February 2019 - Neighborhood View

Featured

Work proceeds on Malden’s new city hall

February 28, 2019 ditikohli 0

By Diti Kohli As the reconstruction of Malden City Hall enters its its final year, details on time of completion, parking, and security are now emerging. The exact finishing date of the new Malden city hall cannot be confirmed until the city acquires the building’s shell, according to a city official. The goal is to open the building by late 2019 or early 2020. Ron Hogan, director of the parking department and member of the municipal building committee, said the city “anticipates taking possession of the building sometime in the early April time frame.” Until then, individual offices cannot be built. Initially, the city reported they would acquire possession in March with the goal to finish construction by November 2019. The demolition of the previous city hall, which was built in the 1970s, will reconnect the two ends of Pleasant Street and provide access to the MBTA Station at Malden Center. The new buildings, developed by Jefferson Apartment Group, will be an eclectic mix of commercial, residential, and civic sections. Retail stores will occupy 22,000 […]

MATV to host Arts and Culture Summit March 9th

February 26, 2019 ditikohli 1

Story by Diti Kohli “Our goal is to bring people together,” said D’Urso-Rose. “So that there’s more communication among groups, organizations, and artistic individuals, to envision new possibilities, and to take advantage of opportunities that are available or that may arise.” In the near future, MATV plans to sell its building on Pleasant Street and upgrade to a newer space that can more readily serve the needs of its members and the public. With the support of organizations from the summit, the center aims to open a space that might include a black box theater, gallery space, meeting space, a retail shop, and more. “I think we can learn a lot from The Gallery experience,” said D’Urso-Rose, referring to the space on 480 Main Street which morphed from a pop-up shop to a year-long experiment as a gallery, performance center, workshop space, retail shop, and cultural gathering environment. Watertown City Councilor Vincent Piccirilli, who has served the city for 11 years, will deliver a featured presentation about the creation of The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian […]

Lunar New Year celebration kicks off Malden Reads 2019

February 24, 2019 NeighborhoodView 0

By Frances Hui This year’s selection for Malden Reads 2019, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See, was feted last month during a celebration of Lunar New Year and the coming of the Year of Pig in a day-long event that featured Asian cultural performances, workshops, artwork exhibitions and refreshments at Malden High School. The Jan. 26 event, sponsored by the Chinese Culture Connection (CCC), Malden Reads and the high school’s Asian Culture Club, drew more than 100 people, including Mayor Gary Christenson and other Malden officials. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is about a journey of a Li-yan, a young woman from a minority tribe in China, who gives up her child for adoption. At times, the story cuts between her life and her adopted child’s life in California. Li-yan eventually moves beyond the limited education of the rest of her community, leaves her traditional village, and begins to experience the modern world in the cities of China, where she becomes an integral part of the tea trade. The book is about many things: […]

Homeless find refuge in Malden Warming Center

February 18, 2019 ditikohli 6

Story and photos by Diti Kohli Age 54, diabetic, and newly homeless, Rosa spent her first night in the Malden Warming Center on a frigid February evening. In late January, she lost her job as a live-in evening manager of a disabled veterans care facility that gave her only two weeks to vacate her home. Rosa does not receive unemployment benefits from her non-profit ex-employer. She survives off food stamps and has only procured enough insulin to last another month. Without the center, she would be spending her nights on the street. “I’ve always said if people are homeless, there has to be a reason they’re there,” said Rosa. “This is my reason.” According to a report from the Department of Housing and Development, Rosa is among the estimated 20,000 homeless individuals in Massachusetts. Citizens and officials in Malden, alarmed at the number of homeless in the city, have worked together to open a warming center, a place where the homeless can find respite from the winter. The center opened for the winter on Jan. […]

Arts

The Gallery leaves a legacy: Imagine something and make it happen

February 6, 2019 shrier58 3

By Robin Inman On Dec. 24, 2018, The Gallery at 480 Main St. in downtown Malden closed. For almost 13 months, following an inaugural stint in late 2016, The Gallery had functioned as a lively arts and community center, drawing in hundreds of people for retail sales, exhibitions, performances, workshops and cultural events. Ose Schwab, the owner of Malden Creates, LLC, and the “chief instigator,” primary sponsor and manager of The Gallery, recently answered some questions for Neighborhood View. Why did The Gallery close? The Gallery closed because its lease with DSF Advisors LLC, owners of 480 Main Street, came to a close. But it was also time, given the emergent complexity of The Gallery operations, to end its temporary state. It was time to consider a sustainable plan for some iteration of The Gallery for the future, with a strategic funding, staffing, outreach, business (or nonprofit) development, and marketing plan that could ensure the best outcome. In addition, my husband Marcel, who served as the financial officer and operations manager of the gift shop, […]