100 Pier 4 | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

It most likely wasn't their choice. I believe the city controls some of the sidewalk on the Seaport Blvd side and they most likely would have had to go through them
 
Isn't that the outdoor area designated for the Society of arts and Crafts? The Society was designated to occupy 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space on 100 Pier 4 after a competitive process.
 
Yes you must be right. They are in the midst of their build out right now
 
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Sorry for resurrecting a dormant thread, but I was wondering if any AB-ers out there know what this is about?

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I walk the seaport once a week during lunch and I've tried opening this door but it's always locked.

This door saying "Public Observation Room" is on the south-east side of the Pier 4 apartment building opposite the Whiskey Priest.
 
Not much to see...its a second floor lounge with a vending machine that overlooks ABG. Used to always be open.
 
Yeah I've been up there before too. I suspect that someone stole the flatscreen TV.

Probably the most pathetic public amenity on the planet.
 
Nonetheless if it's really public then rights need to be asserted. Seriously.
 
^ These "public amenity" spaces are so dumb. The community gets roughly zero benefit from stuff like that, even if it is open every day as it should be.

They'd be better off fitting out that space as an apartment, renting it for $3k a month, and donating that revenue (after reasonable expenses) to a worthy charity. Or filling it with bunk beds and opening it up to homeless. Or really anything other than an "observation room"...
 
^ These "public amenity" spaces are so dumb. The community gets roughly zero benefit from stuff like that, even if it is open every day as it should be.

They'd be better off fitting out that space as an apartment, renting it for $3k a month, and donating that revenue (after reasonable expenses) to a worthy charity. Or filling it with bunk beds and opening it up to homeless. Or really anything other than an "observation room"...

Oh boy.. that would not go well with the neighbors. Not that I would blame them either.
 
Oh boy.. that would not go well with the neighbors. Not that I would blame them either.

That's the thing with "amenities" like this: they are designed to appear to be benefits for the public while also not actually benefiting the public.

Like, you want something you can point to and say "look, see, we have public amenities!" while at the same time not actually being anything anybody will ever use so that you don't have to deal with it.

Developers/landlords should have to choose: either you don't include "amenities" like this and you pay into an appropriate fund as compensation, or you do include amenities but they have to be actually useful services that are in demand by the community (even if those are a headache to manage).

The opportunity cost of having this "observation room" is easily tens of thousands of dollars per year. That amount of resources could be better spent in so many ways...
 
That's the thing with "amenities" like this: they are designed to appear to be benefits for the public while also not actually benefiting the public.

Like, you want something you can point to and say "look, see, we have public amenities!" while at the same time not actually being anything anybody will ever use so that you don't have to deal with it.

Developers/landlords should have to choose: either you don't include "amenities" like this and you pay into an appropriate fund as compensation, or you do include amenities but they have to be actually useful services that are in demand by the community (even if those are a headache to manage).

The opportunity cost of having this "observation room" is easily tens of thousands of dollars per year. That amount of resources could be better spent in so many ways...

Oh I agree with you that the space is more or less useless as it is. I only took opposition for the part above in the previous quote that I put in bold. There has to be a way to make this space useful without negatively impacting the area. What that is, I do not know. Free multi-function space available for reservation, maybe? *Shrug*
 
Yeah I've been up there before too. I suspect that someone stole the flatscreen TV.

Probably the most pathetic public amenity on the planet.

Why would you have a flatscreen TV in a public observation deck?
 
^ Well, there was a TV mounting bracket, and a bunch of AV wires hanging out of the wall.

Public Observation Room is probably a misleading name. Think of like the waiting room for a dentist office, but with less seating and no magazines. And a window looking out over some water, towards whiskey priest and Commonwealth Pier.
 
I knew I had a photo of this gem somewhere!

Behold! (circa summer 2016)

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