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A CLASSICAL Holiday
- Celebrating the Season in Historic Fashion -
Sunday, December 11, 2005
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
"A Classical Holiday" was a great success. Over 400 guests visited Classical and were quite impressed with the building, the units that were open to the public, the Atrium marketplace of nearly 30 vendors, as well as the bake sale, refreshments and entertainment.
The building was lively with activity, and the event beautifully showcased the grand Renaissance Revival style building. The atrium was decorated in grand style. The afternoon was filled with all the excitement and joy of the holidays.
Classical residents invited the public to celebrate the season in historic fashion by visiting the building’s beautiful public areas and touring some of its dramatic living spaces. The Classical community generated enthusiasm and appreciation for downtown living, demonstrated the value of historic restoration, and inspired holiday spirit. Former Classical High students, teachers and employees were especially interested in seeing the building and were quite pleased with what they saw.
Overall, the day was a great success, and many thanks must be given to everyone involved in making this such a great day for Classical. From the Unit owners who opened their homes, to the committee workers and volunteers who did everything from decorating, working the door, directing guests througout the building, baking, soliciting vendors and ads, and anything necessary, this event would not have been possible without them. Thanks also to the following who made donations to "A Classical Holiday"
16 Acres Garden Center
Big Y
Café Lebanon
Floral Fantasies
G&G Construction
L’uva
Opal
Pellegrino Associates
PriceRite
Red Rose/Grapevine Liquors
Sonoma
Springfield Musuems
St. Michael’s Cathedral
A portion of the proceeds raised from "A Classical Holiday" will be donated to The American Red Cross.
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ANNUAL MEETING
The Annual Meeting for Classical Unit Owners was held on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 at 8:00 PM in accordance with the by-laws. 32 Owners participated in the meeting. Minutes of the meeting have been distributed to all owners.
BOARD ELECTIONS
A new Board of Trustees has been elected.
Many thanks to Bob McNeill and Jennifer Brown who are not returning to the Board. Their participation and contributions to the board are most appreciated.
Your newly elected board members are:
▸ Joseph Jacintho - Unit 110
▸ Carol Costa - Unit 202
▸ Steve Clay - Unit 414
▸ George Carellas - Unit 315
They will join with current members:
Rich Janak
Jeanne Ahern
Kelli Moriarty
who are midway through their 2 year terms, to form your 2005-2006 Board of Trustees.
PROJECTS
We recently made extensive repairs to the HVAC system including a new Cooling Tower. We also completed two more sides of exterior painting.
The arched stairs at the Northwest End of the Building are currently being repaired. This is an extensive repair project which the Board has tried to avoid for many years with different measures. This work became necessary to save this architectural feature for years to come.
There will be many other projects over the next several months, all will enhance and preserve Classical. Currently scheduled or planned are:
▸ Masonry repairs along Temple Street side
▸ Cleaning & Re-painting of East Courtyard
▸ Hallway painting and carpeting
▸ Fencing along east side property line
▸ Improvement to Temple Street Gate
▸ Finish Garage Painting
▸ Improve Drainage in Garage
DECK OWNERS
If your unit has a deck, you are responsible for its maintenance. You must keep them clan and well-maintained. Additionally, you are not permitted to make any permanent additions to the building or affix anthing to exterior walls without permission from the Board of Trustees. There are several different types of decks, with different features and needs. If you have any questions about your responsibility in this area, you should contact management or a Board Member.
CLASSICAL & NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
▸ John Fenton - As many of you know, John Fenton volunteers to accept packages for residents of Classical who are not here during the day. We are very thankful for him and his service to all in the building
▸ Patrick Coffey - Maintenance man Patrick Coffey has undergone serious surgery recently, and we send our best wishes to Pat for a complete recovery. His recovery may be lengthy and in the meantime there will be 2 new maintenance men working here at Classical. You will see Bobby and Michael around the building.
▸ Web Site! - we have a website! www.classicalcondos.com This will be a site where you can find and share information about the building, and e-mail your concerns and suggestions to the Board and Management. Please visit the site and register your e-mail. You will be kept up on important information, and notified when the site is updated or changed.
▸ Historic Designation - We are awaiting the final step in the process for this designation which may help us access some funds for projects around the building.
▸ Trash Pick up - The Control Board has suggested that condominiums should not get trash pick up as other residential taxpayers in the city get. You should make sure your elected officials are award of your concerns on this subject.
▸ Congratulations to Ethel Lee on one year as Owner and Operator of Prime Condominium Management. In that year her company has grown significantly. Keep up the good work!
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MAYOR RYAN VISITS CLASSICAL
Mayor Charles V. Ryan was the guest speaker at the Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association meeting on May 18. Following is a summary of his comments:
Mr. Ryan began by reminiscing about his high school days at Classical during the time that William C. Hill was the principal. He recalled how Mr. Hill began each day with a quote from Emmanuel Kant: "No one should do that which, if everyone did it, would destroy society." The Mayor noted that current society seems to have lost that important message. He then commented at length about the current "culture" in Springfield, which he said was a bad one. He stated that the city was mired in corruption, lack of ethics, and mismanagement of finances, and he indicated that many city employees have had "their hands in the till.”
Mayor Ryan said that despite the challenges, the city is making progress. He acknowledged that his administration has been criticized for using funds to hire analysts and consultants, but he defended those decisions, saying that they were necessary because of the many problems that had been inherited. He said many previous studies had never been implemented, but his administration intended to follow through on all recommendations from studies. He commented that the city must spend a great deal of money to update its computer systems, for example. The Mayor indicated that the city will likely end the year with a deficit of $20-21 million.
He said that the city is receiving its fair share of lottery money, but not its fair share of Additional Assistance funds. The city has been cut about $20 million dollars annually in those state funds in the last 2-3 years. There are 35 cities and towns in the commonwealth that get more money. The Mayor said the city needs to have more people stand up to the state and defend the city's right to more funding.
The Mayor then took questions from the audience. He was asked if the Control Board is supportive of Springfield. He said they were, that they were good people who had taken on their responsibility despite nothing to be gained personally, and he said they were willing to defend us in Boston. When asked why the downtown area seems to be "dumped on," because we have more problems proportionately than other areas of the city and we receive less attention, he said all of Springfield has as many problems as downtown, citing Forest Park as an example. He was asked if the money that had been previously proposed for the Worthington Street shelter expansion was still available, and he said the city is working on it. He indicated that he questions the necessity of an expansion. He stated that the homeless population is a troubled one, and the city did not yet have a strategy in place to address the problem of homelessness. He said the city should consider using the city of Boston as a model for their shelter program, and he mentioned that Friends of the Homeless in Boston gets over one million dollars a year through fundraising. The Mayor stated clearly that he would not endorse an ordinance that outlaws a Tent City. When asked about plans for Tech, he said that studies had shown that most projects were not financially feasible. He said that the RFP process had not been started because the city was negotiating with the commonwealth about a possible use for the building. He said the proposal was a secret that he could not comment on at this time. The Mayor was challenged about the absence of a vision and new ideas for economic development. He responded by saying that there was not a market for development because businesses would be reluctant to invest in the city at this time. He said that riverfront development could not move forward under the current economic climate in the city. The Mayor was asked about contract negotiations, and he said he could not predict the results. When asked about trash collection at condominium complexes, he said it was his understanding that a DPW study had recommended the termination of that city service. He was asked about the Union Station project, and he said that many issues were preventing that project from moving forward, and he was uncertain if it was a viable project. He also stated that the PVTA has suffered many cuts in funding.
The Mayor ended his remarks by thanking the civic association for the opportunity to speak to the group. He reiterated how upset he was at the status of the city.
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