Evolution of the Prudential Center: 1954-1989

[squidman1]

Oh, I remember that banality well. I worked at 101 Huntington in the 1980s. It really wasn't that bad -- in some corridors the ceiling panels were painted orange.

Another memory: Scenes from Spenser: For Hire were filmed at 101. One afternoon I and others looked out the 6th floor windows to see a crew filming Robert Urich driving his dark green Mustang into the drive outside 101. When I was leaving 101 that day, Urich was filming a scene in 101's lobby.

Spenser: For Hire is a good series to watch if you like to see old scenes from Boston. I view it, along with my 1980s memories of working in the Back Bay, as snapshots of the transition from "Dirty Old Boston" to where we are today.

Found the episode in question after doing some digging - S1E10 Blood Money

West lobby, elevators on the right

Exterior glass entry pavilion

You can find the series on Tubi for free - the shot taken in the lobby is around 12:55 in

 

[HenryAlan]

Never seen those modern T station headhouses before!

The first time I was in Boston and rode the 'T in 1986, that's what was there. Interestingly, I don't think I've ever used Prudential station subsequent to that visit, and it never registered on me that the entrances had changed. And the only reason I used that station then, was because Copley was closed for some reason (our hotel was closer to Copley).

 

[kz1000ps]

https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/5/archival_objects/3476719 More shots of the Pru throughout its history - buggy website however, so be wary of the frequent 403 Forbidden error

You weren't lying when you said it was buggy... I had to reload the page easily 15-20 times, plus waiting for the server to become responsive again. Total pain in the ass but I finally finished going through it. Again, here's a small sample of what's in this collection

1970s store directory

Circa 1990

Circa 1993

September 1999.... there's a lot of photos from what looks to be this one particular day

^^ I don't know the last time I've seen or even thought of a Doubleday book store

^^ OK so I have questions about that Hilton. They added on that little glass corner addition around 1995ish for what? To add like two rooms per floor? What was the thinking at the time? Also, I went to Berklee just up the street from there starting in 2005 and that red column and lettering was already gone by then, in which case they toned it down in 10 years or less, which maybe doesn't raise a question so much as make me question their apparent lack of foresight?

 

[Poolio]

Around that time (1995ish) there was a rendering floating around of a much larger expansion plan for the hotel:

I remember thinking this was a phase 1 / phase 2 thing, and for a while fully expected the second phase to kick off any day. Obviously never happened. If I had to guess, the corner expansion was intended to make the old part of the building blend in better with the overall plan, and for whatever reason (economic) they eventually punted on it.

 

[RandomWalk]

It would be a fun exercise to take a picture of the mall directory circa 1999 and annotate it with why a given store doesn’t exist anymore (e.g. Amazon ate Lechter’s lunch)

 

[Arenacale]

^^ I don't know the last time I've seen or even thought of a Doubleday book store

Ahh I did not need this level of mournful nostalgia tonight. I think every identifiable store in those photos is dead. Lechters, Doubleday, Olympia, Software Etc., and Successories, all gone. Loved Software Etc., was one of the few game stores of the era that really focused on PC games. Also, it's cool to see a photo of Marche Movenpick. I went in there once as a 9th grader and was immediately intimidated and left. Didn't last very long, there are much better takes on the concept that are still around today.

Man I'd love to be transported back to that very space in that very moment.