “more of a feature piece,” Bearden said. In another one of their buildings, he added, they installed coin-operated laundry in the basement, and they are going to test an open-concept floor plan in another apartment.

Whatever changes they make, however, the partners try to preserve what they can.

“We don’t want to substantially change the character of the buildings,” Bearden said. “We preserve as much hardwood as possible.

It’s beautifully old and perfectly functionable.”

LaValley added, “Part of any renovation requires taking the building apart. Our carpenters witnessed the work that someone in their position had done 100 years ago and have developed tremendous respect for the care

and craftmanship that went into it. We wanted to acknowledge this and maintain some of the charter of the building and the details. We took a lot of time to restore the pass-through and double-sided cabinets in the kitchen, as well as reused many of the beautiful pine clapboards we stripped from outside structures.”

But for every piece of beauty, they encounter the opposite when gutting and renovating. All of their buildings are either triple-deckers that have had what Bearden described as “layers of bad decisions” from absentee or multiple landlords over time, or those that have “loveable artistic decay when you leave it in its original state, but time takes its toll. It’s much easier to work with something that’s just decayed.”

“We’ve walked into a kitchen where there was a 4-inch layer of stratified floor,” he added. “There was a carpet sandwiched in there.

You just never know … We’ve seen it all, from the most decrepit buildings.”

It begs the question: Why even renovate, rather than tearing a

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Taylor Bearden walks through the process of a triple-decker renovation.

ELIZABETH BROOKS

three-decker down and starting anew? The partners have found it’s actually less expensive to renovate an existing building, even one that has been completely gutted.

“We look to acquire and renovate a property around $150,000 a unit. For a triple-decker, that would be about $450,000,” LaValley said.

Beyond that is the sheer historical factor.

“They’re hugely important to the city of Worcester,” LaValley pointed out. “They’re fantastic old build-

ings. They’re a huge housing stock in the city.”

And, Bearden said, “In the end, you create a project that’s really satisfying. The fact that everything is rented beforehand is really telling to us.”

The downside is that when the company acquires a property, any existing tenants are displaced, although they are offered relocation assistance and the ability to reapply to rent once the construction is complete.

“We have to be particularly sensitive because we’re dealing with people’s lives,” Bearden said.

Additionally, these tripledeckers are not owner-occupied, as Petty would like to see. But, said LaValley, because he and Bearden live in the city, “I think that’s one of the ways we’re different from other companies. We like these buildings. We like these neighborhoods.

We like living where we’re working.”

He added, “We’ve always wanted to take some of our knowledge and put it to work where we actually live.”

Their hope is, by contributing to the uniqueness of the triple-deckers, they help the neighborhoods thrive.

“Preserving that quality of life,” Bearden said, “is paramount.”

Petty agreed, saying the tripledeckers “bring people closer together” and lead to good economic development for the city.

“We’re pretty proud of our tripledeckers,” he said, adding, “The city has good character because of it.”

‘THESE ARE MY ROOTS’

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J

oseph Volpe has spent his life living in a triple-decker, the last 64 years on Stanton Street.

He lived on DeMarco Terrace off Shrewsbury Street until he was 10, when his parents bought the Stanton three-decker in 1953 for $12,000. His father, who worked as a hoisting engineer, came from Italy when he was 19, and his mother was also Italian.

“The best thing for them to do at the time was to buy a home and have the income from the second and third floors,” said Volpe, who recalled they were the first Italian family in a predominantly-Swedish neighborhood when they moved to Stanton.

Volpe and his wife Mary now own the triple-decker, and they live on the second floor, where they moved after they married. The first and third floors have always been occupied by other family members.

Although their own three kids — Joseph, Dianne and Jon — never stayed in the neighborhood, they still see childhood buddies from their triple-decker days.

“They built friendships to last for a lifetime,” Volpe said.

Through the years, the Volpes have seen many changes. Gone are the days of the fish deliveries

feature on Fridays, World War II ration stamps and extremely tight-knit neighborhoods. Next-door neighborhood kids used to yell out their bedroom windows to talk to each other, food and pastries were always shared, and families could always rely on the other grownups who lived on the street to be babysitters if needed.

“It was a different time,” Volpe recalled. “There weren’t many cars. The neighborhoods were full of kids.”

Even though the neighborhoods aren’t as tight-knit as they used to be, “It’s still there to a degree,” Mary said.

Volpe told a story of how, one year, a neighborhood girl was selling Yankee Candle products for a school fundraiser. He and his wife bought several candles from her and then gave her $25 as a gift for herself. The girl, in turn, spent the money on a present from the catalog for Mary and brought it to her with the rest of their order.

Even the Sustainable Comfort workers “were like neighbors for a year and a half,” while they were renovating the nearby apartment

buildings, helping to shovel snow or bring up groceries, Volpe said.

Since taking ownership of the house, the Volpes have spent approximately $125,000 on renovations including a new roof, siding, furnace and electrical and circuit breaker upgrades. Much is still original: the wainscoting throughout, the radiators and the pantry.

“We wanted to keep the original architecture,” Volpe said.

They have never felt the need to move from their triple-decker to a single-family home or even out of the city, they said.

“I just wouldn’t feel comfortable. I feel comfortable where I am,” Volpe said. “These are my roots. Worcester is my roots. I feel very happy where I am. If I had the Taj Mahal, it wouldn’t make a difference.

“It was very much the same off Shrewsbury Street on DeMarco Terrace. It was family and family and family. What I experienced here was even more so off Shrewsbury Street. We all grew up in the same kind of environment. It was a memorable time for me. I’m a three-decker kid.”

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Likewise, Stephen DiRado, prominent photographer and professor of practice in the Clark University Department of Visual and Performing Arts, has lived in his three-decker on Gage Street and has never wanted to move. Much like a triple-decker neighborhood is community-based, DiRado has brought some of that atmosphere inside his home.

