New Lansdowne St.

I only went to one show there, hated it, but this is still sad to see.
 
I spent some time here in college in the mid to late 90's. Everything is changing and I am surprised Lansdowne St. took this long. I guess keeping Fenway Park open may have pushed for more gentrification of the area and I think it is about time.
 
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any idea when this project is supposed to be completed? Seems like things are moving awfully slowly for a project that was initially expected to take 6 months or less. We have to be looking at at least a year+ The Boston music scene (for nationally touring acts that don't have the draw to play the Garden or Tweeter Center) is really hurting these days.
 
they aren't really keeping those facades right? Please tell me that this is not a facadectomy.
 
Yeah, I really dig the "carnival theme".... Let's hope not.
 
Riverworks said:
Yeah, I really dig the "carnival theme".... Let's hope not.
Click to expand...

Agreed. To me that street feels like a wild, wild west stage set, painted in gaudy colors for some hippie-era technicolor movie. I say ditch 'em all (with the exception of the Jillians building).
 
Yup it looks like a facadectomy.

6c5dcb7263_22land1.jpg


The two existing fronts are in white, I believe.
 
I'd love to know whether this was preservationist zeal run amok or did the owner have some sort of nostalgic desire to keep the facades as a vestige of the old buildings. Either way, it is a bad idea.
 
I don't know what's worse- The preservation of the old facades, or the styling of the new construction? Entertainment venues such as this tend to have to stay on top of trends to stay relevant, yet the styling looks straight out of the 80's. Worse yet, throw an Apple logo on that rendering and it could pass for an iPod Mini ad circa 2003 or 4. Hopefully, like the old Avalon and Axis, it's what's on the inside that counts.
 
What's most odd is that this is going to be part of the "House of Blues" mega-chain, and the exterior branding of those properties is always a rustic Disney-fied version of Louisiana Bayou/Mississippi Delta juke joints/shacks.

I would guess that the House of Blues corporate brand managers will change this exterior - and drastically. The rendering shown above was released prior to the agreement with the House of Blues, so I wouldn't count on it looking like that. My guess is once the HOB public relations campaign starts up, we'll see a faux-blues-house theme stuck onto this property.
 
I thought House of Blues was a positive contribution to Harvard Square culture when it operated there. Why would this one be any different?
 
If this rendering IS outdated, and they are going to do the tacky Bourbon St style facade, I'm curious as to how they're going to incorporate the existing facades into their signature style. The rendering above incorporates the facades from the existing buildings and from what I've seen of the construction so far, the facades are being preserved, so I'd think (or maybe, "HOPE") it's not going to be typical HOB decor.

I'm hopeful the final product won't look like that rendering, but if I had to choose between the "Disney-fied" Bayou theme and what's in the rendering-- I'd go with the rendering.
 
I think I remember a previous descusion when the HOB relationship was announced that HOB has allowed some "signature" venues to more or less do whatever they want.
 
Ron, the HOB in Cambridge was the original, once it took off and became a nationwide chain, they kept growing larger with more amenities for corporate-based entertainment and they became increasingly more theme-park like. For example, I was at a real estate conference in Orlando and two major banks held an event at the House of Blues Orlando with the Steve Miller Band as entertainment. The huge venue was made to look like the inside of a barn.

A quick google image search for "House of Blues" shows you the corporate look - I would imagine something similar is coming to Landsdowne:

HOB Myrtle Beach
http://www.mikecorrado.com/images/hobmyrtlebeachsc.jpg

HOB Los Angeles
http://www.losangeles.com/house-of-blues/gifs/houseofblues-exterior.jpg

HOB New Orleans
http://www.showclix.com/venue_pictures/hob new.jpg

Although - then I found this HOB in Atlantic City that is very modern - so I could be completely wrong (wouldn't be the first time)
http://www.actourism.org/images/HOB-Image.jpg

My guess is the renderings released pre-HOB contract will be amended to incorporate HOB corporate brand standards. I would bet they are going through the approvals process as we speak to change the exterior from what was proposed. Again, I could be wrong this is just a guess.
 
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