Artists' haven is at center of squall
Owner wants to move gallery
The gallery sits on the ground floor in the Piano Factory building at 791 Tremont St. It has lots of natural light from huge windows and open space above, and a first-floor hallway has a view down into it.
Though it shows signs of aging - cracks in old wooden beams above, for instance - the gallery is a haven for artists who live in the building. It is now at the center of a storm over proposed changes.
The building's owner, Shoreline Corp., wants to move the gallery to what is now a storage area, also on the ground floor, in order to make space for an expanded lobby, with a ramp for people in wheelchairs, hardwood floors, and new management offices.
But members of the tenants union - the Piano Craft Guild Tenants Association - who have long called the Piano Factory home, say the move would be a blow to the art community. They say Shoreline's efforts represent a shift from the view that the Piano Factory is an artists' colony to one that targets students and young professionals with their trendy strollers and SUVs.
"We see the whole thing as a symbolic attempt to bury the artist community that has been here for so long," said Eric Meyer, secretary of the tenants union and resident in the building for 18 years.
Members of the tenants union receive enhanced vouchers, which are federal subsidies toward their rent in the Piano Factory, according to Dorothea Guild, legal liaison to the tenants union. They can earn up to $48,000, and pay no more than 35 percent of their income toward rent. Thirty-four of the building's 173 apartments are under the agreement.
The project's designer said the renovations are long overdue.
"It's been 35 years since it's been renovated," said Curtis P. Seborowski, the chief project designer, about the building's entrance. "The tenants deserve a lot better than to bring their guests through an entrance like that."
The current dust-up began after a Nov. 6 memo from Shoreline was slipped under tenants' doors. The memo stated that Shoreline would be renovating the basement area of the Tremont/Northampton corner of the building and that work would begin Nov. 17 and finish by the end of the year.
The memo irked members of the tenants union, who said it violates a 1998 legal agreement they signed with Shoreline and the Boston Redevelopment Authority regarding the renovation and relocation of the gallery. They say that Simeon Bruner, owner of the Cambridge-based Shoreline and a renowned architect, must notify and meet with the BRA and the tenants union about plans to renovate the gallery.
As soon as they got the memo, the tenants union contacted the BRA, which must approve the plans and which then ordered Shoreline to stop any renovation work until further review.
"This guy just simply thumbs his nose to the entire agreement that was made not [only] with us but with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, in terms of proper notification," said Guild, referring to Bruner. "There is a process that is spelled out in that agreement."
What's more, the tenants union said, the new gallery space will be in a dark storage room, with low lighting, low ceiling, and lowered flooring. Under the agreement, the new space must be comparable to the old one.
"The real point of contention here is that we don't want this gallery buried," said Guild. "And if this gallery is buried underground . . . then it's going to be the death of the arts in this building. And what we suspect is that he really wants the arts out of here now."
Guild said that in 2003 and 2007 Bruner tried to move ahead with renovation plans without first notifying the BRA and was rebuffed both times.
Bruner was on vacation and unavailable for comment. But Kay Gibbs, a spokeswoman for Bruner, said the tenants' characterization of the proposed space is "provocative."
"The assertion that it's not comparable assumes its not going to be nice," she said. "If people would keep an open mind they will see that it would be a lovely design, a lovely gallery, and [the building's front entrance] would be handicapped-accessible."
Currently, a different entrance to the building offers wheelchair access.
According to Seborowski, plans for the new gallery include transforming a moat in front of the building on Tremont Street into a courtyard with greenery and space for artists to contemplate and work. It also includes brick and granite walls, with professional lighting, a new bathroom and kitchenette, as well as air conditioning, Seborowski said.
Gibbs said that Bruner will be in discussions with the BRA and will ensure that the new gallery is just as good as the old one.
The tenants' lawyer, Jay Rose, said that at some point Shoreline will have to also meet with the tenants.
"If the tenants are not at the table nothing will happen," he said.
Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com. 