“It’s about community. The triple-decker is classic for that,” he said, adding, “The triple-decker really fits into my lifestyle. It’s part of the whole idea of community and how I live.”

In 1985, DiRado was an art school graduate with an “unknown destiny,” he said. He and his wife Donna were renting in Marlboro when his mother told him a cousin was selling a triple-decker in Worcester.

“We were invited right into this apartment,” he recalled, sitting at his kitchen table on the first floor.

“I fell in love with it.”

Their three-decker can be traced back to 1888, when its first tenants

“I don’t play the lottery, but if I did and won, I’d just buy a bigger tripledecker,” Stephen DiRado (left), who owns a threedecker in Worcester.

ELIZABETH BROOKS

were recorded in the Worcester city directories. That year, the building had seven inhabitants, among them a laborer, machinist, cabinetmaker, marble cutter and shoemaker.

The DiRados bought the building for $65,000 with a clause that they couldn’t evict any of the tenants living there at the time. But he

loved the property so much there was no question in his mind about buying it. “ As an artist — this is key — with an uncertain future as an artist, we could always rely on the rent,” he said. “We could always have a roof over our heads in times of crisis.

Fortunately, that never happened.”

By 1986, DiRado and Donna

were able to move into the first floor, and eventually, as tenants left through the years, the couple took over the upper apartments as well. They have living space on the first and second floors, and DiRado also has spaces for his darkroom and extensive collection of professional photography work.

“I’ve always wanted to own a

warehouse, but it’s not practical.

So this is like a mini-warehouse,” he said of his triple-decker.

Some of the upper-floor rooms are used for workshops, gathering spaces, movie screenings and boarders, largely for adjunct faculty at Clark and other professional artists, some of whom stay just while they are in town and others who plan to eventually move to the city – all contributing to what DiRado called “a floating community.”

“There’s always people here. It’s a huge art community here,” he said. “I love living here. I like how it’s centrally located right from downtown Worcester. As a documentarian artist, there’s a lot of color here. I wanted to live where the stories are.”

“I don’t play the lottery,” DiRado quipped, “but if I did and won, I’d just buy a bigger triple-decker.”

COURTESY OF HEATHER GUERTIN

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culture COURTESY OF HEATHER GUERTIN

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Painter Heather Guertin blends clarity, environment

JOSHUA LYFORD

H

eather Guertin was born and raised in Central Massachusetts, later leaving the heart of the Commonwealth for Brooklyn, N.Y. These days, she lives upstate, but with her solo exhibition “Two Thousand Eighteen” which wraps up Sunday, Dec. 9 at Brennan & Griffin in New York, Guertin shows that environment and clarity can play a clear role in her work wherever she calls home.

“We bought a house and a property with a barn,” said Guertin, on her move to Red Hook with fellow artist and husband Zak Prekop. Both of them use the barn as their primary studio space.

“It’s been nice. It’s been one year, it’s great,” she said. “This past year, that’s where I worked on these paintings. I made those all in the barn. That was a change for me from working in Brooklyn, in a studio in Greenpoint, 500 square feet, no windows. I moved into about 800 square feet with lots of windows and views of the countryside.”

While the change in environment would certainly affect her artistic input, its results would not be so immediately clear.

“When you look at the work, that seems apparent,” she said.

“But as I’m working on the project, it wasn’t in the forefront of my mind that was happening. I went to Italy before we moved, I did a residency in Northern Italy. That was the point I decided to change

my work. That was the point I decided to use my environment as the source material for what I was painting. I decided to use the upstate environment in my new works. It was very easy to use. Italy as an environment, it’s more difficult to use a small town in the United States. It was less interesting at first, but then I realized I can take wherever I am as my source material.”

Long before the Wachusett graduate would find herself in New York City, she attended UMass-Dartmouth, where she found a wellspring of inspiration between home turf in the shadow of Wachusett Mountain and the long drive to Southeastern Massachusetts.

“In Central Massachusetts, I was connected to Mount Wachusett a lot,” she explained. “In some of my early works, I was putting a figure within a landscape. I feel like I was really connected to the idea of the figure in the natural landscape, in relation to access to that beautiful mountain. I had a Volvo station wagon and I was always painting in that car, driving around. The drive back and forth from my parents house in Holden on [Route] 146 to school in my Volvo was a really memorable experience. It was the first time I was really alone and everything was my responsibility.”

Guertin’s art is bold.

While her paintings hold a playful whimsy, each stroke is deliberate, a point that the artist hopes viewers can appreciate.

Said Guertin: “I think for these paintings, I hope that they look at the painting, and I imagine them looking at the brushstrokes kind of touching each other and the different ways that the brush strokes interact, and have fun looking at how each mark I made was a thought and a different gesture. I hope they have fun looking at them.”

While her paintings inspire others, the artist isn’t bereft of benefit from creating her work.

“I hope i can keep doing it, I love it,” she said. “My brain is happiest when it’s thinking.

It’s cheesy. I’m happiest when I’m painting. I really am. If I get the opportunity to do this again then I am happy. For people to see what I see is amazing.”

culture Keeping it local: stART at the Station returns FILE PHOTOS/ELIZABETH BROOKS

JOSHUA LYFORD

S

N O V. 29 - D E C . 5, 2018 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

ince 2002, stART on the Street has brought thousands to Park Ave. in Worcester for the annual celebration of local arts, artists, crafters, makers, entertainers and more. More recently, the stART team has brought a winter iteration to Union Station with stART at the Station.

On Sunday, Dec. 2, stART at the Station is set to return with its focus on local, handmade goods.

