Architect's rendering.
Shorenstein Properties of San Francisco, which owns Center Plaza, has filed plans with the BRA for renovations to the building between City Hall Plaza and the courthouses of Pemberton Square and to add roughly 30,000 square feet of new office and retail space.
In a filing with the BRA this week, Shorenstein notes the building has not been significantly upgraded since it was built in the mid-1960s. It adds it wants to improve the plaza between its building and the courthouses, but will await consultations with the BRA before filing specific plans for that work.
The company describes the changes:
Improvements to the pedestrian experience, accessibility and aesthetics will resolve the dark, bland and uninviting qualities of the ground level of the building. It will be illuminated and include vibrant signage and create a welcoming destination for the neighborhood. The Proponent's design for the building will make Center Plaza a place to go to, rather than just a go through; it will be a place that is truly the "Center Of It All." ...
The Project will include approximately a 21,000 SF GFA glass box addition to the exterior of the building at the penthouse level, as well as roof deck areas that will provide a majestic view of Boston and its harbor. These additions will enhance existing offices on the penthouse level, which are not visible from the street. A continuous band of light will be added to the parapet of the penthouse level, enhancing the building's curve and accenting its iconic standing within Government Center.
Center Plaza project notification form (27M PDF).
Proposed upgraded look:
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Comments
knock a hole in it to open a
By anon
Tue, 09/15/2015 - 8:51pm
knock a hole in it to open a view from Court Street to the grand Adams courthouse!
Forget a hole.
By Paulie
Tue, 09/15/2015 - 10:01pm
Just knock the whole thing down.
I must've walked by Center Plaza a few hundred times. It wasn't until I had to fight a ticket that I even knew that courthouse was back there. I literally stopped in my tracks when I saw it. How could they hide such a grand building like that?
Exactly.
By Jurr E Doodie
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 7:55am
I didn't know the courthouse was there till I had jury duty one time.
The place is a crescent-shaped turd. Knock it down, put something up with an archway or that otherwise shows the courthouse.
This building?
By anon
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 2:19pm
This building?
No. It's behind that one too.
By Paulie
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 7:34pm
The Suffolk County Courthouse aka John Adams Courthouse.
someone
By cybah
Tue, 09/15/2015 - 9:54pm
someone on here once said this about Center Plaza since it blocks the courthouse..
"not only is justice blind in Massachusetts, we've also blocked it's view."
(my apologizes for not remember who said that.. but it's a great quote)
that's whatcha call...
By teric
Tue, 09/15/2015 - 10:30pm
...putting lipstick on a pig.
At least it has Zo in the back of it.
By MC Slim JB
Tue, 09/15/2015 - 11:19pm
Fantastic pork gyros and lamb chili.
Of all the nearby buildings in the Government Center model, it's my least unfavorite: it's curved! Not much you can do to convince people that hate Brutalist architecture to change their minds. (The only people I know that appreciate the style are architects.)
I'd love to time-travel back to the seedy Scollay Square days for a look around, maybe take in a burlesque show.
I miss the hell out of those gyros...
By g
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 7:18am
Recently left Boston and have yet to find a replacement for Al's, Sam's, or Zo's.
Just for the record
By Scratchie
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 10:27am
I like Brutalist architecture and I'm not an architect.
So that's one.
Me too
By Michael Kerpan
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 10:33am
And I like the visual appearance of City Hall (and the inside is largely a mess because the city did not even try to implement the original plans to make the inside more effective and hospitable (and turned down the architects offer to work for free on fixing things after the fact).
Looks like there's three of us
By Jason
Thu, 09/17/2015 - 6:58am
I love city hall from the outside, and have grown to appreciate the intent (if not the execution) of the interior. Not an architect.
I'm OK with this building
By Ron Newman
Tue, 09/15/2015 - 11:35pm
Its curve mirrors that of nearby Sears Crescent, and its street frontage is fully occupied by shops and restaurants. That's better than many of its neighbors.
Agree, but it's SO. DAMN.
By MattL
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 6:55am
Agree on the retail frontage being great, but it's SO. DAMN. DARK. under that over hang. To me, that's the building's real offense. How anyone thought a dark over hang was a good idea in the Northeast is beyond me.
Yeah but when you're walking
By anon
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 7:40am
Yeah but when you're walking out to try and get lunch and get out of your office for five minutes, it's nice to have that protected stretch of sidewalk. Lights and more engagement with the street would probably do a lot to perk this place up, but it's really one of the better buildings from that particular redevelopment project.
The whole damn reason there's a hole in that building now
By UHub fan
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 1:41am
is because it's straddling what used to be a street leading up to the courthouse.
I'm sure when they first built the thing someone said, "You have to leave the access to the courthouse." So they put the courthouse behind a cave. It was the cave era of Boston architecture.
Now, roughly fifty years later everyone's forgotten why the cave was there in the first place. "Hey, it's a cave. Let's fill it with more income for us!"
Someday nobody will even know there's a courthouse back there.
This photo is of the street that used to be where the cave is now: http://dome.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.3/35143/...
Interesting Photo
By anon
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 8:48am
It shows that the court house has been largely covered up for a very long time.
Interesting...
By Bobston
Thu, 09/17/2015 - 10:48am
I am also surprised to see that the courthouse has been covered up for a lot longer than I had thought. I've said for years that I didn't understand how/why they would cover it up, but it would make sense in the 40's-50's concepts of proximity in cities, that they would have built up so much around the State House and old City Hall there on School Street.
What that building really
By Refugee
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 12:27pm
What that building really needs is a Dunkin Donuts. All the surrounding buildings have a Dunkin Donuts. Center Plaza needs one too.
And what's the deal with the Burger King closing down for the entire weekend? Are they trying to lose money?
Or a Walmart
By anon
Wed, 09/16/2015 - 2:20pm
Or a Walmart
Upgrade!
By Bobston
Thu, 09/17/2015 - 10:45am
I have worked in the One Beacon building for the last 5 years and have often noted how dated, and lackluster the public aspects of Center Plaza are. I'm glad they are thinking about updating it, and I think these plans look like they are really thinking about longer term solutions to some of the problems like illuminating the darkness of the overhang, opening it up a bit at 3 Center Plaza to give a better view of the front of the courthouse and Pemberton square terrace. Coupled with the new Government Center T-Station and the rumored improvements to the City Hall terrace, this area is going to become a highlight of the downtown Boston area! Really looking forward to this all being done!
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