The New Retail Thread

Good. They way they have it set up now is so uninviting.

Not that the building itself is doing any favors.
 
I don't at all like the idea of reducing the size of the library, or leasing parts of it out to non-complementary uses.
 
Ron Newman said:
I don't at all like the idea of reducing the size of the library, or leasing parts of it out to non-complementary uses.
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Ron -- I never considered Johnson's Bunker to be a part of The Library

Besides the Johnson Bunker is a huge building -- think of it -- its the same outside dimensions as the McKim but has no courtyard, nor the heights of the floors -- so my guess is it might be 2X the floor space

Shuffle stuff about and I'll bet that there is room for a nice small to medium shopping area with some restaurants opening out to the street

The idea mirrors a plan by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority which created retail space on the ground floor of the Hynes Convention Center at Dalton and Boylston streets. In 2010, Towne Stove and Spirits was opened by restaurateurs Lydia Shire, Jasper White and Patrick Lyons. The Capital Grille restaurant later moved from its Newbury Street location to the Hynes. Leases from the restaurants generate more than $1 million annually.
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A good model
 
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A Target? I know it's just a hypothetical but that's an awful lot of space to hand over to commercial interests. As I recall, behind the Boylston Street walls are circulation offices to the left of the lobby and a childrens area to the right. Wonder which side (if not both) is up for consideration.
 
I'd rather they worked on the Johnson facade and then reshuffled space so that they could get more of their collection out of storage and into display. I don't think there's a problem generally with business in public places (the cafe is great, and Earl of Sandwich on the Common is a good idea), but inside the library just seems a little crass to me. Especially when the BPL could use the space on their own.
 
underground said:
I'd rather they worked on the Johnson facade and then reshuffled space so that they could get more of their collection out of storage and into display. I don't think there's a problem generally with business in public places (the cafe is great, and Earl of Sandwich on the Common is a good idea), but inside the library just seems a little crass to me. Especially when the BPL could use the space on their own.
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I support the idea of a small cafe for the Johnson wing (I don't think it would hurt the excellent cafe in the McKim building at all), but I agree that the rest of the effort should be concerned with making the Johnson wing's street presence actually work as Boston's main library because it doesn't work. Retail would simply detract from the iconic nature of the library. Boylston already has enough retail density. The library should be a library.
 
I know BPL management was seriously considering a gift shop (similar to what they have in museums). Wonder if that's part of the plan.
 
underground said:
I'd rather they worked on the Johnson facade and then reshuffled space so that they could get more of their collection out of storage and into display. I don't think there's a problem generally with business in public places (the cafe is great, and Earl of Sandwich on the Common is a good idea), but inside the library just seems a little crass to me. Especially when the BPL could use the space on their own.
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Uground -- don't let Riff find-out but there are [soto vocce "under utilized spaces occupied by library bureaucrats in prime parts of the building"]

If I was given the power:
1) I'd blow away the bunker wall on Boylston -- replace it with glass with some granite to pay an homage to the McKim
2) boot out anything from the building not directly involved with the public and direct access to library materials
3) take that space and invite a few restaurants with both a door onto Boylston and a door from inside the library
a) a couple of quick places to get a coffee -- similar to the cafe in Barnes and Noble at the Pru
b) 2 nice sit down dinner place -- 1-- open late
c) keep the surrounding self-serve circulating part of the library open the same hours
4) build a slender glass condo tower at the corner furthest from the Copley entrance -- a true home for bibliophiles
5) encourage one or more book and media sellers to locate in the surrounding buildings
 
Don't forget a parking garage so people who live in Weston, Marblehead and Lexington and the like can easily drive in to visit.
 
A cafe and gift shop are fine ideas. I object, however, to non-complementary uses of this building.
 
bbfen said:
Don't forget a parking garage so people who live in Weston, Marblehead and Lexington and the like can easily drive in to visit.
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Actually there are enough garage spaces surrounding the BPL as well as a new-fangled invention enabling trolleys to run under the ground and which has an aperture opening into the ground directly adjacent to Mr. McKim's wonderful new building
 
bbfen said:
Don't forget a parking garage so people who live in Weston, Marblehead and Lexington and the like can easily drive in to visit.
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Dude, that was totally uncalled for. His post was actually making sense and was incredibly pro-urban. There was no need for that comment whatsoever.
 
LOL, peeps are really going for the jugular today...must be the heat?
 
bbfen said:
Don't forget a parking garage so people who live in Weston, Marblehead and Lexington and the like can easily drive in to visit.
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You mean the people who come into the city to spend their money on food, drink, shopping and entertainment? Without those folks, the fact is Boston wouldn't be half the city it is today.
 
I'm pretty sure bbfen was being facetious, but your missing the point BosDev. If those people lived in the city they'd spend even more money on food, drink, shopping and entertainment. Instead, they choose to live outside the city, enact zoning in their communities that prices out people that aren't "like them", and demand the state build/rebuild/expand highways so they can drive into the city (at the expense of spending money on other transit projects that would also get them into the city but maybe not in the comfort of their luxury SUV).
 
See, this is exactly what I was getting at. This thread is now going to once again devolve into a Whighlander-centric shouting match about the suburbs vs. Boston. For once, Whighlander's post was pro-urban, made entire sense, and actually sounded desirable and someone else had to turn the thread off course, since Whighlander didn't deliver on his usual task of derailing threads.

It's like some of you people instigate this BS.
 
Screw you!!! I'm hot and sweaty. My ass chafes. I've got heat rash in my armpits. I feel like I'm about to pass out and I'm taking this thread down with me!!!
 
Rethinking the Johnson Building (and especially its façade) is certainly worthwhile, but I don't want to see library and shelf space reduced.

Not every single building needs to have commercial storefronts. A major public institution should look like one.
 
Problem is the BPL is in no position to spend money on anything other than essential services. Either work happens with lots of help from the private sector (and a loss of library space) or things stay the same. There is no in between.
 
I'd go for "stay the same, but add a cafe and gift shop". I bet they could make a fair amount of money selling map reproductions.
 
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