“We make everyone take a handmade pledge,” said organizer Tina Zlody. “You have to say it’s handmade. It really is a matter of support your local businesses, support local artists, buy handmade. Not everything has to come from Amazon. It plays into what we do with stART [on the Street], which is an all handmade festival. It’s supporting your local economy.”

The Union Station Grand Hall will host more than 100 artists and crafters, with even more individuals set up in the building’s concourse. In keeping with the stART ethos, wares range from fine jewelry, to pottery, textiles, cards, ornaments and everything in between.

“We work very hard toward diversity and making sure we have something like cool $1 buttons to expensive cutting boards,” explained Zlody. “We only have a percentage of things; photography, fine art, jewelry.”

The idea of diversity extends beyond the artists, crafters and their wares. Behind stART is an engine pushing what is possible for attendees and what is going on locally. “stART on the street is all about exploration,” said Zlody. “If you think about how it’s laid out, you explore how things are made, nonprofits, you explore hands on works by the Worcester Center for Crafts, things at the Ecotarium. It’s about arts and crafts and exploring performances.

You’ve got people juggling fire, little kids building blocks and knocking them down. There’s art out all over the street, it’s just amazing. It’s exploring arts and craft. What do I like?

What don’t I like?”

The hope is, while local makers can be supported through sales of

their work, visitors can also get a view of their own crafting possibilities.

“I feel like we give people an opportunity,” said Zlody. “You get to try throw some clay at a potter’s wheel, or make a necklace, make an earring, work with metal. Maybe you thought you couldn’t do that [and will] take a lesson. We provide insight and opportunity to express themselves with things they didn’t know they could do. Does that give people inspiration? I think so.”

Planning for stART on the Street takes an entire year, while stART at the Station planning begins in August. Applications are received and vendors are juried by the stART team. This year, new elements will join stART favorites, like the Clark University choral group singing in the rotunda. Additionally, there will be musical performances in the former home of Byblos Lounge as well as entertainment and demonstrations.

Aisles between vendors have been widened this year, to offer more space for attendees, as well.

The event is free to the public, though donations for Veterans Inc. are encouraged, and will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 9-11 a.m. slot is reserved for those willing to pay a bit more for a different experience. For $10, or $5 with a physical donation to Veterans Inc., shoppers get coffee, a tote and light lines to enjoy. A full wish list is available at Startonthestreet.org.

For Zlody and the rest of the stART team, the event takes a lot of time, effort and planning, but the payoff is an enriching experience that cultivates a crafty, more beautiful—and locally focused—Worcester.

“I make Worcester, the place where I live, hopefully a better, more interesting place to live,” said Zlody.

“It really is blood, sweat and tears and it’s all for Worcester and the residents of Worcester. We changed Worcester for the better. We’ve hopefully inspired people to do things of their own. People can see that we did it, so they can do it, but ultimately it’s to make Worcester a groovier place to live than it already is. We do it for Worcester and the people of Worcester.”

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culture Lyford Files JOSHUA LYFORD

MY GOODNESS, MY GUINNESS: I was lucky enough to have spent four full days out of the office last week and boy, was it nice.

If you caught my column, then you know how my annual Thanksgiving events tend to go and I was spot on, save for one thing, so, for the first time in my career, I must issue a retraction and an apology. I stated that my family in New Hampshire had Guinness on tap, a memory I must have created out of a raw desire for that specific beverage. There is no tap, in fact, and it was merely a coincidence (allegedly) that there happened to be Guinness (cans) in the house at all. This time around, Samuel Adams was on hand, instead.

My apologies to everyone involved, including you, dear reader, for having to read a very real — very printed — item in a newspaper apologizing for misrepresenting my family’s in-house draft beer status. We’re just regular can people.

NO NEW NEWS: Yet, at least. I could

have easily kept this all as one item, but I feel like splitting it into two will trick the people that just flick past this page into thinking I know what I am doing. To that end, following my very not stout family event, I was off to the great white north of Canada. I was lucky enough to hang out in Montreal for a few days and caught the Boston Bruins play against the dreaded Montreal Canadiens. It was awesome, there was an appropriate amount of chirping (I love getting heckled out of state. I need the abuse.), I had vegetarian poutine and we all discovered something called a James Franco shot (Jameson and Frangelico). It was an awesome time and I even bought some new wool socks. Socks, I presume, that will be infinitely warmer than my other wool socks, because Canadian sheep get colder, thus yielding better wool. Don’t Google that.

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YOU GOTTA stART SOMEWHERE: We’ve got a whole

article on stART at the Station a few pages back, so I will keep this brief. I had to miss the event last year, which was a shame, because the year before I became something that I am almost never (not in-proper, anyway), a total consumer. I rolled in there with a stack of cash ($40) and had a plan: spend it all. Which I did, and then some. Particularly, I had some coffee and drinks at Union Station’s now-defunct interior bar. I also bought a gift, it was a taxidermied mouse wearing a top hat and coat. That taxidermied mouse really stuck with me and I can only imagine what I could find this go-round.

LAST CALL: Well, last chance. Presale tickets are all sold out for the A Wilhelm Scream, No Trigger, Smartbomb, Save Ends and Foxfires show at Ralph’s Diner Thursday, Dec. 6. But that doesn’t mean you’re completely out of luck. There will be a limited number of tickets on sale at the door. If none of those names mean anything to you, then this item will probably have you quite perplexed. If it does, then get there early and hammer a coupla Genesees.

IT’S TUESDAYS WITH JOSH NOW: I mean, techni-

cally. “Tuesdays with Tom” Matthews shares his Tuesdays from 1-2 p.m. with me, on Unity Radio 102.9 FM and streaming at worcestermag.com (and also available on some podcast apps).

