MGM Music Hall (née Fenway Theater) | 12 Lansdowne St | Fenway

Now all they have to do is redevelop both the Ipswich and Lansdowne street garages and that whole area will really in good shape. I was in town getting my dad a gift at Barnes and Noble and strolled by Fenway Park to see what - if any - work they were doing on the park. The only thing I saw was work on two openings being closed up down on Van Ness.

While we've only seen the renderings of the Fenway Theater thus far, it seems that the new concourse would be on the corner parking lot to extend above the big concourse and then line up where the back of the Dunkin Dugout currently sits. Let's hope that this project is met with swift approval.
 
Agreed on those two garages. Lansdowne one should be the priority!

Also - what about the merchandise shop buildings on Yawkey Way?
 
Rex Sox Theater [12-28 Lansdowne St]

Didn't see this anywhere yet.

Sox have entered into an agreement with Live Nation to build and operate a 5400 seat entertainment venue on the triangular lot behind right field.

Universal Hub report

PNF

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Re: Rex Sox Theater [12-28 Lansdowne St]

5400? Damn, that's a big venue.
 
Re: Rex Sox Theater [12-28 Lansdowne St]

That looks pretty awesome, hopefully they can pull it off with the neighborhood and then make it look like it's been there as long as the park.
 
Re: Rex Sox Theater [12-28 Lansdowne St]

Why isnt Yawkey permanently pedestrianized?
 
Re: Rex Sox Theater [12-28 Lansdowne St]

jass said:
Why isnt Yawkey permanently pedestrianized?
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What do you mean by Yawkey? The former Yawkey Way is now Jersey St and that is on the opposite side of the photo above, with not much happening when the Sox are not playing. The image shows the intersection of Lansdowne (R) and Ipswitch (L) with Ipswitch turning into Van Ness at the top left. I think you mean Lansdowne St?
 
Re: Rex Sox Theater [12-28 Lansdowne St]

What's a Rex Sox?
 
Interesting that they will need to remove 450 bleacher seats for this...

What do you mean by Yawkey? The former Yawkey Way is now Jersey St
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You know full well what he means by "Yawkey Way". Much like The JHT is 200 Clarendon but nobody calls it that, Jersey Street is going to be known as Yawkey Way for decades by anyone local or familiar with the location of Fenway Park.
 
I went long on my thoughts on this project as it impacts Fenway Park here, before we got to see what they planned to do on the baseball-facing side. Continuing that train of thought here for now because it's all one PNF, though I realize this might fit better in its own Fenway Park thread.


  • The plan calls for replacing the top six rows of bleachers (450 seats) with full service table seating along the lines of what currently exists in the right field roof deck (150 seats, -300 net). No brainer. It's near impossible to actually follow the game from up there, so they might as well add whatever quality they can to that experience while collecting a premium for the value-add. Folks looking for cheaper seats shouldn't feel aggrieved; those were horrid seats anyway and they can do far better in the RF corner or with standing room tickets.

  • Above the bleachers will be a 500-600 capacity banquet space with park views, but intended as event space that would not be occupied during the game. This strikes me as the worst choice they have made relative to the available possibilities since the current ownership took over in 2003. Completely lacks the joy and imagination that brought us Green Monster seats, the Jersey/Yawkey game day closure, and all of the wider concourses seemingly hewn out of structural concrete and brick. Just look at the size of the project site on the PNF (almost the size of the entire playing surface), picture a flat roof level with the top of the bleachers covering even half of that space, and think about how many things would have been more fun in that space than a damned function room (hint: practically anything). Someone seems to have forgotten that the park's existential purpose is to watch baseball games, and not to serve as the Boston outpost of the Venus de Milo. So much more to say about what's wrong with this later, but unless I missed it, they didn't provide a single render of what this will look like from inside the park, so at least I can't complain about that yet - and will hope that it's not another 600/.406 Club plexiglass fiasco.

  • Loss of 290 event-day parking spaces between the Fenway garage on Ipswich (repurposed) and the surface lot at Van Ness and Ipswich (which will now house the broadcast trucks). Stipulated that almost nobody should drive to the games to begin with, but looks like even more parking scarcity will drive those prices ever higher. Wonder if FSG thinks that Phase 2 of Fenway Center with the big air rights garage is likelier to happen than we all feel it is around here.

