Bill Rouvalis died, and our first thought was how sorry we are for him. Given the American life expectancy of 79.2 years, according to the Economist’s “Pocket World in Figures,” Bill, at 69, got cheated out of about 10 years.
In addition to feeling sorry for Bill, we feel sorry for ourselves. Long-time business owners are rooted in our community. They provide necessary goods and services, but they also provide satisfaction, stability and security. Their loss shakes us up. “What am I going to do now?” you’re probably asking yourself if you have been a customer. It’s at a time like this when you realize how important each individual is in a community.
Bill had all kinds of relationships and participated in all kinds of traditions in the neighborhood. For example, when his neighbors, Gael and Connaught Mahony, had their usual celebratory dinners at the Hungry I on Halloween and Valentine’s Day, they expected Bill, and his friends, Peter Ballerin, the Hungry I’s owner and chef, and Lynne Wolverton of Linens on the Hill, to join them—for no reason at all. It was just fun.
Bill’s death may have reminded you of the shop’s appeal. Visitors are dazzled when they come upon Rouvalis Flowers’s display. They stop, take pictures and envy us for having what they never imagined. They want a shop just like it in their own neighborhood.
The shop’s appeal and convenience makes one wonder about a decision the Beacon Hill Civic Association made in its early days. The fledgling organization encouraged zoning that removed businesses throughout the residential part of the neighborhood. Typically that meant that existing businesses could stay, but once a space was unoccupied for two years or more, it was to be replaced with residential use.
The majority of these shops were on the north slope of the Hill, but the south slope and the flat had a number of them. Was the new zoning an attempt to upgrade the neighborhood? After all, living above a store was the kind of thing immigrants, not full-fledged New Englanders, did. Perhaps it was hoped that collecting the shops on a few streets rather than dispersed throughout the Hill would reduce noise and trash, since we know from 1920s flyers and posters that trash was as annoying then on the Hill as it is now.
In any case, it has taken almost 90 years to get rid of the shops in the interior of the Hill, but they’re not all gone.
Bill’s was one that survived. In the 1980s, Rouvalis Flowers found a space that was commercial as long as anyone can remember. It had been the long-time home of the Brigham Provision Company. The proprietors, Leonard and Rita Kozowski, known locally as Mr. and Mrs. Leonard, ran a small select grocery business, with custom butchering and fancy goods. It was not self-service. You called or dropped off your list. They would fill your order and let themselves into your house with the key you kept at their shop. They would put your order into your fridge if you asked them to.
It was a blow to the neighborhood when Mr. and Mrs. Leonard got along in years and closed the business. But Bill did right by the space. He kept the Kozowskis’ glass-door, walk-in refrigerator, original shelving and tin ceiling.
I live on one of the streets that had the most commercial activity on the ground floor. Perhaps I wouldn’t have liked this street as well in the 1920s when it was buzzing with shoe repair, butchering and dry cleaning.
But Rouvalis Flowers shows that getting rid of ALL the shops in the Hill’s residential sections might not have been the best idea.
The former shops are awkward as residences since their big windows were designed for display and not for privacy. Some of the former shop windows have been rudely filled in with plywood and windows lacking good proportion. It’s not ideal architecturally.
And the lack of shops has compromised safety. A shop that is open through the evening hours provides lights and a bit of foot traffic, making the small area safer. Even on walkable Beacon Hill, sidewalks can sometimes be deserted, especially at night. Perhaps we wouldn’t have had some of the recent muggings if the victims had been near a shop.
Some shops of this kind remain. Mayfair on the Hill, at the corner of West Cedar and Phillips, provides an updated version of the same hair salon service that the neighborhood enjoyed 60 years ago. The small stores on Myrtle Street and Anderson Street truly make life convenient when a resident wants to pick up a loaf of bread or carton of milk without walking all the way down to Charles or Cambridge streets. Shops and restaurants still exist happily along lower Chestnut Street.
Will Rouvalis Flowers remain? No decision has been made. Bill’s family got through last week as families do.. There may not be a resolution for a while. Meanwhile Rob Moran and the rest of Bill’s staff are running the place and we enjoy the service, even as we miss Bill.