Today is April 21st, and the exact time is 9 31 a.m.

This hearing is being recorded.

It is also being live streamed at Boston.gov backslash city dash council dash TV and broadcast on expenditure channel 8, RCN Channel 82, BIOS Channel 964.

Written comments may be sent to the committee email at CCC.plan D E V at Boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all counselors.

Public testimony will be taken at the end of the hearing.

Individuals will be called on in order which they have signed up to testify, and they have two minutes.

If you are interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sheet at near the entrance of the chamber.

If you're looking to testify virtually, please email our central staff liaison Shane Pack at SHANE.pac at Boston.gov for the link, and your name will be added to the list.

Today's hearing is on Docket 0771.

Communication was received from the city clerk from the Boston Landmarks Commission for City Council action on the designation of the petition.

This matter was sponsored by Michelle Wu and was referred to the committee on April 8, 2026.

Today I am joined by my colleague, Councillor Flynn.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for being here.

Cobley Plaza Hotel is located in the Back Bay Architectural District and a defining defining bordering building to Copley Square.

As the study report notes, it has played a major role not only in Boston's civic and cultural life, but in the evolution of the hospitality industry itself, introducing innovations such as the first international hotel reservation system and becoming the first hotel in the world to accept credit cards.

This hotel significance is also architectural, designed by Henry Janeway Hardenberg.

The Copley Plaza is a mon is a monumental example of Italian Renaissance revival, known for its grand limestone and brick facade, richly ornamental interiors, and commanding presence as a defining feature of Copley Square.

Some of my favorite pictures in Boston I've taken there.

So this is an important opportunity to recognize the Copley Plaza Hotel as a treasured historic building and to reaffirm its importance as the preserving uh of preserving landmarks for future generations.

I look forward to this hearing and hearing more about the significance of the building and the effort behind this designation from our panelists here this morning.

Um we are joined by Elizabeth Sherva, Deputy Director of the Office of Historic Preservation, and Jennifer Goggler, architectural historian from the Boston Landmarks Commission from the Office of Historic Preservation.

Love Copley, love the people, love the neighborhood, love the Back Bay area.

Want to learn more about this proposed designation.

Had the opportunity to spend several hours walking around yesterday with my wife and um saw a lot of back bay and south end residents talking about their love of the community, um, how inclusive it is, how engaged it is, and how they respect historic preservation.

I want to support this proposal, but I do want to learn more about it.

And I think a lot of residents want to learn more about it as well, even though they do support it because residents really are fascinated with Boston's architectural history, the fascinated by this area of the city as well.

So many historic firsts have happened here.

And want to learn more about the project and want to support the project as well.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

We will go to our panelists, Elizabeth Sherba and Jennifer Gogler, if you would like to give this presentation.

Thank you, Chair Darkin and the Committee on Planning Development and Transportation for having us here to present today on the Copley Plaza Hotel in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston.

Today we will provide a brief history of the hotel and its architectural importance.

On January 24th, 1989, the Boston Landmarks Commission accepted a petition to study the designation of the Copley Plaza Hotel in Back Bay as a landmark under Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975 as amended.

On March 3, 2026, the Boston Landmarks Commission posted a study report on the proposed landmark.

On March 24th, 2026, the Boston Landmarks Commission voted unanimously to accept the study report and designate the Copley Plaza Hotel a landmark.

We're just trying to go to the next slide.

You might have to point it towards there, the back.

Yeah, there we go.

Okay.

Perfect.

So the Copley Plaza Hotel opened in 1912.

It's historically significant to the city, the Commonwealth, and the New England region, as one of Boston's most prominent hotels for over 110 years.

The hotel is significant to the evolution of the hospitality industry, as it was the first hotel in the world to have an international reservation system and to accept credit cards in addition to other advances.

The hotel has hosted many notable events and guests, including most American presidents since 1912, and many foreign dignitaries and entertainment celebrities.

Designed by architect Henry Janeway Hardenberg, the Copley Plaza Hotel is also an architecturally significant example of the Italian Renaissance revival style, articulated as a palazzo of pale brick and rusticated limestone blocks with a massive and graceful swell front and flanking wings.

The Copley Plaza Hotel, I think back one.

