Norman B. Leventhal
American urban developer
Norman B. Leventhal (August 30, 1917 – April 5, 2015) was an American businessman, the chairman of The Beacon Companies, a developer and manager of office buildings, housing, and hotels. Leventhal was best known for his work in civic improvements to the city of Boston, and consequently had a park named after him of which he oversaw the creation.
Biography
Born and raised to an immigrant Jewish family in Boston, Leventhal was a 1933 graduate of Boston Latin School and a 1938 graduate of MIT with a B.S. in engineering. During World War II, he and his brother Robert worked as naval architects at the Charlestown Navy Yard. In 1946, he and his brother co-founded Beacon Construction Company; they began with the remodeling of stores but soon expanded into larger projects including 40 toll booths on the New York State Thruway, the construction of post offices nationwide and then into the construction of public and military housing including at Fort Devens. In 1972, his brother Robert died at the age of 58 and his sons, Alan and Mark, and son-in-law Bill Sidman (who died in 2005) joined the firm renamed The Beacon Companies.
At Beacon, Leventhal helped direct several major civic improvement projects in Boston, including Rowes Wharf, Center Plaza, One Post Office Square, and 5,100 units of affordable housing. Beacon's conversion of Post Office Square from a 2+1⁄2-story parking garage to a lush park, with parking underground, in 1992 is considered emblematic of Leventhal's vision: to enliven and make hospitable Boston's public spaces. "We must constantly work to find ways to make the riches of Boston available to all her citizens, not just the most fortunate among us," he was quoted in a 1997 Boston Globe article. Post Office Square Park was dedicated and named Norman B. Leventhal Park the same year.
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