Boston’s City Hall has been a controversial piece of architecture since it opened in 1969.
Of all the public announcements made during 2006, few, if any, received more headlines than Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s suggestion that it is time to build a new City Hall. Those who have watched the impact of public buildings upon development over the years will surely watch with great interest as the City Hall plan unfolds.
In the years after World War II there was a general consensus that Boston was a dying city. Urban renewal programs advanced by the federal government encouraged “slum clearance” – the wholesale demolition of buildings and the construction of new ones in their place. Scollay Square, which had been degenerated in the eyes of most Bostonians, was viewed as a likely target for those policies. Then-Mayor John F. Collins decided to embark upon the construction of a government center that would include a state office building, a federal building and a City Hall. A national competition was conducted, resulting in the present building that has been in use for almost 40 years. There is no doubt that the construction of Government Center – by public dollars expended by city, state and federal governments – triggered the extension of Center Plaza, 28 State St., One Boston Place and One Beacon St. The argument for constructing a new City Hall is not only that the current building is outdated, which it is, but also that a new location would be far superior. Menino has suggested a publicly owned parcel on the waterfront.
If City Hall is torn down and acres of land are made available in the core of the city, it will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Exactly how much it is worth to a private party will depend upon the cooperation of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the federal government, as well as the zoning restrictions that might be placed on the parcel.
When City Hall was constructed, Quincy Market was for the most part abandoned. It was not an area that encouraged pedestrian traffic. One could envision multi-purpose buildings with Congress Street becoming a retail corridor. Unlike a generation or two ago, people are paying dearly to live in downtown locations where they can walk to work, restaurants and entertainment and can leave a car in a garage, where they don’t have to deal with it until they want to.
It can be argued that the proceeds from the sale of the land on which City Hall presently sits could easily pay for a new building on the waterfront or in another location. Therefore, it is good economics, not to mention good planning, to tear down a building that epitomizes the brutal architecture of the postwar era and to replace it with a smaller, more functional structure.
Additionally, the plaza surrounding the building has rarely been put to good public use. Unless the warm temperatures Boston experienced early in the year become a permanent fixture, it is unlikely that it ever will be. It is not welcoming except during the warmest months of the year.
Looking Ahead
A new City Hall will need to have appropriate offices for the mayor and city council members, a council chamber and sufficient offices and meeting rooms to satisfy the needs of a major metropolitan area. Unlike the mid-60s, however, when the existing building was designed, citizens can do business with City Hall electronically rather than waiting in line. There is less need to have thousands of employees working in a centralized location to make city government function. City Hall can afford to be much smaller than the current structure.
For the new City Hall to work along the waterfront it would be helpful if the MBTA’s Silver Line bus route was extended. The stop at Silver Line Way could be underground like the World Trade Center station is. Perhaps the name of the stop could be changed to “City Hall.” It has also been suggested that the parcel of land the mayor suggested could be swapped with another parcel, conceivably located next to the Court House station. The Silver Line has the potential to be a solution to those who do not want to be (or feel) far away from the traditional downtown.
There is the even more radical suggestion that City Hall need not be an independent building at all. The American cities of the future will have many mixed-use buildings – buildings that might be residential on top of offices, with retail space on the first floor. Some such buildings have been constructed in Boston already; more have cropped up in New York, Washington, D.C., and other major cities. One of the many ideas for the new City Hall includes making it the lower floor of a mixed-use structure. Perhaps that could save millions of dollars and jumpstart the development of the office tower of Winthrop Square or a similar building in another part of Boston. Whatever the outcome, 2007 promises to be a year of expansive discussion with respect to what will happen with Boston’s City Hall.