Yeah, the Cobley Plaza Hotel is a character-defining element of Copley Square, which is also bordered by the Boston Public Library and Trinity Church.

By the 1870s, Copley Square had begun to emerge as a new civic center lined by monumental institutional and religious buildings.

The design of the Copley Plaza Hotel harmonizes with the adjacent Boston Public Library by prominent architects McKim Mead and White, completed in 1895.

As you can see here on the map on the right side, the proposed boundary of the designation corresponds to the boundary of the parcel.

And as you can see in the floor plan on the left, the proposed designation also includes the interior spaces that you see here indicated in yellow, which are all located on the lobby level.

And I would just like to go through some images because these interiors really are truly fantastic.

So this is a couple images from Peacock Alley, which is one of the main sort of hallways that leads to the lobby of the hotel.

The exceptional interior of this hotel is significant for its elaborative, elaborate decorative finishes.

The interior treatments included the use of mosaic, as you can see here, it's really exceptional.

Marble plaster work, painted murals, and other architectural decorative finishes by skilled designers and craftsmen.

In the 1970s, the original first floor plans and historic photographs were used to accurately restore many original features of the hotel.

The hotel's foyers and concourses, such as Peacock Alley, are the visitors' first introduction to the grandeur of the interior.

The floors are clad in multicolored mosaic tile, and the walls have decorative crown molding, but are largely simple planar surfaces in contrast to the elaborate arches, pendentives, and skylights of the ceiling.

The next images of the lobby.

This is one of the most prominent spaces, and its most prominent architectural feature is this elaborate coffered ceiling that you see at the top of the image, into which are set skylights and barrel vaults.

Also prominent here are the marble columns with foliate and palm capitals.

We noted in the study report that the front desk of the hotel is not original and has been replaced several times.

The grand ballroom shown here is the most magnificent room in the hotel and also one of the least altered.

The ballroom is sumptuously decorated with decorative molding and plaster work, and on the south side, there's a mezzanine with service space below, which is what you're looking at in the photograph.

There's also a raised stage on the west end, and on the opposite side of the room, stairs lead up to a rostrum.

The next room is the oval room.

This is distinctive for its oval shape and the arched niches that march along the perimeter of the room.

There have been substantial alterations to this room.

So while this room is included in the designation, the altered features are not considered character-defining features that need to be preserved.

And then the last two spaces are the St.

James room, which is particularly notable for its decorative ceiling, including border molding and a large elaborate center medallion.

And as you can see, the room also has detailed wall paneling and doorways with prominent entablatures.

And this room has been little altered from its original appearance.

And then the last interior space included in the designation is the singleton room, which is notable for vaulted ceilings, fireplace, and wood wing scoting, paneling, and molding.

There are some alterations that were identified in this space, including the opening up of the wall on either side of the fireplace to create doorways.

So as stated before, the Boston Landmarks Commission voted to designate the Copley Plaza Hotel as a landmark under Chapter 772.

The Copley Plaza Hotel meets criteria A, B, and D for designation as a landmark as established in section four of chapters 772.

The effect of this designation shall be that review by the Boston Landmarks Commission and/or Commission staff shall be required for any proposed alterations to the following elements.

The exterior envelope of the building and the specified interior spaces.

Prior to the landmarks commission hearing and during the hearing, public comment was accepted on the study report.

Mr.

Sidiki, the general manager of the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel submitted a letter expressing support for the designation of the hotel as a landmark on behalf of the owner, iconic Copley Plaza Hotel LLC.

The commission received two written comments in support of designation from the general public.

We also received a letter from Meg Miser Cohen, the president and executive director of the Back Bay Association expressing support for the designation.

Thank you, Chair Durkin and committee members for your interest.

Thank you.

I think my first question is you know, we've had a conversation prior in my district about internal landmarks that are privately owned.

So this would be one of the most substantial, you know, sort of I I guess I'm curious, sort of what made some of these internal spaces um worthy of.

I mean, obviously you can see it from you know from the slide deck you just showed, just like how grand some of these spaces are.

Um, but there are other spaces in my district that people have fought to internally designate that have not been considered and had there's been like pushback from the uh internal designation.

So I was just curious.

