Alliance Appoints New Board Members

Gill Fishman
A life-long resident of the Boston area, Gill Fishman grew up in Roxbury, graduated with honors from Harvard College with a degree in Economics, earned a Masters in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and has studied at the Harvard School of Education as well as at MIT.

He is a nationally-recognized designer with a broad range of experience in all fields of design and communications and his firm, Gill Fishman Associates, has been honored with more than 400 national design awards.

Mr. Fishman is a founding committee member of New Center of Arts & Culture, co-founder of Water Music, Inc./Concert Cruise/JazzBoat, an original member of The Great Boston Kite Festival and a founding committee member of First Night, Inc., organizations all directly involved with the enhancement of life within the urban environment.


Jean Abouhamad
Originally from Beirut, Lebanon, Jean Abouhamad came to the United States to attend Columbia University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and also received the Jewell M. Garrelts Award for outstanding promise of scholarly and professional achievement in civil engineering. He went on to earn a Masters in Engineering in Structural Engineering from Cornell University in 1987.

Mr. Abouhamad is founder and president of Sea-Dar Enterprises, Inc. which includes Sea-Dar Real Estate and Sea-Dar Construction. In 2009, Sea-Dar Construction received a Preservation Achievement Award from the Alliance for work done on 0 Marlborough Street/6 Arlington Street in the Back Bay.

Mr. Abouhamad is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section, ASCE and the Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts and is also involved with the South End Historical Society and Brookline Youth Soccer.

Tim Pattison
Tim Pattison is Director of Real Estate at Partners HealthCare, where he oversees the system's large leased property portfolio and is also responsible for a wide range of other real estate transactions including the ground lease of the former Charles Street Jail to the developers of the Liberty Hotel.

Before joining Partners, Mr. Pattison was with two national consulting firms providing real estate counsel to corporations, financial institutions, developers, non-profit organizations and government agencies. Prior to that, he spent three years developing office, retail and residential real estate in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and eight years in urban planning with the City of Boston.

Mr. Pattison earned an M.A. in History from Cambridge University and received a Master of City Planning degree from MIT as well as a Masters in Real Estate Development from the MIT Center for Real Estate.

Alliance Requests Review of Stuart Street Area

The Boston Preservation Alliance is seeking to ensure that the historic significance of buildings in the Stuart Street area will be properly studied in the wake of anticipated new development. Last week, Liberty Mutual announced plans for a major expansion and development project in the area. The Alliance looks forward to working with Liberty Mutual to support the company’s plans for expansion while ensuring that important historic resources are protected.

A first step in the process has been for the Alliance to request that the Boston Landmarks Commission review the survey forms for a number of buildings in the area. The most recent surveys for these buildings were conducted in 1980 and 1990. It is common for surveys to be reviewed after a period of several decades because new information and the passing of time often change perspectives about their significance. This review may also impact a pending zoning change for the area, which is under development by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The proposed new zoning would include incentives for historic preservation for buildings that are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. If buildings are deemed to have greater significance, they may be subject to added incentives.

The Stuart Street area contains a remarkably eclectic array of buildings, from the imposing, fortress-like First Corps of Cadets Armory (1891-1897) to the classical revival Salada Tea Building (1916) to the mid-century Modern Salvation Army Building.

“The diversity of architecture tells a remarkable story of the city’s evolution over time,” said Sarah D. Kelly, executive director of the Boston Preservation Alliance, “New development and contemporary architecture have the potential to add yet another layer of history to this area. The critical task will be to ensure that new construction compliments and enhances its surroundings.”