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to local Worcester Railers defenseman Connor Doherty and assistant coach Derek Army, who were absolutely hilarious while calling in from just outside Toronto. Who has the best and worst flow on the team? What would players write in a suggestion box for coach? What fancy ass beer would Dots Joshua Lyford die drinking on a desert Culture editor island? It’s all in there, bud. @Joshachusetts

culture Lifestyle SARAH CONNELL

It’s Always November

Just because the month of November is over doesn’t mean November Project is going anywhere. The free fitness November Project meets yeartribe meets on Wednesday mornings, year-round, at 5:30 round on Wednesday mornings, a.m. and 6:20 a.m. Right now, at 5:30 a.m. and 6:20 a.m., in workouts commence at Holy the name of free fitness.

Cross, but in mid-December KRISTEN LIBERTY the group will relocate to the Worcester Common. Want to get in shape? Just show up. It’s that simple and it’s free.

That Citizen’s Ship Has Sailed

The Citizen Wine Bar’s last hurrah will take place on New Year’s Eve. The restaurant opened more than 10 years ago in May of 2008 followed by the addition of an upstairs dining room in 2010, and the evolution of a craft cocktail bar in 2012. The Citizen’s future came into question when BradyMac Capital Advisory purchased the property earlier this year. A statement released by Niche Hospitality Group last week explained, “One Exchange Place is currently going through a transition and we felt that it was the right time to take this opportunity to evaluate our position in the upscale casual/ fine-dining segment.” This seems to suggest Niche will continue to embrace fast-casual ventures like Steam Energy Cafe and Nonna’s, while distancing itself from its more formal concepts, which have proved both time consuming and costly for ownership to upkeep.

Mighty Lights

The city of Worcester is planning another top-notch tree lighting for Friday, Nov. 30, 4:30-9 p.m. Feminist phenom Brynn Elliott will be on hand to perform her banger, “Might Not Like Me” in which she unapologetically declares her mental and physical superiority over some jerk who dumped her. (I’ll bet he’s never headlined Worcester’s Festival of Lights. What a dope.) Street performers and horse drawn sleigh rides will begin by the Worcester Common Oval Public Ice Skating Rink at 4:30 p.m. Last year’s tree lighting drew thousands downtown, so it’s best to arrive early if you want to get close enough to the stage to challenge Brynn to a footrace.

The Santa Pub Crawl will kick off Saturday, Dec. 1 on Shrewsbury Street with snacks and drinks at each location. Participants will venture out in waves after receiving festive shirts to sport along the way. The first waves will depart at 2:30 p.m. from either end of the route, leaving from Vintage Grille and Leo’s Ristorante. Tickets are still available for $25 on Eventbrite.

A portion of each ticket sale supports the Worcester County Food Bank.

A Friendly Reminder

My Holiday Gift Guide

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Buy your special someone a Chris Ploof Designs ring fashioned from a four-and-a-half-billion-year-old meteorite. Purchase a Haddad Auto Detail gift card for a wax or a shampoo before the salt and snow set in.

Stuff stockings with Worcester AF tees from Worcester Wares and a Fender Bender tote from Hundred Acre Apparel. Snag that Fendi Bag Bug from Sweet Jane’s. Fill that cellar with bottles of wine from North Main Provisions. Stock up on unique bangles from all over the globe at Modern Muse. Shop local this holiday Sarah Connell season. contributing writer

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

On Dec. 6, Friendly House will host its 24th annual Galaxy of Stars at The Manor in West Boylston. Meghan Fuller of Auburn High School and Charles Payson of Doherty Memorial High School will be honored at the event. Tickets are still available for $50. Contact Susan Daly at sdaly@ friendlyhousema.org for details.

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Sip with Santa

culture Borrowed Broth 106 Green St., Worcester • 508-459-1511 • brothbythehangover.com SANDRA RAIN

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verything about Broth, from the pleather furnishings right down to the Marvel posters, screams “college dorm room.” And it’s all sticky.

The menus. The floor tiles. The dishware. Every inch brings something new dripping and sloshing about. Even the house plants look sad.

Broth was meant to reflect a boyish nostalgia and in this it has succeeded. Hip hop lyrics are scrawled across the walls in adolescent defiance.

Watch your tongue; most of the bowls are chipped and you’ll have to ask for napkins. Bright fluorescent lights peer down from the droptiles. The aroma of instant noodles serves as a reminder of the fodder on which we all subsisted through college.

When Broth opened, it did so under the auspice that it would be the only ramen-centric bar in Worcester. Now the restaurant finds itself with company. While others have sought to engage in dialogue about the adoption of a cultural minority’s cuisine, Broth has leaned into its Americanization.

Order a Thanksgiving ramen ($11 small, $15 regular) to see what I mean.

The bowl is piled with slices of roasted turkey breast, shiitake mushrooms, fresh ground pork stuffing, a hard boiled egg marinated in soy sauce, nori and a mountain of pickled cranberries – I counted 23. Everything is too big and too bold, except for the turkey broth, which arrives luke-warm, but possesses a delightful level of heat that emerges slowly and furiously to reveal unexpected depth.

The chicken parmesan ramen ($11 small, $15 regular) is similarly perplexing, served with fried chicken, pesto, marinara sauce, mozzarella, reggiano and chicken broth. The chicken sogs quickly in an unsalvageable heap under an umbrella of melted cheese. But perhaps most American of all is the ramen beef burger ($16) served with nori between two patties of dry noodles that crumble when handled.

Other anomalies include the Big Mac dumplings ($9) and the kimchi bacon rice balls ($9) which lead to proclamations like, “I know you can, but why would you?”

I won’t dwell on the much-reported Broth’s Thanksgiving ramen and tale that lost the first chicken parmigiana ramen. iteration of Broth its liquor license, except to say a former partner in the business was found stowing $300,000 worth of drug money in a church on Lincoln Street. Nevertheless, Broth recently reinstated its beverage program, including a Cabernet-based sangria ($9) that packs a refreshing punch.

