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work that city: downtown bostonprevious|next
Downtown Boston is the home to Boston's financial, retail, and government centers. In fact, Government Center makes up one of the primary stops on the Work That City walk. Government Center, like much of Boston, is the product of redevelopment. Government Center is located in the area once known as Scollay Square. By the 1950s, community redevelopers condemned Scollay Square as a center of vice. It was known for the burlesque houses and bawdy entertainment enjoyed by sailors coming to port. In 1958, Mayor Hynes and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) began the plan to redevelop Central Boston. Most of the plan was carried out under Mayor Collins. Collins appointed Edward Logue and Monsignor Lally to head the BRA. In 1960, the BRA merged with the City Planning Board. This new organization oversaw Boston's comprehensive redevelopment initiative. On September 22, 1960 Mayor Colloins announced the plan to simultaneously redevelop 10 areas of Boston, covering 25% of the land area of the city. The project for Government Center in Scollay Square was the first project in this plan and the most visible. In 1959, I.M. Pei created the design for Government Center. He attempted to unify the four types of buildings in the area: business, government, financial, and historic-residential. Through his design, Pei worked to make new buildings work in harmony with the old. Some critics love the upside down stone ziggurat, while others disapprove of this "Aztec tomb." One of the central buildings of Government Center is Boston's City Hall. BRA chose the design for City Hall from a national competition. Next to City Hall is the JFK Federal Office Building. On the west side of the plaza is a park marking the location of Old Hanover St. It was from his house on this street that Joseph Warren dispatched Paul Revere and William Dawes to ride to Lexington and warn J. Hancock and S. Adams. In the NW corner of the plaza is a monument commemorating Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson. Bell and Watson invented the telephone on the fifth floor of 109 Old Court St., a building that stood on this site. Quincy Market was built in 1826 to alleviate cramped retail conditions in Faneuil Hall. It was named after Mayor Josiah Quincy. It was redeveloped in the 1970s by the BRA, which deemed it seedy and unsavory. It is estimated that 50,000 visit the market each day. Jonah Westerman would like you all to note that Sam Adams, in front of Quincy Market is "a little shitfaced." Since 1708 the site where Faneuil Hall now stands has been a marketplace. In 1734 there was a marketplace which was destroyed by a mob of people dressed as clergymen (those wacky Bostonians!). Peter Faneuil offered to build a market to replace the original building. Despite some protest, the building was completed in 1742. By the beginning o the 19th century, there was no longer enough room to house the town meetings and gatherings held in Faneuil Hall. The building was enlarged, and continued to host famous speakers such as Wendell Philips, Charles Sumner, Samuel Adams, and Daniel Webster. Today Faneuil Hall is a popular shopping center and tourist site which receives more visitors per year than Disney World (more than 15 million!). Passing by the Fleet Center, you might mention the 2004 Democratic National Convention and various related topics (including the response of police to protestors). Also mention the increased surveillance (read: video cameras) the city is keeping in place in neighborhoods even after the convention is over. FYI: The grasshopper-shaped weather vane on the top of the building is fashioned after the weather vane of the London Royal Exchange. Sir Thomas Grisham, the founder of the London Royal Exchange, was discovered as a baby by kids searching for grasshoppers. To commemorate this discovery, Grisham placed a grasshopper weathervane on the roof of the London Exchange. Faneuil was a member of the Exchange, and he liked the grasshopper idea. Downtown Crossing is an outdoor shopping center which houses the two largest department stores in Boston (Filene's and Macy's). Check out Filene's Basement for some fabulous deals. Often FUP tours use the bathrooms in the basement of Macy's (men's is past the luggage and women's is near the children's clothing), but certain leaders have been inordinately distracted by the display of purses near the escalators, so be warned that the bathroom stop does entail some risk. Downtown Boston Links -Downtown Crossing Associaton -Bay Village Neighborhood Association -Faneuil Hall Marketplace -Boston's Old City Hall -Boston Redevelopment Authority -Boston for Dummies previous|next |
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