Museum Of Science Renovations | 1 Science Park | West End

[vanshnookenraggen]

Re: Museum of Science-subpar for Boston (?)

I think it would be a big improvement to knock it down and replace it with a 1,000' condo building.

 

[deh74]

Re: Museum of Science-subpar for Boston (?)

I think it would be a big improvement to knock it down and replace it with a 1,000' condo building.

Forget Manhattanizing Boston we're jumping straight to Dubai-ifying it!

 

[fattony]

Re: Museum of Science-subpar for Boston (?)

I haven't been in a while, but I remember it being rather youth-oriented. Am I remembering correctly?

My favorite exhibit was the math room.

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Museum of Science-subpar for Boston (?)

We already have a MoS thread: http://www.archboston.org/community/showthread.php?t=1907&page=6

 

[George_Apley]

Re: Museum of Science-subpar for Boston (?)

I haven't been in a while, but I remember it being rather youth-oriented. Am I remembering correctly?

My favorite exhibit was the math room.

Yes, a lot of youth programming and their mission is about extending science education. Plenty for children, their parents, college kids and the young-at-heart. If you're looking for lots of hard science then it's not the place for you... but then again science museums/centers around the country tend to be youth education oriented. The MoS has updated quite a bit in a piecemeal way and will continue to do so. The large, open-air halls on the north wing of the building (do not recall which color wing it is) is the most haphazard part of the museum, but the exhibits off of it are quite good, and often rotate. Their programming is well known nationwide, hardly an embarrassment for the city.

Fattony will be sad to hear that Mathematica is on its way out...

 

[whighlander]

Update on the transformations at the MOS
Renovations at the MOS:

• The “Tunnel” from the Parking Garage Elevator Lobby to the Entrance Lobby -- improving the visitor experience
  • Newly widened to incorporate more space for people using the parking payment machines
  • Newly opened Restrooms immediately next to the Parking Garage Elevator Lobby
  • Newly reconstructed Box Office
• Entrance Lobby -- creating a Grand Function entrance space
  • Relocated Information Desk to side wall
    New Entrance to the “Red Wing” with access to the Atrium for the Planetarium, Omni, Discovery Center and Simulation Ride
• Yawkey Gallery on the Charles River --
  The newest permanent exhibition at the Museum of Science where a visitor can explore the connections between engineering and nature on the Charles River.
  
  In this exhibit you will:
  • • Observe the Charles River to learn more about the natural world and the effects of engineering decisions.
  • • Engineer solutions for problems encountered by scientists and engineers and test the impacts of your decisions.
  • • Connect with the natural and engineered systems present in your life.
  Additional Features:
  • River Loom by Reuben Margolin
    Behind-the-scenes work on the River Loom by kinetic sculptor Reuben Margolin. Will hang from the Ceiling
    https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...3_10153100952067724_1943778509241504268_o.jpg
  • Bronze Sculptures of Charles River animals -- The museum has commissioned local sculptor Michael Alfano to create four bronze sculptures of animals from the Charles River -- he worked on a sculpture based on the 100-year-old heron specimen in our Collections department.
    https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=157cf2df540ab0131bad6744ab2e6bd6&oe=5760CAE0
  • Time Lapse Imagery of the River -- Our time lapse camera captured the spectacular sunset on Friday, Feb 05, 2016 after the snow! [1 shot every 15 seconds and the video is encoded at 30 frames per second.]
    Over the last year, the time lapse camera has been capturing photos and videos to be part of the content which can be viewed with the Giant Interactive Display [visitors will be able to observe natural and human-made changes on and around the Charles River over time]
    https://video-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/h...=5dd55cf79f26bbb612b835aaa20c7a4d&oe=56BFD5C2
  • Sage Glass -- controllable transparency Electrochromic Glass for the Great Window
  
  Some rendering of the Yawkey Gallery on the Charles River
  • Looking toward the Blue Wing – the Engineered World – the Giant Interactive Display
    http://www.mos.org/sites/dev-elvis....-gallery-on-the-charles-river_upper-lobby.jpg
  • Looking toward Green Wing – the Natural World – the Green Wall
    http://www.mos.org/sites/dev-elvis....ry-on-the-charles-river_upper-lobby-green.jpg
  • Interactive Core Exhibit – Engineering a River System – basement level
    http://www.mos.org/sites/dev-elvis....its_yawkey-gallery-on-the-charles-river_0.jpg
  • Looking down to the basement level
    http://www.mos.org/sites/dev-elvis....llery-on-the-charles-river_river-exhibits.jpg

 

[393b40]

Is the MoS in Boston or Cambridge technically? Every time I run by there parking garage I feel like that's a prime development spot for a tower.