The beer list is pulled directly from untapped, and thus proves very informative right down to the number of calories contained in each pour. Broth’s website still says BYOB, but this is not the case; leave your booze at home.

It is my humble opinion that to break the rules, you must first attain mastery of the game. Broth does not honor the cultural roots of ramen in a manner that smacks of respect. This feels like borrowing without means for return.

On my last visit with two friends, our bill came to $77.65.

Explanation of Stars: Ratings are from zero to five. Zero is not recommended.

One is poor. Two is fair. Three is satisfactory. Four is good. Five is excellent.

Food: HH 1/2 Ambience: HH Service: HHH Value: HH 1/2

Creed has lost some punch

culture

JIM KEOGH

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here’s a lot of talking to gravestones going on in “Creed II,” including heavyweight champ Adonis Creed carrying on a cemetery heart-toheart with his dead father, Apollo. Considering the head shots he’s endured, it’s amazing Adonis’ sloshy brain doesn’t assume Dad will hold up his end of the conversation.

And of course Rocky Balboa visits the burial plot of the sainted Adrian, where Sylvester Stallone delivers more dialogue than he did in four Rambo movies. Yo, Adrian, just give me a sign and I’ll finally change my wardrobe — I’ll be watching for it. And give Mick my regards.

Despite his relatively small role, “Creed II” is Stallone’s show all the way.

No, he doesn’t take his shirt off or beat down a preposterously younger opponent, but he did co-write the movie, whose narrative bones are a cut-andpaste job of “Rocky III.” The hero faces a Goliath in the ring, gets thrashed, loses his nerve, then regains the eye of the tiger in a training montage that holds the key to slaying the giant. He enlists the help of an ex-champ (Apollo then, Rocky now), to impart the wisdom of the Boxing Gods; then he runs fast to an appropriately rousing musical score.

The film misses the panache and vision of “Creed” writer-director Ryan Coogler (this one is directed by newcomer Steven Caple Jr.), who crafted his movie with attitude and pathos, coaxing terrific performances from Michael B. Jordan and Stallone. “Creed” hit the inspirational notes with organic storytelling that’s lost to Stallone’s by-the-books approach.

This one is about settling old scores in old-school fashion. Adonis is challenged to a bout by the Russian boxer Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), son of the former champ Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), who killed Apollo Creed in the ring in “Rocky IV” and then was famously defeated by Rocky (you may recall Rocky ended the Cold War with a post-fight speech urging everyone to be nice). The now-disgraced Ivan is like a horrible Little League dad on black-market steroids, bullying his behemoth son through punishing training sessions with the goal of restoring the Dragos’ lost glory.

Ivan shows up at Rocky’s restaurant, appropriately called Adrian’s. This is a magical place, capable of sustaining the Italian Stallion despite the fact it apparently has no customers other than the brooding Russian boxer who doesn’t so much as take a sip of water. He warns Rocky, “My son will break your boy.” Uh-oh. Rocky doesn’t appreciate the menacing glint in Ivan’s eye, and warns Adonis he probably can’t beat Viktor because “he’s got nuttin’ to lose.”

Adonis sure does, and he wrestles with his responsibilities to his longtime girlfriend (Tessa Thompson) and widowed mother (Phylicia Rashad). The film devotes great gobs of screen time to Adonis’ interactions with the women in his life, an artistic decision that imposes a standing-eight count on the action. It’s akin to watching Peter Parker chat with Aunt May about paint swatches knowing he should be in his Spider-Man outfit defending the world from Doctor Octopus.

The training montage takes place in the desert, where Adonis is ordered to break ground with a sledgehammer in “Cool Hand Luke” fashion. The sequence is inevitably ridiculous, but it gives Jordan the opportunity to show off his jacked physique before climbing into the ring against the Russian side of beef.

Now, let’s get to “Creed Jim Keogh III”: Apollo versus Clubber contributing writer Lang’s kid.

culture

Adoption option

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Welcome to Adoption Option, a partnership with the Worcester Animal Rescue League, highlighting their adoptable pets. Check this space often to meet all of the great pets at WARL in need of homes.WARL is open seven days a week, noon-4 p.m., 139 Holden St. Check them out online at Worcesterarl.org, or call at 508-853-0030.

Fruit Salad, anyone? Eleven parakeets were surrendered to WARL when they overran their home with feathery, fluttering, gleeful madness that only a flock of adolescent parakeets could pull off. The cute and colorful bunch were named after berries, melons, and of course, Jell-o. We are looking to place these feathered delinquents before they successfully plot a take-over of WARL. The parakeets need to be adopted out in pairs or groups. The adoption fee for is $15 each and you’ll need your own cage and supplies. We do not know at this time the sex of any of these parakeets because they are all under one year of age.

sports p Blades blazing trail for women’s hockey in Worcester WALTER BIRD JR.

T

hey haven’t beaten an opponent yet this season, but the Worcester Blades aren’t just about winning games. Oh, they want to win, to be sure. But this professional women’s hockey team is skating for more than pucks and points. They’re playing in a new city, building a new fan base, building a new future. And if that means taking

lack of effort. The former Boston Blades play in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. In many cases, they’re playing teams whose players have competed at the highest levels.

According to General Manager Derek Alfama, 75 percent of the players in the league play for their country either in the Olympics or as a national team representative.

“Our team doesn’t comprise any Olympians,” Alfama said. “It’s been a

Pride are a women’s hockey team that plays in a different league — and out. Pro teams like the Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox — not to mention the Patriots not so far down the road in Foxborough — all nibble for fan support.

