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Company might put Ferris wheel on City Hall Plaza

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By adamg on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 2:42pm

Mayor Walsh's office announced today it's chosen Delaware North's Boston Garden Development Corp. - currently building a new mixed-use tower at North Station - to transform City Hall Plaza into more than just a vast field of bricks with occasional concerts and food festivals.

The company beat out two other bidders with plans that call for a skating rink in the winter and a "beach" in the summer, coupled with a new restaurant and bar run by Delaware North's Patina Restaurant Group.

The plan also calls for the potential for an iconic observation wheel and a restaurant structure with a liquor license that would be run by Delaware North's Patina Restaurant Group.

Under the proposal, the plaza's existing schedule of events, which includes the twice-yearly Boston Calling music festival, would continue.

The announcement does not say if Delaware North will be allowed to trademark the phrase "City Hall Plaza."

Neighborhoods: 
Downtown
Free tagging: 
City Hall Plaza


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Comments

By BostonDog on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 2:47pm.

It will represent the circles one must go around when dealing with city hall.

By xZ on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 1:24pm.

A FERRIS WHEEL should be placed at PIERS PARK in EAST BOSTON , with the best views in the city, I can see private donors or massport paying for this , the price of admission to ride on the Ferris wheel should be $20 all proceeds go to local causes, with Massports approval it can be done. Ferris wheel won't do well at Boston city hall plaza, too many obstacles buildings in the way.

By Spooner on Sat, 03/05/2016 - 9:39am.

I completely agree that east Boston has the best views of the city, but being from Boston. I don't even go to Eastie except for the occasional Santarpios visit or when I'm catching a flight. That being said you can be assured that NO tourists will be flocking to Eastie to ride a Ferris wheel, it Needs to be in city hall plaza.

By xZ on Sun, 03/06/2016 - 12:30am.

East Boston is on the verge of being gentrified, also there is word about an MBTA ferry boat the same kind of Ferry boat that transports Boston residents and Tourist from the Long Wharf to The Constitution in Charlestown, So Piers Park in East Boston would be the appropriate place for a state of the art Ferris Wheel, the kind of Ferris Wheel you see in London, England with enclosed transparent glass on each Ferris wheel car. It will be a great tourist attraction , with the views that Piers park has , tourist will pay top dollar to get on, no doubt. North end beacon hill , Charlestown thrive on tourist dollars, its Easties time now .

By Michael on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 2:50pm.

To the first poor schmuck stuck at the top for 35 minutes due to a signal problem on the ground.

By bulgingbuick on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 2:56pm.

you can override the signal. The ferris wheel may not stop for a while but..

By roadman on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 4:32pm.

Where does it say that the T will be responsible for operation and maintenance of the ferris wheel.

By bulgingbuick on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 8:21am.

sarcasm.

By Mjolnir on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 8:47pm.

Their artistic rendering shows it placed right on the Blue Line tunnel and possibly on the new emergency exit so it very well might!!

By Proposition Joe on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 2:52pm.

It's time to give up on City Hall Plaza. No matter how much lipstick you smear all over it, there is no way to make that place a lively environment, not when all the adjacent buildings have terrible interactions at the pedestrian level. They need to redevelop the area to look like the old Scollay Square are put a bunch of bars and nightclubs in there.

By anon on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 3:22pm.

This! It's barren and windy and cold in the winter, it's scorching hot and exposed in the summer, there's too much bleak expanse of brick, it's surrounded on two sides by faceless concrete government buildings and a busy road on a third. Until a fundamental restructuring of the space is done, all these weird one off hype projects aren't going to do anything.

A ferris wheel would be cool on the greenway, though.

By bibliotequetress on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 4:31pm.

!!!

By Waquiot on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 7:21pm.

Boston needs a big one space without grass (which gets negatively affected by heavy use of an area) to hold events. That's what City Hall Plaza was built for. That it gets underutilized is a shame, since the idea is excellent.

After all, where will they show us all the Stanley Cup the next time the Avalanche win?

By Mjolnir on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 10:42am.

It's not a big blank tabula rasa, it just looks like one. It's actually very tricky to organize how to use that space intelligently since it's not a parking lot, it's composed of odd angles, levels, and nooks. It was not designed to host big events on every inch of the space and it's not optimal for doing so which is WHY it so rarely happens.

They could show the Stanley Cup on the big screen on the Hatch Shell where they frequently do music and movies, whose lawn was just redone to make it a superior gathering space. Or at Fenway like they did Ghostbusters for free last Halloween (ample seating, big screen!). Or the Common above the garage. Or set up a screen outside the Frog Pond cafe so people can sit on the drained pond if the grass is the biggest concern. Or by the little stadium seating area in Columbus Park, by the water.

By TiminCharlestown on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 10:42am.

With that space when there is no event there?

By Waquiot on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 4:08pm.

Delaware North has come up with ideas as to how to utilize the space when it is not otherwise being used.

I love the idea of a skating rink there, since even I will admit that it is a barren wasteland in the winter time.

