Millennium Tower (Filene's) | 426 Washington Street | Downtown

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Re: Filene's

Toby hates the morning. He gets to work late, and then sleeps in his chair until noon.

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"What the hell? The building is shaking! Stop waking me up! Its only 11 a.m."

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The top of the wall fell on to the roof and the rest fell into Hawley Street!

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Oh dear! Such a mess.

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"Hurry boys! Get the brooms and the front end loader out here before you get caught!"

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Oh no! Too late! First responders.

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The Fire Marshal seems very unhappy. Looks like the street will be closed. Now I can get my sleep!
 
Re: Filene's

Looks like it was just the Hawley St building(the one being demo'd) and not the Hawley/Franklin building(the one being preserved).

Hopefully.

And hopefully no one was hurt. Did you see an ambulances?
 
Re: Filene's

Amazingly, no one was hurt. I was out there asap with my camera. The demolition crew was really hustling to clear away the evidence.
I spoke with the senior Fire Department official who arrived on the scene (and he has asked for copies of my photos.) Apparently, the demolition crew was preparing to take down the outer Hawley St. wall, and as they began, it collapsed into the staging. Rubble, iron, and timbers spewed out into and across the street. 101 Arch St shook mightily, and building security told me that they were flooded with calls. It was loud!
The staging was heavily damaged, and eventually the street closed and cleared of pedestrians (except for me, of course.)
The senior F.D.O. told me that he would recommend that Hawley St. be closed.
 
Re: Filene's

Glad no one was hurt.

Hopefully this won't delay the project too much.

Sorry to hear about your nap though. It's always the innocent that suffer the most.
 
Re: Filene's

Looks like there was a stop work order.

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Re: Filene's

Crazy stuff. Fortunately we have OSHA for things like this to hopefully make sure this doesn't happen again.
 
Re: Filene's

Wow that's a little scary Tobes. This afternoon was the first time I didn't walk down Hawley after work in about 3 weeks. I didn't hear any sirens or anything over on Milk St. near Wash. What time did this happen?

I bet the Hawley St. escalator isn't gonna be open tomorrow:(

Tobes you know for sure if they decided to close the street?
 
Re: Filene's

Suff,
I heard an explosion like sound at just about 11 A.M. When I left work around 6:30 P.M., Hawley was closed from Franklin St. to the garage entrance/exit for 101 Arch St., which is about halfway to two thirds of the way down the block toward Summer St.
The security people at 101 Arch weren't sure how cars would be getting back into the garage, as Hawley is one way from Franklin, and the only way into the garage is off Hawley.
I don't know if the street will reopen tomorrow. It would be amazing if they left that escalator running, as Hawley St. is unsafe for travel. This is at least the third time I have seen debris fall. The contractor is very quick to cover its tracks, so who knows how many other times this has happened.
Toby
P.S. If someone could find a picture of the Hawley escalator before it was replaced in the late 80's you'd have a real slice of old Boston. It was original to the Red Line (1914?), and was a first cousin to some of the dodgier rides at Steeplechase Park at Coney Island. Pure terror to ride. I understood that when it was pulled out, it went off to some trolley museum.
 
Re: Filene's

This block of Hawley was still closed off with yellow caution tape, and police at either end, when I passed by around 6:15 tonight.

As for the escalator -- there was a similar one from the southbound Red Line platform to Chauncy St. I think both were removed around the same time and replaced with the standard modern escalators that you see now.
 
Re: Filene's

Wow, fortunately no one was hurt. That's the important thing.

But it also makes me a little concerned regarding the current status of the project. How long before crews are allowed to get back to work?
 
Re: Filene's

From the first photo, looks like Hawley St. is stlll closed to cars and pedestrians? I didn't go by there today.
 
Re: Filene's

Toby, what's going on?

Looks like they were taking down some scaffolding on Hawley St, but there was still a lot of the Hawley St building left to demolish.

Any scoop?
 
Re: Filene's

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This is Hawley St. at 5:59 P.M. on 4/17/08.
The Boston Fire Department construction safety unit is treating this as a scaffold collapse. Certainly the scaffold did collapse, but it was caused by the full length of an upper story brick wall falling out toward the street rather than being pulled down course by course.
Short of building a roof over the street, it is hard to see how a new scaffold would prevent a similar incident. Nonetheless, the building management at 101 Arch St. informs me that the scaffold was being rebuilt last night, and it will be finished tonight. Supposedly, Hawley Street will reopen tomorrow.
I do not recommend that you travel on Hawley, but if you do, shout, and I will be happy to throw some of my business cards out the window. You may need them in your personal injury claim.
 
Re: Filene's

Hawley Street is still closed off tonight with yellow tape at both Franklin and Summer streets.
 
Re: Filene's

It's open but there is (or was at noontime) a large section of scaffolding still missing.

They were working on the Washington/Franklin corner though.
 
Re: Filene's

Admit it Toby!

You have far too much interest in this project. You MUST work for Vornado!
 
Re: Filene's

Statman,
You out-ed me. I'd tell you my full name, but Neddy might figure out that there are other project threads and discover my true identity!
Toby V., no, no, no, I mean just Toby.
 
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