“We felt by moving the franchise out of Worcester, understanding what kind of fan base we have out there, we felt a new market would be a huge success for us,” Alfama said,

challenge for us, and that’s something my staff and coach Kennedy are working toward. It’s all about building a good foundation, which is what we’re doing this year.”

They are, in a sense, starting over.

The Blades have been playing in the CWHL since 2010. They are no strangers to winning, having twice hoisted the Clarkson Cup as league champs, in 2013 and 2015. Boston, however, proved a tough market with competition inside — the Boston

noting the team has struggled the past few years since its last championship.

The Blades settled on Worcester, where a new hockey practice arena, the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Centre, had been built. It serves as a practice rink for the Worcester Railers of the ECHL, and now plays home to the Blades.

The team has averaged roughly 325 fans a game, according to Alfama, who said the number is higher

Round-Up

Worcester boxers Kendrick Ball Jr. and Nick Briggs each earned wins at the Holiday Bash on Thanksgiving Eve at Twin River Casino. Ball (11-1-2, 8 KOs) knocked out Zain Shah in the fourth round of the middleweight bout. Briggs (2-0, 2 KOs) remained undefeated in his young pro career with his second straight knockout win, this one over Stacey Anderson (0-4).

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some lumps along the way, well, they’re OK with that.

“Things will turn,” first-year head coach Paul Kennedy said of the team that moved from Boston to Worcester this year. “Will we win a game? I don’t know. I really don’t care, to be honest with you. We’re striving to win every game we play. We’d love to win every game. We’ll let the chips fall where they may.”

The chips, so far, haven’t been falling the Blades’ way, but not for

Worcester Railers Friday, Nov. 23 The Railers (6-9-2-0) closed out their homestand with a 4-2 loss to the visiting Manchester Monarchs.

Sunday, Nov. 25 On the road, the Railers (610-2-0) fell, 3-1 to the Brampton Beast.

Tuesday, Nov. 27 (Upcoming: The Railers stay on the road Friday, Nov. 30 to take on the Maine Mariners, then return home for a Sunday, Dec. 2 tilt against the Mariners and a Wednesday, Dec. 5 game with the Brampton Beast) Worcester Blades (Upcoming: The Blades are on the road Saturday, Dec. 1 and Sunday, Dec. 2 against the Montreal Les Canadiennes.)

Worcester 78’s Saturday, Nov. 24 The 78’s (3-1) broke the team record for points score in a game with a 170-113 trouncing of the Atlantic Coast Cardinals in New York.

(Upcoming: The 78’s visit the Jersey Express Saturday, Dec. 1.)

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The Score

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The Worcester Blades in action against the Montreal Les Canadiennes.

than what the Blades were drawing previously. Declining to reveal specifics, he said merchandise sales have also been strong.

“At the end of the day, we’re 0-11, so I get it,” Alfama asaid. “I always felt heading into this, the overall plan was a three-year plan. It’s going to be a three- or five-year plan for us to bring the Clarkson Cup back home.”

In the meantime, the team is playing much better than its record, Kennedy said. Some players with the Boston Blades didn’t come over to Worcester, the core group consisting of new players, six of whom were Division I college draftees. Five additional undrafted free agents were also added. It has posed a challenge in building camaraderie, but Alfama said, “We’re making strides every day.”

“It’s definitely been a growing curve for them to be sure,” he said, “but at the end of the day, we’re responding. We’re a better team than we were at the end of September.

We’re a better team than we were two weeks ago.”

Among the players are goalies Mariah Fujimagari, Jetta Rackleff, Jessica Convery and Lauren Dahm.

Fujimagari has been has been getting most of the starts. Other key players include Alexis Miller and Lauren Williams on defense, and the three Turners: forwards Courtney Turner, Meghan Turner and Morgan Turner who, Kennedy, points out, are not related, “but are becoming sisters.”

Having women in Worcester playing hockey and serving as role models, Kennedy said, rises above the importance of wins and losses.

“Don’t forget,” he said, “you’re also building from the youth up. All those female athletes in Worcester, all those little girls that want to play ice hockey, they’re not looking up to an 0-11 team, they’re looking up to a professional athlete who’s ready to say hello to you and talk to you. They come up to you and want you to sign their shirt, or their stick. That’s what it’s all about.”

Not that winning isn’t important,

and Alfama is confident that will come. As fans get a taste of what the Blades bring to the ice — and to the community — he believes their support will only grow.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “it’s women’s professional hockey and it’s a game a lot of people haven’t seen.

We’ve literally scratched the surface in Worcester proper and the area. At the end of the day, I think women’s hockey is the fastest-growing sport in North America. I think those that haven’t come out, once they do come out they do get amazed by the level of play and what it’s like.

“Regardless of wins and losses, the passionate fans we have right now are very loyal. They’re the ones that will continue to come out. I think the future is so bright for us in the market, and to be able to to be the architect behind the scenes and strive to put a winner on the ice, it’s a challenge, and it’s something I’m excited to do.”

calendar

Thursday-Sunday, Nov. 29-Dec. 2 ELF The Musical

Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge St. “ELF,” the Christmas tale of Buddy and his buddies, is heading to the Hanover Theatre just in time for the holiday season.

Thursday, Nov. 29 Christmas Concerto

Worcester Historical Museum, 30 Elm St. The Worcester Chamber Music Society presents their Christmas Concerto at the Worcester Historical Museum, with renditions of Vivaldi, Telemann and Corelli.

Friday, Nov. 30 Festival of Lights Tree Lighting and Holiday Celebration

Worcester Common Oval, 455 Main St. The City of Worcester presents their annual Festival of Lights at the Worcester Common Oval. With music from Brynn Elliott and the Worcester Public School choruses. The Worcester Common Oval Skating Rink will be open, subject to weather.

