Emerson College's Paramount Center

^^ You'll need one of these to get there:

Tardis1(1).jpg
 
Seems like Boston used to be a more vibrant city. Much more boring now
 
briv said:
You mean something like this?
Click to expand...

Briv, that's enough of your historical revisionism. You have clearly doctored old photos and "Manhattanized" Old Boston with narrow streets, neon signs and, worst of all, densely packed buildings that create "canyons."

Everyone knows that Boston has been a city of broad avenues, open space, grassy lawns and surface lots, all of it bereft of shadows, since its founding in 1965.
 
Pardon me if I'm missing some double-sarcasm, but

- aren't the 4 or 5 buildings in the center of Briv's photo all still there?
- haven't the first two buildings on the left been replaced by 40 story buildings (likely 8x the height of those shown in the photo) that also include street level retail/restaurant space?
- doesn't the photo depict a Washington Street devoid of people?
 
belmont square said:
Pardon me if I'm missing some double-sarcasm, but

- aren't the 4 or 5 buildings in the center of Briv's photo all still there?
- haven't the first two buildings on the left been replaced by 40 story buildings (likely 8x the height of those shown in the photo) that also include street level retail/restaurant space?
- doesn't the photo depict a Washington Street devoid of people?
Click to expand...

I'll leave the first two alone. As for the last: If you look closely, you'll see it's a time-lapse photo. You can see the steak of taillights and blurs of people in the doorways.

Although, judging from the vintage of the automobiles, it might be fair to say that the theater district was beginning to past its prime when this photo was taken.
 
That was pretty much the low point of the Paramount (and that entire block). The adjoining parking lot resulted from the failure of a late-1980s development project called 'Commonwealth Center'. Eventually Millennium Place (now Ritz-Carlton Towers) was built on the site intended for Commonwealth Center.

One of the conditions that Millennium agreed to, in order to receive its permit, was to restore the Paramount's fa?ade, marquee, and vertical sign. This work all happened before Emerson took over the property.
 
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Amazing. I was already living in Boston in 1998. That shot looks and feels like something from decades before, though.
 
Great photo find.....

The loss of the Family Arcade hurt me greatly...

:(
 
Oh man I totally forgot what was there before Millennium Place. I remember seeing the Paramount back then and thought it was an abandon movie theater.
 
It was an abandoned movie theatre! Closed in 1976.

Before Millennium Place (and before the parking lot you see in the 1998 photo), this site contained the Hotel Avery.
 
The Hotel Avery, "Suicides and Happy Endings Welcome!", was on the other side of the street.
 
Whoops, I guess I was wrong -- the Avery wasn't next to the Paramount, but a block south. I'm curious what sort of stores KARP and SALLINGERS were. I believe ROGERS was a jeweler.

(Also, what does the cursive 'W' flag advertise, and why is there a Duncan Hines sign in the left foreground?)
 
Ron Newman said:
(Also, what does the cursive 'W' flag advertise, and why is there a Duncan Hines sign in the left foreground?)
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I think the "W" flag is for R.H. White's department store, and the Duncan Hines sign looks to be attached to that corner establishment, which was the Prince Spaghetti House. They probably served Duncan Hines desserts.
 
That photo dates to the 1950's I wonder if the Hotel Avery could have moved prior to being torn down? Does anyone know of any photos from the 60-80's of this area?

The W flag is indeed R.H. Whites. And I believe that is the Prince Spaghetti House with the Duncans sign.

The MIT collection has a few more shots of this area. Just do a search on "Washington Street"
 
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