Obviously, this has the support of the owner and other people in the community, but I'm just curious sort of what what reaches the level of wanting to preserve things on internally.

The petition that was accepted had highlighted a number of spaces on the interior to landmark.

And as we went through the study report process and we took a look at the alterations in the spaces, um, for example, the the oak room, um, that had received quite quite a number of alterations over the years, and we didn't um feel comfortable landmarking that interior due to how many changes were made.

Um, also the owner was um not looking to also landmark the interior of that space, knowing that it was um a space that changes a little bit more.

Um so that our landmarking is in direct response to the petition and and investigating those interior spaces that were listed in the petition.

So, if um if someone were to submit a landmark petition for an internal um space of a privately owned building, that petition could be accepted by the landmarks commission.

It could be.

Yes, in our enabling legislation, it does allow for interior spaces to be designated if so specified.

Um, I do think there's a distinction between privately owned and privately used, which we tend not to do, versus privately owned but publicly accessible.

So the hotel spaces are very public, like the lobby.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was trying to get at.

Um, because at least there was one example in my district where the public had never seen the inside of the building.

Or, you know, maybe certain individuals had seen the inside of the building.

So that's why I thought it was important to ask that this question, because obviously these spaces are used by the community.

Um, I mean, I just you flicking through the pictures of of the internal uh parts of this.

I have memories in every single one of those rooms um from you know being a fundraiser, being a um civic leader and being um on the city council.

So um so we know how important this hotel is, and we know how important the insides of this hotel are um to the community, and so I'm really grateful that you guys have come before the city council today.

I want to yield to the district counselor for this landmark um petition to see if he has any questions.

Thank you.

Again, thank you to the landmark team that's here.

Who who um actually proposed designating this site as a landmark?

I'm gonna pull up the original petition.

Um the options are registered voters of Boston or a landmarks commissioner or the mayor.

Um, but let me look at who it was for this one.

It was registered voters of the city of Boston.

Um, so it looks like they had 10 um signatures, and it looks like they were pretty local.

Um I'm seeing a lot of 02118, 02116.

Um, so yeah, registered voters.

Um Madam Chair, for the record, may I receive a copy of the the people that um proposed this?

Yes, I believe that it's in the study report somewhere.

I'm looking for it, but we'll get that to you.

Okay, thank you.

Um th yeah, thank you for that answer.

But and and I support this product 100%.

But what would happen if a private company, although it although it's public in nature where the public can use it such as a hotel, but what would happen if a private ownership didn't feel like they wanted to for whatever reason that they didn't want to designated as a landmark, even though even though residents wanted it or some people proposed it, what would what would the outcome be?

So you're saying in in general terms.

Yeah, just in general, yeah.

Um so through the landmark process, you know, the petition comes before us, then there's a study report.

Um the owner can speak at the commission hearing in which we take the study report and designation vote.

Um they can submit a comment to the mayor because the next step in the process once the commission votes to designate is the stop of the mayor's desk.

And then finally to the city council.

Um the last stop in becoming a landmark is approval by the city council.

Um and so there is an option to approve, um, deny or take no action by city council.

So they have an option to engage with the commission, um, the mayor, and yourselves.

Okay.

So the city council would vote on it basically.

Right.

We did um in my time as chair of this committee, we did not um approve one landmark.

So that has happened before.

Yeah, right.

Okay.

Um so that would mean well, just shifting a little bit.

So the outside of the building would not be able to be uh touched at all.

Is that is that accurate?

No.

In fact, um, within the study report, we have a section called standards and uh criteria, and it really calls out the character defining features.

And in this case, for Copley Plaza Hotel, it's the interior spaces that we've designated, and the exterior.

The standards and criteria allow for changes, but they're very there the changes are then reviewed by Boston Landmarks Commission staff or the commission itself.

Um typical changes that we see are repair and maintenance, but then also sometimes we do see additions, um, you know, window replacement, different um variations of change on the buildings.

Window replacements m maybe because the windows were declining or deteriorating.

But that would be on that would be natural to fix those if if they were declining, but would there be any structural um changes to the outside to not to not to um address maintenance issues but to expand it?

