Hayden Building to be restored

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stellarfun

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Article is behind the Globe's paywall, but reconstruction of this Washington St. building begins Monday. Its owned by Historic Boston.

02richardson.jpg


Apartments above.

And the lobby:
Displays in the stairwell will tell the story of Richardson and the building, with its varied roster of tenants across the decades: tailors, jewelers, engravers, printers; a dental parlor advertising $6 false teeth and innovative cocaine-free dentistry “without the least particle of pain or danger’’; a uniform company and an employment service; a record shop; an Army-Navy store.


But they will not sweep away the Combat Zone past. Though contractors have already carted off dumpsters full of debris, they spared something from the recent past: dozens of dusty reels of adult films that had been stashed in the building.


The celluloid will be woven into an artistic screen for the lobby that will be visible from outside, where Richardson stood, Zaitzevsky paused, and street walkers once plied their trade.
Click to expand...


http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...z1OxWoXyYXS9CqnQN/story.html?p1=Well_BG_Links
 
Any idea what will go on the first floor? It has been empty since General Bank closed their branch here and moved down the street. Back when the bank first moved into this building, it was considered great progress for the neighborhood.
 
Ron, how do you feel about the celluloid being used as a bit of decor?

I know it is just porn and there are probably hundreds of copies but hopefully it will be checked to make sure it is nothing rare that should be preserved.
 
AB should volunteer to do a screening for "rarities".
 
The celluloid is a nice touch, reminding people of the neighborhood's history as a row of movie theatres (which were not porn theatres before the 1960s)
 
Nobody seems to mention that the total cost of renovation will be more than $1,200 per square foot...$1.5mm to buy and renovate plus another $5.8mm to renovate again. That's f*cking insane...It's easily the most expensive construction project, per square foot, in the city. Can someone explain to me where all this money is going? Will the apartments have their own MRI machines and come with Bentleys parked in an underground garage?
 
It's good to see Cynthia Zaitzevsky's name. She's a former colleague from a decade ago, when I worked at the Radcliffe Institute. She's a great writer, scholar, and teacher -- her book on the Olmstead Park System in Boston is of special interest.
 
sidewalks said:
Nobody seems to mention that the total cost of renovation will be more than $1,200 per square foot...$1.5mm to buy and renovate plus another $5.8mm to renovate again. That's f*cking insane...It's easily the most expensive construction project, per square foot, in the city. Can someone explain to me where all this money is going? Will the apartments have their own MRI machines and come with Bentleys parked in an underground garage?
Click to expand...

Footprint is 1400 sq ft x 5 stories = 7,000 sq ft.

7,000 sq ft into $5.8 million is about $830 a sq ft.


Combat Zones maps from the 70s.

http://www.cityofboston.gov/Images_Documents/Hayden Building Study Report #17_tcm3-23347.pdf
 
This is good news. Project has been "ramping up" forever. M. Truant (the contractor) is great at this kind of historic rehab. They've done historic rehab projects at Paul Revere's house and Winslow Homer's studio among others.
 
you're right...it's five stories and not four...renovation costs for a masonry shell should not exceed $200 PSF and that's with nice finishes...Amazing finishes would be $300 PSF...
 
Let's hope there is no adaptive reuse of citizen participation.
 
Indeed...how to handle historic replication of a character defining feature in the cultural landscape.
 
Ron Newman said:
The celluloid is a nice touch, reminding people of the neighborhood's history as a row of movie theatres (which were not porn theatres before the 1960s)
Click to expand...

Ron -- in context -- that celluloid was the why of the "nice touch" -- what we don't care to replicate is the "how"

You've just got to jump into the time machine and see how your posts will be "abused" on these threads before posting them
 
I'm sure this story will have a Happy Ending.
 
My biggest complaint about the celluloid is that is akin to wallpapering a building with pages from books because it used to be a bookstore.

It might be a cool effect, but you've still destroyed a book. Bah.
 
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