Redesign Government Center

Basically yes, something along those lines, but I think you can retain a larger plaza with narrower buildings ( cafes, beer gardens, maybe some retail or even boston museum) around the perimeter.

Totally with you on the mostly flat plaza idea. Maybe a slope is okay, but the tiered plaza doesn't work well as-is. Partly because the tiers serve no function such as providing tiered seating for an entertainment area. They are just angled wrong for where they set up the stage on the North side of city hall. A "bowl" where the tiers are angled or curved toward the stage would be good.
 
18511563533_1b2e09925b_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Now, that looks like a European plaza.

Although I would like a view line from Faneuil Hall to the Court House in the unlikely event that Center Plaza is ever torn down/broken up.
 
statler said:
Although I would like a view line from Faneuil Hall to the Court House in the unlikely event that Center Plaza is ever torn down/broken up.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Personally, I wouldn't add new buildings to the south side of the plaza. Bringing back Hanover and enclosing the north side would be great though.
 
Justin7 said:
Absolutely. Personally, I wouldn't add new buildings to the south side of the plaza. Bringing back Hanover and enclosing the north side would be great though.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't the feds have beef with a road that close to their buildings? Maybe a ped/bike-only Hanover street?
 
All of this is predicated on the GSA somehow becoming a reasonable landlord.
 
fattony said:
Wouldn't the feds have beef with a road that close to their buildings?
Click to expand...

That's why on my plan the Hanover Street extension is straight, with a buffer of new buildings between it and the Federal Building.
 
I thought GSA was also opposed to buildings in that area as well? I thought I remembered someone (the city?) proposing a hotel in that area and it being nix'ed by GSA.
 
statler said:
I thought GSA was also opposed to buildings in that area as well? I thought I remembered someone (the city?) proposing a hotel in that area and it being nix'ed by GSA.
Click to expand...

What would make the JFK building different from the O'Neill Building where two very large residential projects are going up very close? Are there vastly different occupant agencies?
 
A good question. I wish I could find some info on the proposal, but I swear I remember the Feds were instrumental in killing the project.

edit: A Google search reveals nothing. Perhaps I imagined it.
 
statler said:
A good question. I wish I could find some info on the proposal, but I swear I remember the Feds were instrumental in killing the project.

edit: A Google search reveals nothing. Perhaps I imagined it.
Click to expand...

I also remember the hotel proposal. It was going to be a high rise down on the Congress Str. side of the plaza. The feds did object (security), I also remember some conflict of interest issues because the developer was a pal of mayor and the other one was that it would block the site line to the Old North Church.
 
BeeLine said:
I also remember the hotel proposal. It was going to be a high rise down on the Congress Str. side of the plaza. The feds did object (security), I also remember some conflict of interest issues because the developer was a pal of mayor and the other one was that it would block the site line to the Old North Church.
Click to expand...

If that's how GSA is going to feel about it, then a top priority for both the Mayor and the Governor should be finding less central locations for these functions and buying the current land for transfer to developers. That's not realistic short-term, but it should be a goal long-term, particularly as GSA is proving amenable to that concept right now (notably with the Volpe Center).

It worked with the FBI building in Chelsea, and surely there are other locations in the city and region that would appreciate the jobs and foot traffic without caring so much about density and street activation. It would be a nice use for the Bayside Expo site if the Olympic Bid fails, for example.
 
Right now you already have most of a nice tree lined pedestrian Hanover St extension, but it simply lacks definition.
 
The building and plaza needs a new program, I think the building could be a Boston Public / Charter / Civics Magnet School that will bring in a lot of foot traffic. It would be great if kids from the other neighborhoods could also take advantage of downtown job opportunities after school. This or the Paul Rudolph Building or maybe both. One technical, one civic magnet school.
 
dhawkins said:
The building and plaza needs a new program, I think the building could be a Boston Public / Charter / Civics Magnet School that will bring in a lot of foot traffic. It would be great if kids from the other neighborhoods could also take advantage of downtown job opportunities after school. This or the Paul Rudolph Building or maybe both. One technical, one civic magnet school.
Click to expand...

I definitely think City Hall needs to decentralize its offices so that you can make any transaction at a neighborhood based city office. Then you can just hollow out all the bottom floors of City Hall and open it up. Include a mid sized to large auditorium with some ground level commercial leases along the street and plaza. Much of this can and should be done incrementally rather than one big move... the big move approach has failed consistently while the incremental changes seem to be working.
 
It is sad that the public access stairs that provide access to the courtyard of city hall from Congress Street and from the plaza were blocked off. What were suppose to be public observation seats to look down into the City Counsel Chamber was a little too voyeuristic, but I have never accessed that courtyard to see if the design intent was ever implemented. Besides voyeuristic, it was a little nieve. I don't think Counselors would want to be watched like a side show. It would be an interesting thread to see if there are other examples of government buildings with "government watch" seats. Although, I would buy a ticket to a day of Congress in session these days.
 
dhawkins said:
It is sad that the public access stairs that provide access to the courtyard of city hall from Congress Street and from the plaza were blocked off. What were suppose to be public observation seats to look down into the City Counsel Chamber was a little too voyeuristic, but I have never accessed that courtyard to see if the design intent was ever implemented. Besides voyeuristic, it was a little nieve. I don't think Counselors would want to be watched like a side show. It would be an interesting thread to see if there are other examples of government buildings with "government watch" seats. Although, I would buy a ticket to a day of Congress in session these days.
Click to expand...

I thought public viewing galleries were a fairly typical feature of democratic legislatures. In fact, The US Senate and House of Representatives both have viewing galleries open to the public. If you want to watch Congress in session just contact your Senator or Representative and his or her office can get you a pass. You won't even have to pay.
 
JumboBuc said:
I thought public viewing galleries were a fairly typical feature of democratic legislatures. In fact, The US Senate and House of Representatives both have viewing galleries open to the public. If you want to watch Congress in session just contact your Senator or Representative and his or her office can get you a pass. You won't even have to pay.
Click to expand...

That's correct. Democracy is supposed to be spectated.
 
JumboBuc said:
I thought public viewing galleries were a fairly typical feature of democratic legislatures. In fact, The US Senate and House of Representatives both have viewing galleries open to the public. If you want to watch Congress in session just contact your Senator or Representative and his or her office can get you a pass. You won't even have to pay.
Click to expand...

Are there barf bags in the backs of the seats for the spectators?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top