  • If I'm reading right, a joint venture between FSG and Live Nation will coordinate bookings of the new theater and House of Blues. One more inch in the direction of neighborhood hegemony for FSG if that's true, though I don't immediately have any predictions on the impact of that other than way, way, way too much Dropkick Murphy's.

  • No changes to the Royal Rooters Club. Sighs of relief all around right?

  • Stupid banquet hall.
 
A design challenge--but, perhaps it could have gone a few floors higher with more seating possibilities, and a few floors of residential units, possibly including marquis community or office space good for viewing the (key reg season & playoff) games.
 
Center field bleacher seats are worse than RF corner?!? Are you out of your mind? One of the worst takes I've ever heard on here.

I was fine with the theatre but not if they're going to mess with the bleachers. This is just another way theyre trying to squeeze another dime out of ticket payers. I realize other stadiums are now doing this but they have low attendance and bigger stadiums to begin with. The Red Sox make plenty of money off of Fenway, they dont need this. I'm enraged by this
 
I think the benefit to the neighborhood overall on days without games is important, and pretty huge. Theyre not putting in a restaurant, a theater is a great addition to the neighborhood. 5,000 person capacity is a perfect size too. Im all for it, it does a great job of looking like its always been there too. Id imagine theyre going to be digging down to get to 4 levels. This is an important addition given its capacity, theres minimal downside to this evolving, thriving, neighborhood.

The star is a modern 5,000 seat theater. Id expect something similar.
Star-Theatre.jpg-942651279096ed9026a8e8a7bbc705ad.jpg

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The museum idea brought up is great as well. If they could find the space to do this asap, it would be a huge hit. Im all for more cultural spaces being added, fenway has and will be fine.
 
You're not wrong that there are many many RF corner seats that are far far worse than the upper bleachers in terms of field view, but at least you can leave those seats in between innings and access concessions/restrooms relatively quickly without waiting for 30 rows of fans to clear the only stairs you can access. It's a desert up there in the upper bleachers and they were never going to fix that without adding a premium tier (and maybe it still won't be fixed; I can't tell if the bleachers are connected at all to that area).

I don't begrudge them their opportunity to make money off of their asset and it's hard to argue that the fan base isn't better off for their having done so, four championships later, or even that their success hasn't been a factor in the boom of the Fenway neighborhood. I also don't doubt that they are confident that this will yield them the best ROI given the constraints of the space. But I'm fine with the premium seats and not with the banquet hall because at least the seats have something to do with the baseball. Adding a big room that makes it easier for them to book 100 more weddings per year? To my mind that's a gross violation of the notion of stewardship that you hear about from this ownership group so often. This more than ticket prices is how they cultivate the notion of Fenway Park as a space for elites rather than a space for everyone: the whole damn thing is yours if you can afford it and here are our hospitality packages (yuck). Their priorities with this choice strike me as deeply wrongheaded and misdirected.
 
meddlepal said:
Interesting that they will need to remove 450 bleacher seats for this...



You know full well what he means by "Yawkey Way". Much like The JHT is 200 Clarendon but nobody calls it that, Jersey Street is going to be known as Yawkey Way for decades by anyone local or familiar with the location of Fenway Park.
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Not to open a kettle of fish, but there's a REASON they changed the name... I think the point is for people to forget it.

This is of a piece with why failing teams close the upper deck in order to "give fans a more intimate experience." You eliminate your cheapest seats and create artificial scarcity at the same time! How wonderful for you, billionaire sports team owners! Baseball owners all wish they played in front of, like, 10,000 box seats and left everyone else at home to watch on the team-owned TV network.

This is a good project but the bleachers are a big problem.
 
Equilibria said:
Not to open a kettle of fish, but there's a REASON they changed the name... I think the point is for people to forget it.

This is of a piece with why failing teams close the upper deck in order to "give fans a more intimate experience." You eliminate your cheapest seats and create artificial scarcity at the same time! How wonderful for you, billionaire sports team owners! Baseball owners all wish they played in front of, like, 10,000 box seats and left everyone else at home to watch on the team-owned TV network.

This is a good project but the bleachers are a big problem.
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+1. Throughout the years they've added seats and new areas and each time it was to make more money but it also added to fan's experience.

This new trend of taking away cheap seats and putting in their place premium seats is a totally different thing and I hope fans respond in the only way we can by not patronizing it.

Honestly, as a Boston resident I'd go and oppose this theatre just in spite of the bleachers diet
 
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