I've written about how large cities need big, non grassy spaces so much that my own eyes would gloss over while writing something about it. The problem isn't that City Hall Plaza, by the very nature of its design, is a bad use of the space. The problem is that it is not being used to its potential. The pot fest should be there. All manner of rallies should be there. Leave grassy spaces like the Common for more passive uses like sunbathing or playing frisbee.

By anon on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 4:22pm.

I agree. Large cities do need big, non-grassy spaces. Too many people think that every available inch of unused or concrete space around here should be "greenspace", and they won't rest until Boston looks like Weston. I don't know where this mentality comes from. A city is a city. Not everything should be a park.

By Ron Newman on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 4:55pm.

Paul Revere Mall in the North End, for instance, is a totally paved space that still feels lush and green and inviting, because of trees and shrubbery.

By Section77 on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 10:38pm.

Menino once tried to sell the plaza off to a hotel chain to make a quick buck, but the Feds wouldn't allow it. There is actually a joint agreement on the usage of the plaza with the Feds, who of course own the JFK building. For security reasons they didn't want another building next door, occupied by God knows who. Something tells me a Disneyfied version of Scollay Square would not fly.

By Mjolnir on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 10:35am.

It's funny to see that Boston has no idea how to really use the space, so they keep just doing different things with no direction, organization, or sense. Astroturf and Adirondack chairs?! Yeah, that'll hook 'em. Sit on cold brick to watch a soccer game? You'll draw them out by the dozens! Put a music festival on the non-load-bearing fountain cap and have drunk people stumbling over the levels to nowhere? That's a much better idea than having it on the Common or at the Hatch Shell.

By Ron Newman on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 2:44pm.

actually got good turnout for US games in both the men's and women's World Cup. I'd be happy to see the city experiment with more such events.

By Mjolnir on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 5:41pm.

I mean, I was there for the women's cup, and yeah there were like... 50 people? 75? No matter the exact number, the crowd was an amount of people which could have easily been accommodated at i.e. the Hatch or a similar sized screen on the Common's flattest space above the garage. The crowd was not substantial enough to need a huuuuge amount of space in every direction, nor were they actively churning the ground enough to need a hardtop instead of a soft grass seat. In fact, if they set up the screen at the bottom of Flag Staff hill near the southeast headhouse and people could sit on the hill to watch that would have been even more comfortable.

By FredQuimby on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 2:58pm.

By giving it a Ferris wheel like London, Chicago, Singapore, Yokohama, Belfast.......

By aldos on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 3:03pm.

inb4 world class

By roadman on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 4:34pm.

Chernobyl. Which is probably the one ferris wheel that will blend in best with City Hall Plaza's landscape.

Oops - I see scumquistador beat me to it

By Scumquistador on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 6:02pm.

im just glad somebody else thought the same thing

By Kaz on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 3:06pm.

Why not get in our ferris wheel and see the big flat cement roof of city hall too!

By adamg on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 3:14pm.

City Hall doesn't really have a big flat roof, at least not in the main part of the building - there's an outdoor atrium type of thing going on there. Plus a small wind turbine.

By BostonDog on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 3:14pm.

Sad but not surprising city would go with a company based out of Buffalo, NY to run a restaurant at Boston city hall. I bet they'll get one of the new special outer neighborhood liquor licenses too.

The new MBTA subway cars need to be built in-state for some unknown reason but god forbid they reserve the city hall restaurant to someone actually from Boston.

By Scumquistador on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 3:18pm.

i mean, i pretty much just imagined a concrete graveyard like we have now, except with a ferris wheel. i imagine there are a lot of places near chernobyl that look identical

E: I knew I wasn't actually imagining it, its in a town called Pripyat

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/6HNHJff.jpg)

and it actually looks LESS depressing than what i figured ours would look like

By roadman on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 12:05pm.

still has some trees. Dead and scorched and radioactive, but they're better than no trees at all.

By whyaduck on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 3:25pm.

An ferris wheel?! Sure, that fits in with the Birthplace of America theme. Good God. And a "beach"? We have some of the loveliest coast in the country. Why in heavens name would I want to sit in/on trucked in sand starting at a ferris wheel? Skating rink? We have one already. Just walk up to Boston Common.

By adamg on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 3:26pm.

For the Phantom Gourmet thing?

By whyaduck on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 3:55pm.

Yeah, apparently for their BBQ festival they truck in sand.

By anon on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 5:34pm.

You're just "starting" to question Walsh's common sense? The questioning didn't start when he decided to hold a parade for the Patriots in the middle of snowpocalypse and had Boylston Street as clean as a whistle for suburbanites and tourists while the rest of us in the neighborhoods lived like refugees?

By anon on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 4:00pm.

I thought they were discredited by how well (knock on the wood) the Forrest Hills project has gone.

Disclaimer - I was also a skeptic but am so far pleased with improvement.

By 500Monkeys on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 8:36am.

*wipes coffee off chin*

By Waquiot on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 2:00pm.

I'm still a bitter old man until they reopen the sidewalk across from the new cab stand that has been out of service for at least 10 months now, meaning I have to cross where the pedestrian light used to be and hope cars stop. Who would have guessed that this project woud be so automobile centric?

By bibliotequetress on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 4:30pm.

