More Fenway Park Renovations

A fluff piece on Fenway Park? In Spring? The Globe has been doing those since Ted Williams was in Little League
 
In the men?s room, environmentally friendly waterless urinals sit below windows that offer patrons a bird?s-eye view of Yawkey Way.
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Really?
 
Disney to close 5 ESPN Zone restaurants
June 9, 2010

LOS ANGELES?The Walt Disney Co. plans to close five ESPN Zone restaurants in Baltimore, Chicago, New York, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C., saying the economics of the business were "very challenging."

The company said Wednesday that the two ESPN Zone restaurants in Los Angeles and Anaheim will remain open and operated by other companies.

The sports bar and restaurant had arcade games and big-screen TVs and served up burgers and beer.

The first ESPN Zone opened in Baltimore in July 1998 in the tourist attraction area known as Inner Harbor.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/06/09/disney_to_close_5_espn_zone_restaurants/
 
Meanwhile, Sports Depot in Allston is closing, to be replaced by a Regina Pizza.
 
For real the Sports Depot is closing?
 
JohnAKeith said:
Disney to close 5 ESPN Zone restaurants
June 9, 2010

LOS ANGELES?The Walt Disney Co. plans to close five ESPN Zone restaurants in Baltimore, Chicago, New York, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C., saying the economics of the business were "very challenging."

The company said Wednesday that the two ESPN Zone restaurants in Los Angeles and Anaheim will remain open and operated by other companies.

The sports bar and restaurant had arcade games and big-screen TVs and served up burgers and beer.

The first ESPN Zone opened in Baltimore in July 1998 in the tourist attraction area known as Inner Harbor.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/06/09/disney_to_close_5_espn_zone_restaurants/
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The hopes and dreams of the Boston waterfront lie in ruins.

Also....sucks for Baltimore, the place is actually a big tourist attraction for them. It anchors a shopping district. Its sort of like us losing filenes basement in DTX - yes, to locals its just a chain store, but to many, it was a tourist destination.
 
I can't imagine what Baltimore is going through, to lose a bar with big TVs where you can watch sports! I'm sure it was a unique and beloved asset.
 
jass said:
The hopes and dreams of the Boston waterfront lie in ruins.

Also....sucks for Baltimore, the place is actually a big tourist attraction for them. It anchors a shopping district. Its sort of like us losing filenes basement in DTX - yes, to locals its just a chain store, but to many, it was a tourist destination.
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I was thinking the same thing. I remember a few years back we all debated how big of a deal an ESPNZone could be on the SBW.

Yes, it is a big loss to Baltimore's inner-harbor. I know ESPNZone is kitsch, but those places drew a crowd and the one in Baltimore was a prime location and a big draw (part of the renovated powerplant right next to Hard Rock Cafe with waterfront seating outdoors). We can knock it all we want, but it wasn't just a typical sports bar, it was a MEGA sports bar. It was always chalk-full of baseball fans anytime I was in town.
 
Boston has a lot of sports bars, including some mega ones very close to Fenway Park. Is a chain version of these really necessary?
 
I'd be fine with the Sports Depot closing if it meant that egregious parking lot got filled in. But all we're getting is a chain pizzeria.
 
czsz said:
Boston has a lot of sports bars, including some mega ones very close to Fenway Park. Is a chain version of these really necessary?
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As someone living and working in the Back Bay and Fenway neighborhoods...... I say ABSOLUTELY PLEASE YES I VOTE AYE.

I can't tell you how many times I've walked up the street and heard some stupid tourist say, "Oh look! Uno's/Legal Seafood/California Pizza! We can eat there tonight!"

Appropriately distributed, chains allow the neighborhood to prosper during game days without punishing the locals and smart tourists visiting real establishments. These sad, sad, sad, sad, sad people need somewhere to go without polluting the neighborhood.

Champs serves this purpose in the Back Bay/South End. Cask is uninhabitable on game days. Jillian's, because it's a tacky shit hole that these people hone in on as if pigeons flying home. Remy's works well for the Boylston Extension. One more would be great, ideally at the development over the pike at Mass Ave between Boylston/Newbury.
 
Is there really that much "pressure" on non-chain restaurants to accommodate tourists?

Every microneighborhood really needs a shrine to burgers & balls, including the Mass Ave. / Newbury intersection, between Urban Outfitters and Berklee?
 
czsz said:
Boston has a lot of sports bars, including some mega ones very close to Fenway Park. Is a chain version of these really necessary?
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A major destination chain or two (that's what these are/were) wouldn't hurt a fledgling neighborhood. I can form a vivid mental image of an ESPNZone sign illuminated on the side of a very cheap looking precast/alucobond building in the seaport. They'd be popular for visitors in town for conventions.
 
I think something like a yardhouse or buffalo wild wings.

Haven't been to either though.


or a hooters....
 
Hooters didn't do well over near the Garden, but it would be perfect in the Seaport area for all of those convention goers. I've never been to Buffalo Wild Wings either so I'd know nothing about it.
 
I still don't get why convention people would spend money to come to Boston so they could sit in the precast Seaport and eat in a corporate chain environment prescribed from an office park boardroom in Indianapolis.

Why not just save themselves the trouble and hold a (cheaper) convention in Indianapolis if they're going to do that?

No, they hold the convention in Boston so they can fucking see Boston, not the imitation desolate Sunbelt city sprawling to the south and east of Fan Pier.
 
^I think you have a little more faith in people that attend conferences than I do. Those folks may go to Faneuil Hall or get a pastry on Hanover, but then they'll grab dinner and a beer at the chain restaurant near their hotel. Most people aren't as "in" to cities as the members of this forum. Many people go to a new city and see a few of the major attractions and try one of the main local dishes (that's where Legal Seafoods comes in) and then play it safe from there on out. There's a reason that these chains thrive in cities all over the U.S. (not just the sunbelt). Some of the attendees will branch out a bit, but many (most?) will stick to the familiar. Hooters in Boston is still in Boston (in the mind a tourist).

I had a friend visit from Texas not that long ago that INSISTED we eat Hard Rock Boston. It's the same in every fucking city, but this guy wanted to get the T-Shirt that said Boston. He's a smart, college educated professional. If I'm not traveling for pleasure, and I'm hungry and I need something decent and quick, I'll settle for a chain. If I have time, I want to explore, but not everyone is thrilled with exploring new cities.
 
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