Right.

were declining or deteriorating but that would be on that would be natural to fix those if if they were declining but would there be any structural um changes to the outside to not to not to um address maintenance issues but to expand it right so um additions onto historic buildings um do occur and they they would be coming before the Boston Landmarks Commission to look to see if any additions or exterior improvements um are sympathetic with the historic building itself and how many how many of these types of projects would you normally receive in a year petitions uh it like exterior change projects yeah exterior change um anything that may take a vote is it is it a robust um department where you were you're singing a lot of landmark designation petitions well a couple things so for the designs um our staff uh I can pull the numbers but it's thousands of applications a year and those come from individual landmarks and they do come from um within the districts um so some of those things are exempt some of the some of the projects are approved under administrative approval they follow the standards and criteria and so we are able to approve them um administratively and then there's others that are brought to the commissions so that are either brought to the Boston Landmarks commission or brought to the individual district commissions uh for review and approval sometimes um not all the details are there for those exterior changes and so sometimes the minutiae details of a project are remanded to staff um to ensure continuity and that the project happens as it's proposed okay and and my final question um and this is a general question I've been active in supporting um disability rights for many years I'm active with the disabled American veterans one thing I always focus on when we have a particular project for designation um landmark designation status what impact if any but what impact would this have on persons with disabilities is that something you factor in and if it is uh what do you look for in terms of a proposal about accessibility spaces do you then go in if you're going inside a building to review the grand ballroom but then do you look inside the building to ensure buildings are 100% accessible it's not within our purview to ensure accessibility for any of our landmark buildings but that being said we do work closely with the disabilities commission and um with MAAB and the Mass Historical Commission for any of the projects that do uh want to propose accessibility improvements um so I feel that the architects who work in historic preservation and are concerned with um accessibility can become very creative and provide accessibility to these buildings in a way that's very sympathetic with the with the historic preservation of the buildings well thank you and that's that's a major priority for me is at least as a city councillor asking about any impact at all on persons with disabilities how we can improve accessibility to to spaces and you know even though I support a product I still want to do my due diligence of asking about the impacts it would have or not have on persons with disabilities.

Thank you madam chair thank you so much Counselor Flynn and we've been joined by Councillor Louis and Councillor Louis and you have a floor good morning um uh thank you everyone for being here thank you madam chair for hosting this hearing um I saw the presentation and this is a hotel of uh important significance uh historic significance to the city um I saw you included has hosted almost every president since 1912 also hosted every prom that I attended and I know yesterday the clap off for the runners um happened there and it's a hotel that really uplifts and supports our union uh siblings and so just wanted to enthusiastically support this hotel uh because they show up so in so many different important ways for the city of Boston um and I think it's an important landmark given the historic um uh nature of the building um both from the exterior and the interior so just here to um voice my support but I also wanted to check in to see how many other hotels in the city of Boston are landmarked oh I would have to look into that and get back to you um I'm sure it's not the only one but off the top of my head I can't come up with that number do you have a sense?

Or do you know any of the other hotels in the city that are landmarked?

The Ames building but that's not a hotel anymore.

Right.

It's doors.

Oh, it's Omni Parker House.

Omni.

Yes.

What about the is it the Newberry?

The one that's right on the corner of Newberry and the landmark.

No, okay.

That would be part of a district, the Back Bay District.

Okay.

Yeah.

Some of the hotels in the city are part of historic districts, so they're not individual landmarks, but they're still protected.

Okay.

And that's an example of one.

Okay.

Yeah.

It's called the Newberry, right?

Am I is that the name of the it was formerly the Ritz called?

And before that, the Ritz.

Um okay, those are my questions.

Thank you.

I look forward to supporting this uh landmark.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I think it'll be thrilling to walk into the Cobley Plaza Hotel and have it be a landmark.

And and some of those, I mean, specific specifically the St.

James room, I've always had like a lot of affection for.

So it's really it's gonna be incredible for us to uh be able to celebrate this.

And I plan to bring this landmark forward at the next um council meeting.

So um I know we have two hearings this morning, um, so I want to give you a chance for any closing statements.

Uh we just we look forward to bringing this um full circle and it becoming a landmark.

Okay, thank you so much.

And so this hearing on Docket 0771 is adjourned.