Institutional Creep in Fenway; Back Bay Breathing Sigh of Relief

Recently, to expand its campus by building a 720-bed dormitory tower on land purchased from the YMCA. Some residents in the community have expressed frustration over the plan, feeling their  neighborhood is being overwhelmed by "institutional creep."

Meanwhile, Back Bay residents breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that, had 19th-century city planners had their way, their neighborhood could easily have become what the Fenway is today.

In the mid-1800's, meticulous plans were drawn up for the laying-out of the Back Bay, making it a neighborhood with a mixture of single-family homes, churches, educational and cultural institutions, and a retail district on Newbury and Boylston streets. Yet, it was not to be; these institutions grew rapidly and, in the need for additional space, moved west to the Fenway.

So, the Back Bay in the 21st-century, instead of staying true to its original design as an integrated residential and institutional neighborhood, remains solidly residential.

The Fenway neighborhood is continuing its 110-plus year progression toward a neighborhood made up mostly of institutions: colleges, universities and hospitals -- with most of its residents living in medium-to-large apartment complexes.

The Boston Public Library, circa 1895, is pretty much the only institution that remains in the Back Bay, other than churches. The Museum of Fine Arts was originally located in Copley Square before it moved down Huntington Ave, opening its first galleries in 1909. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s campus was located near the Square, but it pulled up stakes and relocated to Cambridge in 1916. The Harvard Medical School was in Copley Square for 25-years before moving to Longwood Ave in 1906.

These organizations moved to the Fenway because they ran out of space in the Back Bay. Their needs were for buildings that expanded outwardly, not upwardly, so they changed neighborhoods at the turn of the 20th-century. By default as much as by design, they ended up grouped together, becoming each other’s neighbor.

Major institutions that started elsewhere but ended up in the Fenway include:

• Beth Israel hospital: it opened its doors in Roxbury in 1916 and moved to the Fenway in 1928;
• New England Deaconess hospital: established in 1896, it relocated from the South End to the Fenway in 1907;
• Wheelock College: founded in 1888, it moved to its current location in 1914;
• Childrens Hospital: opened in 1869 in the South End before moving to the Fenway.

These institutions chose the Fenway as their homes due to their proximity to other, similar organizations:

• Symphony Hall: the Boston Symphony Orchestra opened its first season here in 1900;
• First Church of Christ, Scientist: the Mother Church was finished in 1894 and its extension, the domed church, was completed in 1906;
• Northeastern University: founded in 1898, its first classes were held in the YMCA. It relocated in 1913;
• Wentworth Institute of Technology: established in 1904, opened in 1911;
• Isabella Stewart Gardner: the museum opened in 1903;
• Emmanuel College: established in 1919;
• Brigham & Women’s Hospital: established its roots in the 1800’s and in the Fenway in 1900’s;
• Fenway Park: originally playing on fields near Northeastern, the Boston Red Sox relocated here in 1912.

Contrary to what some might think -- that the Fenway neighborhood existed long before the hospitals and colleges arrived -- it was during this time that many of the apartment buildings were built (1899-1925), concurrent or even after the institutions had opened and established themselves.

Therefore, it's not accurate for either group to say, "We were here, first." Residents and institutions have shared the neighborhood for over a century. It's hard to imagine the Fenway without both.

The Back Bay, meanwhile, has its own set of problems. Similar to the Fenway's residents pushing back against the tide to contain hospitals and universities, Back Bay residents are fighting the encroachment of corporations and office towers into its neighborhood.

How successful either group will be has yet to be determined.

The images accompanying this column are from the Boston Public Library's flickr stream. Some rights reserved.