The future of a North End visitor center and public restrooms in the Michelangelo annex on Hull Street is the subject of a letter forwarded by a local group to the officers of Old North Church and Paul Revere House. The Friends of Copp’s Hill Burying Ground have requested that the two Freedom Trail sites convene a community meeting to determine the fate of the North End Visitor Center, Inc. previously operating under the direction of ONC and PRH. Thomas Schiavoni on behalf of the Copp’s Hill group has asked Vicar Stephen Ayers and Nina Zanieri to delay filing paperwork with the Corporations Division of the Secretary of State which would dissolve the tax-exempt visitor center before the possible transfer of fiduciary responsibilities to other neighborhood stakeholders could first be explored. The visitor center has been closed since 2010 when funding was lost due to cuts in the state budget.
mr schiavoni makes a great point “it to address the basic needs of the north end community” if rev ayers wants to be a good neighbor he should relent and grant the community its wish and allow other groups or individuals to take up this challenge and again make use of this space going to waste.
First, I would like to express my support for reopening the North End Visitor Center, and particularly the restroom.
As a resident that lives near Old North Church, I have frequently observed people urinating in and around the church and the Copp’s Hill Burying ground (and my alley, and the Prado, and the overlook on Copp’s Hill, and the Elliot School parking lot, etc), and I believe having a public restroom in the area would help reduce the occurrences.
Second, I am curious if there are any options to help fund the Visitor Center via parking/unloading fees for the numerous tourism buses that clog Commercial. On a daily basis, North End residents are inconvenienced by the buses that are illegally double-parked in front of Pupolo Park, and on numerous occasions I have found that I cannot use the crosswalk at the intersection of Hull and Commercial due to buses illegally blocking it. It only makes sense that the businesses that flood the neighborhood with tourists help fund a public bathroom, and it would be an extra win if we could provide a better system for handling the buses (such as a dedicated drop-off or parking zone).
I hope given this long letter Thomas is actually a CPA and has the ability to not only help with the secretary of state filing which is due next month, but more importantly the Form 990 and Form PC both of which are in depth tax returns that even most accountants have trouble with. The Form 990 is actually a 10 page return that requires various schedules and explanations These two forms are the items that drive the cost up and which makes closing the corporation the right thing to do. Although my guess is Thomas is a lawyer who think these two returns just produce themselves.
We all owe a large debt of gratitude to Tom Schiavoni for the trouble he has gone to in order to find a solution to this problem and coordinate the groups involved. I don’t understand why the last commentator assumed he is ignorant of the work involved. I would second the suggestion of finding an income source in the tour busses and would add that the busses that park along the Greenway, next to the parking garage for Quincy Market, should be included.
This is a problem that should never have been allowed to develop.
Despite cloaking his identity within the anonymity of an online pseudonym, Salem Street Kid reveals an inordinate knowledge of the details of non-profit filings and, in particular, of the North End Visitors Center, Inc. itself Apparently well versed in the comings and goings of this particular charitable entity, Mr. Kid is just the right fellow to weigh in at a community forum on the fate of the Hull Street restrooms – with or without his ski mask and droll (or is that,troll?) tone.
Tom Schiavoni