City Hall Discussion - Redevelopment - Preservation - Relocation

Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

ngb_anim8 said:
That wasteland of a plaza is the real problem. Even if Menino gets his wish and moves city hall to the waterfront, it would be great if they could just re-purpose the existing city-hall. Raze the plaza and redevelop it.
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It's likely that the sale and redevelopment of City Hall would leave the plaza largely untouched due to the aforementioned problems with the Feds worrying about drug dealers and terrorists looking into their windows at the JFK building.

I think the best we can hope for is another median strip park.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

The Feds are the worst NIMBYs of all. Move them to the waterfront too.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Re: re-do and repurposing of the CHP wasteland

well -- ok the BBQ fest was a great use

Anyway -- I don't think the Feds in the JFK are worried about drug dealers looking in through the windows -- its the drive through terrorists that they fear -- particularly big trucks full of stuff that goes boom!

Take a look at what was done at Federal Reserve Bank Plaza -- they actually did a nice job of landscaping against terrorist threats. It?s a bit of an irony that FRB Boston spared relatively little money on the landscaping ? but what looks like an elegant grouping of plantings, paths, hills and furniture hides deeply embedded anti-truck barriers

I don?t think that JFK would have to do quite as much landscaping ? but a sinuous series of gardens could easily be built adjacent to the newly reopened 2 lane Hanover Street that would connect the North End to downtown. The opposite side of new Hanover (former City Hall footprint ) is an ideal place for a mega-tower (1 Hanover or better yet call it Hanover House ? maybe the British Royal Family would want to invest!)

Westy
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

The non-City Hall discussion needs to break off into a separate thread.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Breaking news 1:02 PM
Boston City Hall evacuated
Fire trucks and ambulances have responded to City Hall Plaza. There is no word yet as to what prompted the evacuation.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Menino was trying Texmex for lunch?
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Hearing will debate City Hall move

BOSTON. The brewing battle over whether to move City Hall to a new location on the Waterfront district will continue this afternoon where the building currently rests ? Government Center.

City officials and community leaders will debate the issue at City Hall at 4 p.m. City Councilor Michael Flaherty, one of the most vocal opponents of the plan, will preside over the hearing.

In late 2006, Mayor Thomas Menino floated the idea of moving City Hall to Drydock 4 in South Boston. The area is one of the city?s fastest growing neighborhoods, with the development of the new ICA, convention center and condo buildings in recent years, as well as the upcoming Fan Pier project.

In 1988, Menino initially explored the idea of moving City Hall. But he said in 2006 there was greater market demand for such prime real estate in Government Center, which could allow the city to build a state-of-the-art facility elsewhere.

But critics have touted the current location?s history as well its convenience for residents using public transportation.
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Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

tit for tat....if they sell City Hall and it goes under the wrecking claw...they had better force the stipulation to replace it with a piece of celebrity architecture....has Calatrava ever worked with red brick before???

If by some miracle City Hall ever gets declared a landmark...why not make it into a hotel or a haunted house themed venue?

Seriously though I like City Hall...I just don't like the plaza

If they ensconced City Hall with green and glass and also built around it's Haymarket side, add some world class scultpures...

There is no need to move it to South Boston other than for the political proponents to pander to the remaining natives in the outer neighborhoods who know as much about Boston as they do Ireland.

Sorry if I sound a little bitter...I just like city hall :eek:

Why not blow up the Government Services Center before even considering getting rid of our Brutalist Masterpiece???

The GSC is poorly maintiained, poorly designed and amazingly ugly as a ribbed concrete structure structure. And it might be the only building in New England that will cut you if you rub against it.....
 
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Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Bubbybu said:
There is no need to move it to South Boston other than for Flaherty to pander to the remaining natives in the outer neighborhoods who know as much about Boston as they do Ireland.
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Councilor Flaherty is actually against the move.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

underground said:
Councilor Flaherty is actually against the move.
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whoops...should have read that with more attention. I'll edit it...

and yes I'd vote for Flaherty if he fights and succeeds to keep City Hall!
 
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Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Some brutalist architecture can be considered an abomination (Government Center Garage is a great example of that...it will be a travesty if that doesn't come down), but I think that the current City Hall could really be something great if...IF...they rehab that godforsaken brick wasteland that surrounds it. Boston City Hall is one of the better examples of a type of architecture that could be completely gone soon. Count me among those who would rather see this rehabbed rather than blown up.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

I think it would be great if he could get city hall moved, This would be a great location to get about 4 tall skyscrapers. with a green park in the middle. This would give our the skyline a great boost. The future is looking good for boston. I think this would make the northeast cities the best in terms of skylines. Phila,Boston, NYC
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

^I don't like the idea of garden city towers. It's never worked in the past, and even though pedestrians will be forced through the area so it won't be empty, it would have the same effect that CHP has today (people just pass on through).