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Saturday, Dec. 1 The Worcester Chorus Sings Bach’s Magnificat Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St. The Worcester Chorus sings a holiday program, presented by Music Worcester.

Worcester Magazine is no longer utilizing socialweb.net for calendar listings. Let people know about your event by linking to our online calendar at worcestermag.com.

Or go directly to worcestermag.com/thingstodo

calendar Saturday, Dec. 1 With Confidence, Broadside

The Palladium, 261 Main St. With Confidence and Broadside perform at The Palladium, with special guests Sleep On It and Small Talks.

FILE PHOTO/ELIZABETH BROOKS

Sunday, Dec. 2 stART at the Station

Union Station, 2 Washington Square The gifting-themed home of makers, artists and crafters returns to Union Station. Everything available at stART at the Station is handmade.

Saturday, Dec. 1 Spencer Christmas Parade of Lights

306 Main St., Spencer The parade begins at David Prouty High School and runs from Main Street and Old Main Street toward the Town of Spencer highway barn.

Saturday, Dec. 1 The Sutton Chain of Lights

Vaillancourt Folk Art, 9 Main St., Sutton A day-long celebration with free trolley rides, caroling, the lighting of Christmas trees and more.

Saturday, Dec. 1 Family Metals Day

Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Road Instructor-led and hands-on, pre-register via Worcestercraftcenter.org to explore metals and make your own holiday ornament.

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games

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J O N E S I N’ Across 1 Prosciutto, for example 4 Arizona plants 9 Beginning 14 Suffix after pay or Motor 15 Verbally 16 “Today” weatherman Al 17 Oscar Wilde’s forte 18 1990 Mel Gibson movie, according to the Internet?

20 “Metamorphosis” poet 22 Bottled water brand owned

by Coca-Cola 23 Mount McKinley’s national park 26 Pay no attention to 30 Easy swimming style, according to the Internet?

34 “Night Gallery” host Serling 35 Architect and Bauhaus School founder Walter 36 University official 37 Competed at Daytona 40 Istanbul title 41 “Better in Time” singer ___ Lewis 42 Olfactory stimulus 43 William and Harry, e.g.

45 Fleetwood ___ 46 Pet-related YouTube clip, according to the Internet?

50 Receipt figure 52 Half a quarter 53 Falco’s request to Amadeus, in a 1980s hit 57 Salt, chemically 58 Person who musically hypnotizes animals, according to the Internet?

63 Letter after pi 64 Actor Rami of “Bohemian Rhapsody” 65 Job reward 66 ___ voto (“at my own wish,” in Latin) 67 “___ Kitchen” (Gordon Ramsay show) 68 Tenochtitlan inhabitant 69 Request permission Down 1 “Strange ...”

2 Hyphenated word in “Cockles and Mussels” 3 Kind of call or season

“Talk Like the Critters”—”pet names” popularized by memes.

by Matt Jones

4 One way to get around town 5 “Green Book” star Mahershala 6 Electrical cable 7 Brass band instrument 8 Altar vows 9 Color of Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty 10 Like hopeless situations 11 Take to the slopes 12 Ending for mountain or auction 13 Three, in Torino 19 They should be nowhere near a chalkboard 21 Macbeth’s imagined weapon 24 “Little ___ Fauntleroy” 25 Google’s was in Aug. 2004 27 Cookie introduced to India in 2011 28 Horse with mottled coloring 29 Mode in “The Incredibles” 31 No longer linked 32 1 or 0, but not 10 33 ___ Reade (NYC drugstore chain) 36 Pattern 37 Tomato variety 38 Driver who plays Kylo Ren 39 2017 Pixar film 41 Pants maker Strauss 43 Sales talk 44 Guevara on T-shirts

46 What opportunity does, hopefully 47 “___ & Greg” (1990s-2000s sitcom) 48 Scratches the surface?

49 “Check this out!”

51 “Family Matters” neighbor Steve 54 Former “American Idol” judge DioGuardi 55 “Waiting For My Rocket to Come” singer Jason 56 Give forth 58 “I can’t believe this,” in online slang 59 Scottish “no” 60 12th letter of the alphabet, when spelled out 61 Language suffix 62 DVR remote button

Fun By The Numbers Like puzzles? Then you’ll love sudoku. This mind-bending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your sudoku savvy to the test!

Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

Last week's solution

Call 978-728-4302 or email sales@centralmassclass.com today to place your ad here! ©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) Reference puzzle #912

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HIGHWAY DIVISION NOTICE OF A PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL MEETING Project File No. 609226 A Public Informational Meeting will be held by MassDOT to discuss the proposed Kelley Square Improvement Project in Worcester, MA. WHERE: Worcester Academy Performance Center 14 Marion Avenue Worcester, MA 01604 WHEN: Wednesday, December 5, 2018 @ 6:00 pm (snow date December 6, 2018) PURPOSE: The purpose of this meeting is to provide the public with the opportunity to become fully acquainted with the proposed Kelley Square Improvement Project. All views and comments made at the meeting will be reviewed and considered to the maximum extent possible.

PROPOSAL: Kelley Square poses a number of safety risks for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicles. There were 403 reported crashes between January 2013 and December 2016, including 1 fatality. Twenty-one of these crashes involved pedestrians and five involved bicyclists. This project will address the safety and operational deficiencies faced by all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists, while also supporting the local businesses and residents who call Kelley Square their home.

A secure right-of-way is necessary for this project. Acquisitions in fee and permanent or temporary easements may be required. The City is responsible for acquiring all needed rights in private or public lands. MassDOT’s policy concerning land acquisitions will be discussed at this meeting.

