Proposed But Never Built

[The EGE]

The Alewife/West Cambridge thread prompted me to scan this and show it here, of the Alewife Red Line Station proposed in the late 1960s. The Red Line route would have followed the Fitchburg Division RR line and a new Route 2 Expressway. This plan got scrapped when the Route 2 and other proposed expressways were cancelled by Gov. Sargent in the early 70s. The proposed station would have included a shopping complex. The map view below is oriented south, with (what is now) Cambridgepark Drive horizontally bisecting the area, and Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2 Expressway on the left;

Charlie, what publication was this from? I did a bunch of research on the history of Alewife station recently, but I never saw this wild design!

 

[Charlie_mta]

Charlie, what publication was this from? I did a bunch of research on the history of Alewife station recently, but I never saw this wild design!

Should have noted the source. It is from the Cambridge Chronicle. I'm not sure of the date, but i definitely clipped it myself and saved it from the Chronicle during early 1968. I joined the Navy in the Fall of 1968, and obtained this article shortly before that. I have some accompanying text that I can post on here.

 

[Charlie_mta]

Here's the text that accompanied the posted images of the Alewife Station proposal, circa 1968. Sorry about the cut off edges. I was 18 at the time and not too scrupulous about such things.

 

[themissinglink]

I'm pretty sure one of these renders was posted in this thread before, but here's a few other renders plus an excerpt about the never built Hyatt Hotel at Fan Pier, which was proposed to be 50 stories and 618 feet tall.

Construction had been planned to start in 1987 and last until 1995.

 

[Arenacale]

I now mourn our lost PoMo Seaport.

 

[Plen-T-Pak]

Although I do like the courthouse, I'd prefer more Rowe's Wharf, which this plan reminds me of, than the Miami Beach/Dallas/Silver Spring/Atlanta/Greenville garbage that sits around it currently.

 

[bigpicture7]

I'm pretty sure one of these renders was posted in this thread before, but here's a few other renders plus an excerpt about the never built Hyatt Hotel at Fan Pier, which was proposed to be 50 stories and 618 feet tall.

^That style reminds me very specifically of this one.
We seem to have very few of this PoMo sub-genre in Boston.

 

[BeyondRevenue]

^That style reminds me very specifically of this one.
We seem to have very few of this PoMo sub-genre in Boston.

It's like a specific-sub phylum of po-mo, like pomodeco.
This one comes to mind.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

 

[kz1000ps]

^ I usually think of it as "High Pomo" in the same way we have the term "High Gothic," as in it's postmodernism at its most ornate and postmodern-y. The more time goes by and the more we have stark glass boxes shoved down our throats the more I appreciate them. I've never cared for the arcade, but almost everything else about that Huntington Ave example is lively!

 

[theSil]

...So did the FAA height regulations governing Boston just not exist 30 years ago? Were they post-9/11 inventions?

 

[Equilibria]

...So did the FAA height regulations governing Boston just not exist 30 years ago? Were they post-9/11 inventions?

Oh, they did. This wouldn't have happened.

 

[Charlie_mta]

Fort Point Channel proposal from 1965 BRA 1965-1975 Plan for Boston:

 

[stick n move]

I want to reshare this post I came across from 2009 while looking at the infill mbta stations thread. Apparently this was proposed to be built over charles st station however the great depression killed it. This may kick copley tower off the top spot of never built towers. Holy cow!!!! When I first saw this my jaw hit the floor.

The art deco tower at Charles Station Van mentioned earlier. The image is from Images of America: Boston's Red Line, Bridging the Charles from Alewife to Braintree. If this blatant violation of copyrights is uncool for the board let me know.

Heres a link to the thread page:
https://archboston.com/community/threads/infill-mbta-stations.2114/page-4#post-71754

 

[Charlie_mta]

I want to reshare this post I came across from 2009 while looking at the infill mbta stations thread. Apparently this was proposed to be built over charles st station however the great depression killed it. This may kick copley tower off the top spot of never built towers. Holy cow!!!! When I first saw this my jaw hit the floor.



Heres a link to the thread page:
https://archboston.com/community/threads/infill-mbta-stations.2114/page-4#post-71754

Just the render alone is a work of art, but yeah, the building is beautiful. I wish it could be built now, in place and exactly how it's depicted. So few art deco style buildings around the Boston area. As with this one, the Depression must have halted most new construction while art deco was still popular.

 

[The EGE]

Not to detract from the very cool proposal, but it never appears to have been planned beyond Kellogg's sketch. To my great frustration, there's almost no other information available about the proposal other than that single page.

 

[Charlie_mta]

Here's a 1959 proposal for a pedestrian overpass of Dewey Square (looking south with South Station on the left):