Fenway Center (One Kenmore) | Turnpike Parcel 7, Beacon Street | Fenway

Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

The MFA's theatre is not too far away from the "art school kids"...but it's a little too avant-garde (or retrospective-y) perhaps. The problem with the arthouses in Boston is that they're either owned by Landmark (barely indie) or a bit too much on the academic side (MFA, HFA, Brattle, even Coolidge sometimes). I would love to see Boston get the kind of films that regularly come to the Angelika, Film Forum, or the IFC Center in New York. I mean, it's really cruel for Wesley Morris and Ty Burr to review these films in the Globe if they're not even playing here!

That said, I'm surprised Emerson hasn't proposed to open something along HFA lines in the theatre district - that would be especially welcome.
 
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Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

^^There really needs a an art house theater in the DTX/theater district.
I used to daydream about buying the Modern or Paramount and fixing it up and opening a 1 or 2 screen theater.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

The Emerson Paramount will include a small film screening room, but I don't know to what extent (if any) it will cater to the public.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

czsz said:
The MFA's theatre is not too far away from the "art school kids"...but it's a little too avant-garde (or retrospective-y) perhaps. The problem with the arthouses in Boston is that they're either owned by Landmark (barely indie) or a bit too much on the academic side (MFA, HFA, Brattle, even Coolidge sometimes). I would love to see Boston get the kind of films that regularly come to the Angelika, Film Forum, or the IFC Center in New York. I mean, it's really cruel for Wesley Morris and Ty Burr to review these films in the Globe if they're not even playing here!
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It wouldn't be Boston without the academic side! (though your point is well taken).

Anyway, the MFA showed War and Peace (in four parts) while I was at home in December. It's hard to imagine many other venues (in other cities) that would screen such a film. Sure, it's "retrospective-y", but I really don't think the film was too "academic" for the art school kids. Better value than a lot of forgettable indie stuff.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

^Yawkey is too far from both Kenmore and Fenway for a dedicated connection, We're probably talking a ground-level pedestrian path.

Will Yawkey be getting a second platform? Any chance of it being moved closer to Brookline ave for better connections with Fenway Park and Kenmore?

justin
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

AdamBC said:
That is fantastic news. Anything that ties together the commuter rail and the subway system is a win in my book.
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I agree that is a great thing, as well as covering the pike and creating a little more density. However I am not sure what to think of the latest detailed renderings on MM's site. I didn't think too much of it when I saw the Globe's fuzzy renderings last week, but seeing these doesn't excite me too much.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

I suspect that the renderings in question are merely to show density and basic building shapes. I can't believe they are the actual architectural drawings that will have to pass official inspection. Let's hope more detailed renderings will be forthcoming.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

The Parcel 7 PNF is available here. It includes a number of diagrams but unfortunately it has no new renderings, just larger versions of two already seen.

1K-rend1L.jpg


1K-rend2L.jpg
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

At least it's fugliness in the service of urbanity, for once. We haven't seen that in awhile (here's looking at you, Kendall and Seaport).
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

beautiful.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

It's definitely not interesting. If anything, it just entrenches Boston deeper into a pit of dull, heavy and squat architecture.

This makes me think: if large building projects like this have to undertake transit and environmental impact studies, why isn't there a requirement that they also undergo a city-scape impact study? Large parcel projects should not be allowed to create blocks-long, monotonous facades that kill sidewalk usage and negatively impact the visual environment of their surroundings. They should be required to break up their long facades with different building materials, multiple entrances, etc. I suspect this project will be like the aluminum-paneled side of the new Ritz Carlton: completely not pedestrian friendly and dull.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

This looks vaguely like a suburban office park, but with a contemporary twist. It could definitely be worse, but not by a lot. If the materials are well-picked, though, it could turn out to be a very tasteful building. It seems a bit too early to pass judgement on this building, especially because we have no idea how it actually meets the ground (do we?)
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

At this point, I'd be so happy to see something actually get constructed on an air rights parcel, I'd be willing to put up with a building shaped like a giant turd.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

A lot of what I've read about this project leads me to believe that this Rosenthal guy hasn't got a clue. The last article from the Courant on this project wrote that the original condo idea has been nixed because he couldnt secure financing for condos in this economic climate. The plan now is to make this primarily office space. The intended tenant would, naturally, be BU. But the neighbors are vehemently opposed to a university occupying these buildings and have demanded a written guarantee promising such.

It just seems this guy wants to build absolutely anything he can. There is no underlying vision or plan here. Also, this project seems get progressively worse with each iteration, drifting further away from the type of density and scale laid out in the Turnpike Vision.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

What's the reason the neighborhood doesn't want BU as a tenant? Also find it interesting that the neighborhood wants veto power over who can rent out the office space in the building.
 
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