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What lies beneath: Barnes & Noble edition

Old Barnes and Noble facade ripped off in Downtown Crossing

Our own Cybah gives us our first look at what has long been hidden by the old Barnes & Noble facade on its long vacant storefront on Washington Street in Downtown Crossing. Workers have been busy transforming the 1881 building into retail and office space since 2018, the year after a developer bought it and decided to renovate the space rather than try to jam another high rise into Downtown Crossing.

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The photo header on his twitter account is utterly spectacular. Provincetown, I think?

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Wow.. I didnt see this until now.

yes I love that pic, was on the Boston Harbor Cruises fast ferry on Sunday, July 21 @ 8:30 departure time. This was when it was like 100 all day (I stayed at the Boatslip pool all day)

That pano (and a few others I took, see this tweet here) were SPECTACULAR.

Honestly many late sunsets in Ptown in Mid-July are spectacular regardless. That ferry departure time is simply perfect, I have many, many photos of the sunset behind the Pilgrim Monument.

Pro Tip and shameless plug for a buddy's biz: If you are ever in Ptown and want a one of a kind sorta of evening with a beautiful sunset. Contact Art's Dune tours and take a sunset Dune Tour. He takes you out to a part of the beach you cannot drive to (or easily walk to). Its the *only* place on the East Coast (except the Gulf Side of FL), where you can see the sunset over and into the water. I went once.. I wanna go again. It was just so beautiful.

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I’ve been lucky enough to be on that ferry to experience both spectacular sunsets and a super moon. Perfect endings to a getaway from the city.

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Of a different bookstore?

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It think you mean SuperMegaWalmart.

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You're thinking of the Borders on School Street that turned into a gigantic Walgreens.

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Thanks

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Head over the Kenmore Sq soon and you'll get to see the shell of BU's old B&N on which the citgo sign sits.

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Is BU going to replace it with another college bookstore somewhere else?

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But on the other side of the street. I've been wondering about the B&N presence over there. I guess if I want some BU gear, the trek has become longer.

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Before Barnes & Noble was at that location it was a W.T. Grant department store. Lunch counter and all. Downtown Boston was once full of such places. Whenever I went up that red escalator at Barnes & Noble to the second floor it reminded me of Grant's.The escalator was the only thing that remained the same.

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Go back about 100 years and Boston had a Department Store and a Corresponding Newspaper for every "class" of customer -- close to 10 at one time

Some of the old ones not including Jordan's [the dept store not the furniture empire] and Filene's of the famous "automatic basement" [the discounting of the prices not the equipment]

Example 1:
R.H. White's a whole block on Washington at Bedford St.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ywAzIaHWgxc/SdDg7oMFA5I/AAAAAAAAAoc/5myoPzBMMn...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zb-3fadCLzQ/TVVMqr5bYNI/AAAAAAAAB3g/10kPxcag8U...

Example 2:
Not to be confused with R.H. Stearns directly across from the Park Street T on Tremont St. -- tall and slender
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aocM2k0FJcc/UB2JX2cRznI/AAAAAAAAZ68/tCTIHfr9hP...,

Example 3:
Kennedy's -- the store not the family -- right next to Filene's on Summer St. -- still there in facade
https://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/700x/cdn.onlyinyourstate.com/wp-content/uplo...

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When I was a kid, the highlight of going to Downtown Boston was visiting the Barnes and Noble bookstore. My brothers and I would be able to select our own books from the bargain bin and then read them on the train home.

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What store or or restaurant is the building being renovated for?

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There's a real dearth of artists' housing in Boston and the other cities. They should make artists' and craftspeople's living/working space out of that building.

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at least on the upper floors

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