The hallowed Filene’s name is about to get rubbed off Boston’s map – all in the name of progress and new development, of course.

The long-stalled redevelopment of the landmark Filene’s site not only has a new developer, Millennium Partners, but it also has two new names, neither of which pays homage to Edward Filene, one of the greatest business leaders to ever come out of Boston.

The $615 million tower, slated to take shape next to the neoclassical, turn-of-the-century retail palace, will now be called Millennium Tower.

OK, a cool name if we were still living back in the 1990s, but one that has already been taken – several times over. In fact, a quick web search turns up other Millennium Towers in San Francisco, Seattle, the United Arab Emirates and Vienna, among other cities.

Meanwhile, the 1912 Filene’s department store will be now be called the Burnham building, after the noted architect who designed it. But apparently the Filene name – famous thanks to a business leader who championed the 40-hour work week, among other innovations – wasn’t deemed worthy of a mention in what is likely to be the signature Boston tower project of the new decade.

Running From The Past?

OK, Millennium Partners certainly has done a good thing riding to the rescue of the disastrous Filene’s project, a hole in the ground in the heart of Downtown Crossing for more than four years. And the previous developer, John Hynes, who ran out of cash back in 2008, was guilty of playing his own name games.

Hynes had named his proposed tower One Franklin. It was an unabashed ploy to give the high-rise, which sits in the heart of struggling Downtown Crossing, a more prestigious, Financial District address. There was a reason for that – it was much heavier on the office space than the current version.

But Millennium has ditched a good chunk of that office space, replacing it with condos. And with the jettisoned corporate suites has apparently gone any need for a name with any Boston connection.

Millennium Tower is as generic, jet-set rich as you can get, appealing to multimillion-dollar condo buyers worldwide, whether they are oil-rich sheiks, nouveau riche Russian oil barons or West Coast tech moguls.

Of course, most locals won’t have a clue from its new name where to find the project – not a problem when it was referred to as the Filene’s project.

But that’s the whole point. The developers don’t particularly care what you and I or the guy or gal in Dorchester, Norwood or Watham thinks. The ultimate audience is well beyond the horizon, and with a lot more money to boot.

A Name To Revere

Still, the decision to take the Filene’s name off what was Edward Filene’s flagship store, and one that became a well-known local landmark to generations of Boston-area residents, is puzzling.

Millennium plans to renovate the century-old retail store as the new tower is built, with plans to call it the Burnham building.

It’s a nice nod to the property’s famed designer, Daniel Burnham. Burnham’s portfolio of masterpieces is extensive, including the Marshall Field building in Chicago, Union Station in Washington, D.C., and the Flatiron Building in New York.

All great, but Filene’s legacy may be far more relevant for our troubled times.

He was one of the most forward-thinking businessmen ever seen in our country. Filene was far ahead of his time with innovations like an employee credit union, a profit-sharing program, paid vacations and health clinics. He even encouraged employees to form their own union and negotiate for wages and benefits. And that’s not even getting into the innovations he brought to the retail industry, including automatic markdowns and money-back guarantees.

It would be hard to imagine that Millennium and its backers at City Hall hold Filene any ill will. But sadly, the Filene name was blackened over the past few years by countless references in local media to the “Filene’s project.” The name suddenly became shorthand for a giant hole in the ground in the heart of downtown Boston where the new “Filene’s tower” was supposed to go.

Given this, it wouldn’t be surprising if the new developer wanted a fresh start, in part by purging all associations with the previous turkey project. I can imagine headlines that say “Filene’s project” have got to be irksome to the new guys, who are ready to ante up hundreds of millions on a risky new endeavor.

But it’s still no excuse for obliterating a name that has meant so much to so many people in Boston – and beyond – over the past century.

Scott Van Voorhis can be reached at sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com