davis_square | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Any word on the Korean Restaurant that was going to go in the ExDonalds? There seems to be nothing happening there.

And speaking of nothing happening, how come the city ripped out Kenney Park and then stopped working? The park's been out of commission for months of just sitting there a mess. Shame on them for doing the demo when they weren't ready to do the reconstruction; it's a waste of good space.

Anyone have the scoop on either of these?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I completely agree with both statements. We could have really used that playground this summer & the Korean BBQ place would be awesome. It seems like there's been a lot of halted work on a lot of places in the square.

We're waiting on Kindred Tea, the Korean Bubble Tea place, social security building (seriously hope Roche Bros goes in), the gross building next to Rosebud, Rosebud (although they look like they're making progress), kennedy playground & park, M3, Eleni's tailor space, and what's happening with Pinkberry?

Ugh! That's a lot!!

Kindred looked like they were just about ready to go when I drove by the other day.

Bibim (the Korean place) was approved for its liquor license in March, so I'd have to assume they're still waiting on permits.

Is Pinkberry closed or...?

I saw a sign on Pinkberry shortly after the heavy rains that said they were fixing flooding damage.

How long have they been closed? I didn't realize it had been more than a day .... but I don't walk by there very often.

For a while I've expected Pinkberry to be the loser in the local froyo wars -- even when open, it often seems deserted compared to iYO and Orange Leaf.

Edited 2014-08-22 02:19 (UTC)

The one time I went into Pinkberry, there was no one visible in there at all -- including behind the counter. We stood around calling "Hello?" toward the rear kitchen area for a minute or two, then gave up and went to iYo.

I don't think Bibim needed any other permit besides the liquor license, since they are replacing another restaurant (same use).

ETA: there's a building permit in the window, dated May 2014.

Edited 2014-08-26 14:13 (UTC)

what's happening to Kennedy playground and park? (I assume you mean the Kennedy school over on Elm Street near Star Market?)

I mean Kenney Park on Chester and Highland, across from Rite Aid. They ripped it out to redo it, though after all those community meetings the plans look almost indistinguishable from what they ripped out, only they say they'll get the fountain working again. But in fact it's talking so long I fear it won't be ready in time for Honk! and it's been out of commission all summer when it's needed most.

Your post was about Kenney Park, but commenter Katherine Fiorello brought up Kennedy Park.

(Grove and Highland, actually)

I suggest giving a call to Arne Franzen and/or Luisa Oliveira at City Hall tomorrow morning. ETA: I'm going to email both of them right now and point them at this discussion.

Edited 2014-08-22 03:26 (UTC)

I got this from Luisa Oliveira. Can you post whatever replies you got from her or from Arn Franzen?

---------------
From: Luisa Oliveira <loliveira@somervillema.gov>
Subject: RE: what is happening with Kenney Park renovation?

Yes, we have had some delays due to the manufacturing of pieces that had to be custom made to bring the play structure up to current safety recommendations. There are many elements to building a park that need to ordered/created outside the construction team and , unfortunately, they can hold up the process. We anticipate things getting back on track very soon. You can always find updates to all parks projects on the City’s website:

http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/ospcd/parks-and-open-space/kenney-park

Thanks for your patience.
Luisa

Edited 2014-08-26 13:13 (UTC)

One might have thought these things would have been ordered somewhere back around the groundbreaking (which was what, almost a year ago now?) or before. Ah well.

Kung Fu bubble tea looks pretty close to finished. The front window now has a poster advertising a hiring event for Thursday, September 11.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only