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A new arts space for Somerville?
BY SARAH TOMLINSON
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The proposal itself is a kind of drama: to turn a former National Guard armory into a non-profit arts center that draws together artists and community members. The space in question is the Somerville Armory at 191 Highland Avenue, which was bought at auction in April by brothers Joseph and Nabil Sater, owners of the Middle East club and restaurant complex in Cambridge, for roughly $2.6 million. They plan to restore the concrete-clad brick Spanish-mission revival building into a performance space, a café, classrooms, and eventually eight units of combination live-in/work-studio loft space. "Hopefully this will be a small nucleus, a center that pulls neighbors and artists together and supports the city of Somerville and the Somerville Arts Council," Joseph Sater explains when we talk at the Middle East. Built in 1903, the 12,500-square-foot space is located outside Davis Square in a heavily residential neighborhood. That means that the project will be in the middle of a real community; it also means neighbors with legitimate concerns about the development’s impact. The neighbors got a chance to voice those concerns on September 15 at Anthony’s Function Hall in Somerville in a public forum that was requested by the Saters and attended by the project’s architect, John Hong, and several city officials. Long-time residents raised issues including increased traffic, increased noise, drunken patrons, and the lack of parking (the Armory at present has only 44 available spaces). Joseph Sater along with Ward 5 alderman Sean O’Donovan and Eamon McGilligan, the executive director of Somerville’s Planning Department, gave assurances that the building will be soundproofed, and Sater suggested that they might rent parking from nearby lots or run a shuttle from Davis or Central Squares. Sater has more than once said that he does not want to inconvenience or disturb his neighbors and that he will not be able to do so, since the required city licenses will dictate the building’s capacity and how it can be used. The Saters’ plans for the performance space include live theater, dance, and acoustic music — good news for the many performers and performance troupes around town — but "no heavy rock." A week after the September 15 hearing, Mark Horan, spokesperson for Somerville mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, said, "There’s virtually no chance of its ever becoming any place with any kind of nightlife attached to it." The public hearing also brought support for the project. "It really is a tremendous opportunity for cultural life of the city," said Robert Smyth, the owner of Yellow Moon Press. And Horan agrees. "The fact that it hasn’t been bought by people who are not being attentive to the neighborhood and the other kinds of concerns of what actually makes sense to the neighborhood is a good thing." The development is still in its early stages. The Saters have only just applied for a building permit and a special-project permit from the Board of Zoning Appeal in Somerville. There will be a Zoning Board meeting on October 20 and a Planning Board meeting on October 21. Both meetings will be held at Somerville City Hall at 6 p.m. and open to the public. If all goes well, Joseph Sater hopes to begin building in the next month and half. The armory will be made handicap accessible; sprinklers will be installed and exits widened. The ground floor has been targeted for classrooms and a performance space, though Sater does not have a projected date for when those will be ready for use. He is aware that the project is generating a great deal of curiosity as well as decided opinions from the community. "You do have to involve your neighbors. You do have to involve them with the naming, and with events and with parking. You have to respect their livelihood. You have to be a positive element."
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