 

[Proposition Joe]

The Museum of Science is in both Boston and Cambridge. There is a marker in the lobby that shows you the border between the two cities.

 

[datadyne007]

The Museum of Science is in both Boston and Cambridge. There is a marker in the lobby that shows you the border between the two cities.

That's correct, as the middle of the River is the boundary of Boston Proper, but I think the garage itself might actually be considered to be in Cambridge.

If you type in 02114 in Google Maps, the area code boundary includes the Museum (it officially has a Boston address), but interestingly the garage is cut in half, sharing a side with Boston 02114 and E Cambridge 02141.

02114: https://www.google.com/maps/place/B...2!3m1!1s0x89e3709099e8cf33:0x7db217a2cce825ca

02141: https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...2!3m1!1s0x89e370b9582654e5:0x5dddb3b822c27abf

 

[tangent]

Is the MoS in Boston or Cambridge technically? Every time I run by there parking garage I feel like that's a prime development spot for a tower.

What no Ferris wheel?

Actually, after my initial skepticism I think the idea has some merit for being built above the garage.

 

[whighlander]

Yawkey Gallery on the Charles nearing its official opening in March

In addition to being an interesting group of exhibits -- the space itself will be spectacular

here's a 2+ story Green Wall [vertical landscape] just being installed

to be accompanied by a waterfall and the "River Loom" kinetic sculpture bu Reuben Margolin

 

[statler]

With $50m, Bloomberg thanks Museum of Science

Oooh! Cool!

The gift, which will increase the museum’s existing endowment by nearly 40 percent, will go particularly far because it’s not about building a new wing but rather supporting educational initiatives, such as programs and exhibits that promote science and engineering.

Oh. That's...cool.

Source

To be clear, I do think this is an awesome thing for the city but...I like cool new buildings.

 

[shmessy]

Oooh! Cool!


Oh. That's...cool.

Source

To be clear, I do think this is an awesome thing for the city but...I like cool new buildings.

Not so much directed at you, Statler, but to the folks previous who (I think, tongue in cheek) said they preferred a super tall condo on that land.........

It's not the building, but what goes on INSIDE the building that determines human progress and separates a Boston from an Atlanta or a Houston.

The MOS has soul, and to some of us (including the likes of a great and forward-thinking businessman like Mike Bloomberg, evidently) is sacred ground. I hope the MOS and it's great view of the Charles sparks the imagination and creativity of young scientists for centuries to come.

 

[HarvardP]

[MOD EDIT: Convo on MOS parking split from here.]

HeBos -- You obviously are not familiar with any of Greater Boston outside of what you can reach by walking to/from a downtown T station

The reality is that the Greater of Greater Boston [i.e. Boston CSA]*1 extends in some directions:

1. up to 100 miles from the State House
   1. North East up toward Portland Maine
   2. South and West into Rhode Island and even Connecticut
   3. North past Manchester in NH
2. as well as a solid 50 plus miles directly back toward Springfield via Worcester

The vast majority of the approximately 8 Million people in the Boston CSA do not have access to any reasonable form of transportation except a personal vehicle to take them to Boston -- without a whole lot of inconvenience or expense

Despite your fondest wishes -- you just can not expect someone coming to Boston from the hinterlands with say their elderly relative or mobility impaired spouse, etc., to park way out somewhere and take the T let alone the Commuter Rail -- they just are not going to do that -- they need to be able to park a short distance from the final destination possibly carrying a wheel chair, a walker, and or oxygen tank in the trunk

At the Museum of Science where I volunteer we get visitors with these kinds of support services all of the time -- we even provide assisted mobility when needed by a visitor who arrives to the MOS and needs a electric wheeled chair to navigate the exhibit halls

Thus even if you drastically reduced the hundreds of thousands of commuters who drive to a small number -- there will always be others visiting Boston's cultural, educational or medical complexes who will drive and need parking

*1
Combined Statistical Area -- with a population of 8,285,407 more than MA & NH combined

Just as an aside, would the MoS ever consider redeveloping their parking garage? That's a prime spot with a 1000' FAA height cap.

 

[whighlander]

Just as an aside, would the MoS ever consider redeveloping their parking garage? That's a prime spot with a 1000' FAA height cap.