Written views received by MassDOT subsequent to the date of this notice and up to five (5) days prior to the date of the meeting shall be displayed for public inspection and copying at the time and date listed above. Plans will be on display one-half hour before the meeting begins, with an engineer in attendance to answer questions regarding this project. A project handout will be made available on the MassDOT website listed below.

Written statements and other exhibits in place of, or in addition to, oral statements made at the Public Informational Meeting regarding the proposed undertaking are to be submitted to Patricia A. Leavenworth, P.E., Chief Engineer, MassDOT, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116, Attention: Roadway Project Management, Project File No. 609226. Such submissions will also be accepted at the meeting. Mailed statements and exhibits intended for inclusion in the public meeting transcript must be postmarked within ten (10) business days of this Public Informational Meeting. Project inquiries may be emailed to kelleysqproj.worcester@dot.state.ma.us This location is accessible to people with disabilities. MassDOT provides reasonable accommodations and/or language assistance free of charge upon request (including but not limited to interpreters in American Sign Language and languages other than English, open or closed captioning for videos, assistive listening devices and alternate material formats, such as audio tapes, Braille and large print), as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact MassDOT’s Chief Diversity and Civil Rights Officer by phone (857-368-8580), fax (857-368-0602), TTD/TTY (857368-0603) or by email (MassDOT.CivilRights@dot.state.ma.us). Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting, and for more difficult to arrange services including sign-language, CART or language translation or interpretation, requests should be made at least ten (10) business days before the meeting.

In case of inclement weather, meeting cancellation announcements will be posted on the internet at http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Highway/ JONATHAN GULLIVER PATRICIA A. LEAVENWORTH, P.E. HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATOR CHIEF ENGINEER

last call Brynn Elliott pop star B papers on just one idea or one concept that’s so intuitive to the human condition, and I think that’s exactly what we’re doing in pop music. It’s like: How do we write a song that everyone’s going to understand on a deep level? To me, philosophy and pop music really went hand in hand. I tried to write songs from a place where I could utilize what I was learning in the classroom.

What was the transition like after homeschooling in Atlanta?

The transition was pretty smooth. I think being homeschooled for so long and then coming up northeast to New England meant being around other people and having a classroom full of my peers. That was really, really exciting for me.

I love your feminist mantra, “Might Not Like Me.” Is it based on real experiences? Yeah, it was about a real relationship that I had in college and I always say that as much as it’s a song about what I was experiencing with that guy, it’s definitely a song for me about making the decision.

I wasn’t going to worry about what other people thought about me anymore. And as much as it’s about the relationship, it’s also about that moment of decision and embracing oneself. It definitely was a very real experience, and although I didn’t set out to write a girl power anthem, I’m really glad that that’s what it is.

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And you found yourself at Harvard? Yeah, which is crazy because no one in my family had ever gone to college. When I went to my parents when I was in high school and said, “Hey, I want to apply to Harvard,” they thought I was crazy. We Googled “How to apply to Harvard.” Having now graduated, I’m so grateful.

Did you just graduate? I did, in May.

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rynn Elliott will be in town Friday evening for Worcester’s annual Festival of Lights at the Worcester Common Oval. Elliot is a recent Harvard grad with a rapidly-rising single on the Billboard charts.

What did you study?

I studied philosophy.

PHOTO SUBMIT TED

How did your studies impact your music?

I think philosophy and songwriting, especially pop music songwriting, are very similar because every song starts with a universal idea or concept, and I think that’s exactly what philosophy does. We write whole

Did YouTube play a significant role in your development as an artist? When I was applying to college during high school, I was so overwhelmed at the end of the day just because my life felt like a resume. My dad had this old guitar in the corner of our house. I just needed something that wasn’t going to be put on my application or anything, just something totally outside of the box to help me unwind. I was like, “Dad, can I play this guitar?” He agreed that I could play it. I got the guitar out and went on YouTube and started playing songs that I liked and learning the chords. And then that just started this whole thing of me playing my guitar pretty much every night. I started writing songs. The wonderful people who make the two-and-a-half minute tutorials of how to play the a-minor chord are my heroes. They’re awesome.

When did you decide that you wanted to pursue music as your full-time career? I took a year off from school. I actually applied my senior year to Harvard and did not get in and I ended up taking a year off

to do music full time. I got an opportunity with a producer and the whole time, I wasn’t thinking, “I’ll have a career in music.” I was just thinking, “This opportunity happened.” I thought it would give me another year to re-apply to Harvard.

But then, that year as I was applying, I realized that music was so much more than just something I did at the end of the day in high school. It was a part of the fabric of myself and I could never live without it. I actually got an opportunity to tour with a YouTuber over the summer, right before I went to school. It was just me and my guitar and we played like 30 shows. I think after that, as I was packing my bags to go to school, I realized that I wanted to do this full time and that I wanted to pursue a career in music because of the experience I had playing live for an audience and getting to meet fans. I told myself that as much as I was committed to going to school and seeing that dream through, I also wanted to start this new dream of being a musician and I just wanted to tour. I pretty much took every opportunity. I got to open for some of my favorite bands, like Switchfoot and artists like Alanis Morissette.

Brandi Carlile is one of my favorites.

What was it like to play with a legend?

Oh, my gosh. It was just insane. Brandi Carlile, I grew up listening to her and saw her when I was in high school, and I remember seeing her at a local venue near where I live in Atlanta. And I remember I was like 17 and I thought, “Man, if I could ever do what she does.” She’s so incredible.

Everyone is so inspiring, and honestly,the coolest part about that time in college where I was playing all these shows with people was that everyone was so nice and so encouraging of me as a young artist, and they all gave me such great advice and wisdom. It was very, very special and I’m really grateful.

Do you have any advice for the young girls who look up to you? I know it sounds cliche, but I really believe that there’s so much power in being yourself and being honest.

– Sarah Connell

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