CambridgeSide Galleria Reno/Redev | First Street | East Cambridge

Fully agree. Don't use them often, but they are convenient in a pinch.
 
tysmith95 said:
Luckily there's a circuit city building nearby in Somerville that would be great for a best buy. Only been empty for about 15 years.
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There's also no reason they can't accommodate them on-site. It would mean giving 1-2 floors over to it, but Best Buy can be urban if Target can.
 
Wow! I completely missed this project. Back in undergrad I had an exhibit design internship at the Museum of Science. I would grab lunch at the Galeria every once in a while and would meet friends there after I got out a lot. While it was dated even back then it has a ceritian post-modern charm to it, like the Corner in DTX or the now demolished Worcester Galleria, than made me love it. Yeah it probably needs a lot of help to stay afloat but I can't help but feel a small pang of sadness that it is a goner. In the words of my favorite band, Phantom Planet, "I'm gonna miss the Galleria. It was the only place to go this side of town. Goodbye to the Galleria. I just heard today they are gonna tear it down."
 
found5dollar said:
Wow! I completely missed this project. Back in undergrad I had an exhibit design internship at the Museum of Science. I would grab lunch at the Galeria every once in a while and would meet friends there after I got out a lot. While it was dated even back then it has a ceritian post-modern charm to it, like the Corner in DTX or the now demolished Worcester Galleria, than made me love it. Yeah it probably needs a lot of help to stay afloat but I can't help but feel a small pang of sadness that it is a goner. In the words of my favorite band, Phantom Planet, "I'm gonna miss the Galleria. It was the only place to go this side of town. Goodbye to the Galleria. I just heard today they are gonna tear it down."
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Similar feelings here. It used to be a treat to go to the Galleria as a kid. Even though it was really any other mall on the inside, walking in was like going into a palace. I know post-modernism is considered gaudy and Disneyfied by most, but there's a pageantry to the style that will always be appealing to me. Well, that and unadulterated '90s nostalgia - you can almost hear the Windows 95 startup sound looking at a photo of the canal side of the mall.

I will also be just as sad when the Longwood Galleria eventually gets replaced/redone.
 
New design review documents posted this morning to Cambridge permits website (files dated 3/8):
www.cambridgema.gov

PB-364

special permit application
www.cambridgema.gov www.cambridgema.gov

See: "PB364 Design Review Revised..." (first two files). These reviews cover substantial additions at diametrically opposite corners of the existing mall footprint.

Some highlights from the March 2021 Design Reviews (I didn't realize there would be a pronounced cantilever over the mall):
20 CambridgeSide
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60 First
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Active construction appears to be beginning. Both opposite corners of the complex (former Sears location & former P.F.Chang's) that are getting the additions have construction barriers installed/sidewalk closures. Here's the Sears side:

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Brad Plaid said:
The corner of the Sears store is one of the few PoMo confections around here that actually has any authenticity and merit, kind of too bad it's doomed.
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I agree this is a rare local example of decent PoMo. I'm not a PoMo fan, but I do have some fears about these CambridgeSide redevelopments in general: they've really got to get the ground level right and keep (or re-make, I should say) the 1st street corridor active. I'm worried, but am trying to be cautiously optimistic.
 
I think it's just because it was the new/optimistic/futuristic style when I was a kid growing up, but 90's pomo has a special place in my heart as well. Walking into the Galleria for the first time back in the late 90s was actually pretty impressive for a kid from the sticks. Oh well, onward and upward. I don't feel like building something historic that would last was ever the point of pomo - the whole style was about building something fun in the moment and not taking itself too seriously, right? Tearing it down when it reaches the end of it's useful life feels right for a pomo building.
 
bigpicture7 said:
I agree this is a rare local example of decent PoMo. I'm not a PoMo fan, but I do have some fears about these CambridgeSide redevelopments in general: they've really got to get the ground level right and keep (or re-make, I should say) the 1st street corridor active. I'm worried, but am trying to be cautiously optimistic.
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They have every incentive to get it right, 1st is the main pedestrian conduit between Kendall and Cambridge Xing. Kind of hard to imagine they won't max out this opportunity.
 
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