Harvard -- This is not happening -- the MOS Parking Garage is integral to the MOS finances -- if the MOS would do anything it would be to add another floor to the garage

and of course since the MOS doesn't own the land under it --and the MOS has a really nice long term lease with the Commonwealth*1 -- so there is no financial incentive for the MOS and since the MOS is the single most attended cultural venue in MA -- there is no incentive for the Commonwealth either


*1
from Wikipedia

Under the leadership of Bradford Washburn, the society negotiated with the Metropolitan District Commission for a 99-year lease of the land on the Charles River Dam Bridge, now known as Science Park. The museum pays $1 a year to the state for use of the land. Construction and development began in 1948, and the museum opened in 1951, arguably the first all-encompassing science museum in the country.

 

[HarvardP]

Harvard -- This is not happening -- the MOS Parking Garage is integral to the MOS finances -- if the MOS would do anything it would be to add another floor to the garage

and of course since the MOS doesn't own the land under it --and the MOS has a really nice long term lease with the Commonwealth*1 -- so there is no financial incentive for the MOS and since the MOS is the single most attended cultural venue in MA -- there is no incentive for the Commonwealth either


*1
from Wikipedia

So, barring a renegotiation, in 2047 the City can redevelop the parcel on which the garage sits? I hope they do so, and the MOS with its peppercorn rent will bark but not bite. I've got plenty of love for the museum, but the future is not in poorly-constructed parking structures in the middle of urban areas.

 

[Equilibria]

So, barring a renegotiation, in 2047 the City can redevelop the parcel on which the garage sits? I hope they do so, and the MOS with its peppercorn rent will bark but not bite. I've got plenty of love for the museum, but the future is not in poorly-constructed parking structures in the middle of urban areas.

I'm not sure, but I suspect that the land is reserved for museum/recreation use, and a building of any size would be hard to build on a dam. I'd complain about not having 1,000' at Cambridge Crossing first

So, barring a renegotiation, in 2047 the City can redevelop the parcel on which the garage sits? I hope they do so, and the MOS with its peppercorn rent will bark but not bite. I've got plenty of love for the museum, but the future is not in poorly-constructed parking structures in the middle of urban areas.

If you want families from the suburbs to pay your absurd ticket prices, it kind of is.

 

[Arlington]

We've had this "how essential is the garage" to "the Museum" discussion in a number of contexts. The answer always comes back "the garage is essential." The only variable is how securely they own it:

NE Aquarium = Doesn't own. Faces economic ruin.
MOS = Same lease that built the museum, fabulous direct connection
MFA = Own their lot & garage (crappy surface lot or uncovered shlep to garage)
Childrens = Stillings St garage seems key--$24 weekdays with validation ($15 wknds)

MOS excursions, like the others, are multi-generational: kids-in-carseats, school-age, parent/guardian/grandparents. And almost by definition, they are carpools (probably averaging 4 occupants per vehicle).

MOS's cars are fairly close to the urban ideal:
+ HOV4
+ Not rush-hour-constrained
+ Willing to pay for parking

Even in DC and NYC, where the museums sit on good transit, the garages are *still* an essential part of the model.

I know we had this discussion re:NEAq, but it bears repeating here:
Even the most transit-obsessed parents are going to drive 90% of the time. A museum trip is basically a "walk-til-you-melt-down" countdown, at which point you throw the kid(s) into the car and go home.

Museums are like Casinos (there's no clocks and no cue when to leave), *except* that, at the Museum, the melt-down (or demand for a second snack) is the trigger to leave.

So the Museum is based on a "shop til you drop" model, and once dropped, there's no "now let's walk to Science Park or Lechmere" option.

 

[HarvardP]

So submerging the garage isn't an option given location, and if the garage is critical to the MOS's viability, why not build something new that provides dedicated MOS parking and an office tower above it? Challenges exist re: building atop a dam, but they're not insurmountable; very heavy structures already exist there, built with engineering tech we've surpassed.

I'm sure others have discussed this idea and I'm late to the party, but I do think this is an underutilized parcel ripe for redevelopment.

 

[DZH22]

^^^If you're so concerned about the ability to get a tall building in this area, why not start with the North Point developments? They could go upwards of 1000' on any of those parcels, without FAA or "shadow on the park" encumbrances! That's the real opportunity that's slipping away. Why wait another 30 years for something that's viable now?