My personal hope would be for the JFK building and City hall to introduce some ground level retail/restaurant space, a complete redesign of the plaza itself, and the introduction of a third building on one side of the plaza (preferably along Cambridge St.) to have a ground floor containing retail and restaurant space that interacts with the plaza (This could be a new tower with ground level retail).

Basically a vision of businesses on 3 sides of the plaza interacting with the people there. Most great European plazas have this type of interaction (usually on 4 sides, but 3 will work here, especially if the 3rd is along Cambridge).

I'd hate to see City Hall demolished for some crappy hack to build a generic looking office park here. I think if done correctly this space could be converted to something quite special which would include the existing buildings on the plaza and the addition of one more. In fact, I believe the JFK building was built with ground level retail in mind, it was just never utilized (anyone know for sure?).

Upping and moving to the SBW or anywhere out of downtown is not a good idea.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

I like Lrfox's thinking here. Open space does nothing if people don't stay there...and the occasional businessman having lunch in a park and then promptly leaving does not count towards usage, in my opinion. Rework the area with a new mid-rise building and add retail and rehab the plaza and you could have a very nice area.

I think that some people look at the brick as the problem in the plaza. I primarily brick plaza wouldn't be bad, but it needs something to help break it up. It can't be a wasteland. I don't mind brick plazas, but there is just too much here.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

I for one would not miss the building if its gone. The building just gives me a cold atmosphere and the plaza amplifies it. It does not create density, looks like a prison, its massive with random concrete parts cantilevered out at the edge. The bottom of the building is the ugliest, with concrete supports coming out of random spots. Nope I won't miss this hulk of a mess, but that's just my opinion.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

I'm not an architect but is there any way height could be added to CHP. It just sits there, a massive structure that's calling to be taller due to it's surroundings. I think with height added it would be something a lot more interesting to look at. I don't know, is it possible?
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

^^

In my opinion I don't think that would ever be considered but regardless the structure is far too wide for it to be any taller.....it is the perfect height for what it is...especially since the building widens as it gets taller...if you add more height it would turn into a massive wall instead of just a cold looming structure...

I don't care what anyone says...I love City Hall as is! It's hypnotic when you view it side to side...

800px-Boston_City_Hall.JPG
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Just like on this board, it appears that the meeting regarding the move that was held today was pretty split:

City Hall a hot topic

City Council hearing rekindles debate over moving Boston?s governing offices

The advantages of City Hall?s accessibility to public transportation compared to the drawbacks of its age and inefficiency were at the center of the debate yesterday on whether to move the governing offices from Government Center to the South Boston Waterfront.

Roughly 100 people attended the hearing in the City Council chambers, where a host of residents testified against the plan while union leaders praised it. Though nearly everyone agreed the building would need efficiency and ?greening? retrofits should City Hall remain there.

The issue has been a hot topic since December 2006, when Mayor Thomas Menino unveiled his renewed vision to move offices to the booming Waterfront district, citing the location?s prime real estate value. Menino originally considered the idea as far back as 1998.

Councilor Michael Flaherty, who hosted the hearing and has been a vocal opponent of the plan, didn?t wait long to harp on the accessibility issue, remarking to officials from the city and the Boston Redevelopment Authority at the hearing?s outset, ?I hope your trip was a convenient one. I?d like to keep it that way.?

However, John Palmieri, the Boston Redevelopment Authority?s director, described the Waterfront as one of the city?s prime ?growth districts,? and that efforts now are simply to study the feasibility of the Drydock 4 site.

Meanwhile, Kairos Shen, the city?s chief planner, explained moving City Hall to South Boston is critical to the mayor?s three-pronged plan that also includes revitalizing Dudley Square and re-envisioning City Hall Plaza.

Among the concerns of residents who testified against the idea included the limited amount of MBTA access to the Waterfront ? via the Silver Line ? compared with Government Center, and thus the added car traffic it could bring to the Waterfront district. Others argued for putting a new building on City Hall Plaza.

Union officials, meanwhile, touted the benefits of creating a state-of-the-art facility in a booming neighborhood, the jobs it would create and the cost advantages of building a new facility with top ?green? standards rather than retrofitting the current building. Michael Monahan, of the electrical workers? union, added he believed tearing down the building could cost very little or nothing in exchange for giving the demolition company access to the valuable steel and copper leftover to recycle.
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