A Night Out in Historic Downtown New Bedford

If you haven’t been to Downtown New Bedford in a while, it’s time to take a walk around. Don’t wear heels though, the cobblestones will kill ya. I know the ladies like heels, but the twisted ankle is not worth it. Trust me, wear flats!

I got tickets for my husband and I along with another couple to go see the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra the other day. I’d never been to a fancy-schmancy symphony orchestra before, so we made a whole night of it. Got all dressed up, went to have tapas and some drinks down by the waterfront, then window shopped our way over to the symphony when it was time. Though I am glad I got to experience the Symphony Orchestra, I learned – to my great shame – that I am enthusiastically NOT a fan of classical music. That is not to say that the Orchestra wasn’t absolutely WONDERFUL. I’m certain it was. It is simply not my jam. Sitting in the dark and listening to the music was great for about an hour. After that, it was all I could do not to nod off. Although nodding off might have actually been the perfect end to the evening, however, I got the distinct impression that this was not a crowd that would be pleased to see me drooling onto my program.

header_2011So I took two things away from the evening. First, classical music? Not for me. Second, New Bedford is actually pretty awesome. There were all these neat little shops and artsy places that I absolutely want to go back and check out, and plenty of restaurants to try when we go again. One of the coolest things about New Bedford is that you get to experience the hip, happening, fun stuff inside of some beautiful historic buildings.

Maybe it’s just me, but I find it exciting when old buildings are brought back to life and put to new use. The experience is even greater when I have the opportunity to be a part of one of those renovations. We recently had the great honor of helping Whelan Associates renovate a gem of a building in Downtown New Bedford. The Standard Times article about the renovation neglected to feature pictures of the awesome “state-of-the-art energy efficient Unico (Navien) HVAC system” that we installed (a shocking oversight on their part, in my opinion), but you can see them here along with some of our other spectacular installs. To read more about the historic building project, here’s an excerpt from the S-T article with a link to see the full article below.

Whelan Associates renovates historic National Park building

Bill Whelan of Whelan Associates looks over renovated work done at 70 North Second St. located in the Waterfront Historic District Thursday morning as his company plans to move into the building June 11. (Photo by Michael Smith)
Bill Whelan of Whelan Associates looks over renovated work done at 70 North Second St. located in the Waterfront Historic District Thursday morning as his company plans to move into the building June 11. (Photo by Michael Smith)
By Kathleen McKiernan, kmckiernan@s-t.com
With four working fireplaces, a new heating and air conditioning system in the basement, insulated walls and energy efficient windows, the former Haile Luther House at 70 North Second Street has undergone a transformation.

Whelan Associates, a provider of strategic real estate services company, has relocated its headquarters to the historic building after two years of renovation and preservation work. The company, which specializes in commercial real estate and development, established itself in New Bedford about 13 years ago. Its chairman, William N. Whelan was the former chairman of Spaulding and Slye Collier Intl., a prominent Boston development company and he joined forces with his son, William M. Whelan, a former vice president of the State Street Corp. in Boston. The company has most recently operated out of the Sandpiper Air building on Airport Road.

The three-floor building at 70 North Second St., known as the Haile Luther House, was built in 1840 on the corner of 3rd Street (now Acushnet Avenue) and Grinnell Street.

Click here to read the rest of the article…