We have a music festival named after a song by a British band and a bunch of idiot real estate pros trying to make SoWa not not sound like a stupid ripoff of SoHo. Boston is sliding towards genericity every day. London has a ferris wheel. London is kinda known for the Millenium Wheel. Can we have a go-car track, or an outdoor bowling alley, or pretty much ANYTHING else but not a ferris wheel?

Thank you.

By Felicity on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 6:50pm.

They have a Ferris wheel on Navy Pier. The Ferris Wheel was invented there for the World's Fair.

I think adding trees, gardens, a mobile library, food trucks, sitting areas, etc. is a better idea!

By fairlee76 on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 4:48pm.

You all must be a hoot at parties!

I work on one side of City Hall Plaza and think this proposed development would be great. Yell about "lipstick on a pig!" all you want but I'd take that over continuing to let this space go unused most of the year.

By whyaduck on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 5:00pm.

And I am not saying don't do something with the area. But having a monstrosity such as a ferris wheel and a fake beach (which is silly) is not any sort of improvement.

Here is a thought - how about a nice planting of mature trees and some nice comfy places to sit in the shade? If you want to stick in a temporary eatery, go for it.

By fairlee76 on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 5:27pm.

I am more in favor of your suggestion to plant trees and have nice sitting areas. But, at this point, I do think just about anything is preferable to the current CHP landscape.

I would be stoked to have a Ferris wheel down there. Forget about a lunch walk; let's take a lunch time Ferris wheel ride. Whee!

By Scumquistador on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 5:52pm.

i dont think thats really a good mentality to have when it comes to civic projects

i'd rather have the concrete hellscape than a ferris wheel i think. i'm not saying you couldn't do something with that area. but plopping a ferris wheel onto a concrete hellscape leaves you with a ferris wheel on a concrete hellscape.

i would like to see the underlying ugliness addressed before adding what is effectively a massive window that allows us to gaze upon less miserable looking areas

doll up the place, then add a spinning death wheel if you want

By Irma la Douce on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 8:00pm.

London Eye ticket currently costs $30 (based on today's exchange rate); the Las Vegas "High Roller" adult ticket ranges from $19.95 (online price) to $52 for a/c and open bar access. I would expect the Boston experience to be similarly priced for the tourist market.

By cybah on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 4:58pm.

I hope this doesn't cost the tax payers a dime. And that ferris wheel better be FREE to ride since it's on city owned land. Otherwise, it's just another "giving stuff to corporations so they can make money off of it" type deal.

FWIW, I think it's a terrible idea. I'd rather just see the streets re-gridded back to the way they were and dumping the whole plaza all together. Or at a minimum, dump the brick, put some grass in and make it a huge park for everyone to enjoy.

It will be yet another place in town that locals will now avoid like the plague since it will be mobbed with tourists. Because frankly, we all know this is why he's doing this.. not for the residents, but for the tourists.

PS - Curious to see how the FBI feels about this since they've nixed many ideas for that plaza due to 'security'.

By Mia123 on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 5:26pm.

Just raised grass areas for sitting. Maybe also a sculpture by a local artist (not a historical one). That would be nice. Good for people working in the area or visitors looking to picnic and take a break.

By C on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 8:55am.

How about a public greenhouse so there's greenspace to spend time in, even in the dead of winter?

(Though I do kinda like the ferris wheel/beach thing, it would be fun for A summer, then get stale. Something that's less trendy is probably a better way to drop some money.)

By Irma la Douce on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 12:51pm.

The city/private funders could partner with Harvard/Arnold Arboretum to extend the arboretum's education mission. Though the "winter garden" idea for CHP was proposed about 15 years ago - Yo Yo Ma was one of the proponents-and nothing came of it then.

By Elmer on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 1:04pm.

IMAGE(http://www.universalhub.com/files/images/photos/latestgc.jpg)

By faegirl on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 7:15pm.

Wait, weren't they convinced a year or two ago that there is a fountain underneath the plaza that can't hold up the weight of stuff?

Also, this could be an issue for the federal building that is right there. We don't like people building tall things next to us.

By Mjolnir on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 10:46am.

It's under the giant gray concrete pizza slice on the northwest corner of the plaza. It nearly collapsed at Boston Calling and they kept it quiet.

Fun fact, the fountain was the old community gathering space ("activation" zone in modern language) for the plaza, but the fountain got too gross and clogged, maintenance was a nightmare, so they closed it down. That's right where they want to put the Urban Beach, aka the Boston Litterbox.

By anon on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 12:03pm.

Check out these photos:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/3953591906/in/photolist...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/3953594910/in/photolist...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/3952814767/in/photolist...

By Irma la Douce on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 7:57pm.

NPR summary regarding dispute over who "owns" Yosemite site names.

http://www.npr.org/2016/03/03/469006049/iconic-names-change-at-yosemite-...

I wonder if they will claim ownership of "Government Center"?

By MiFitz on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 9:25pm.

Tragic, a ferris wheel , City hall Plaza needs water elements, trees and seating, not novelty overdone amusements copied from other cities. If you want to copy, Jane's Carousel is beautiful.

By emmett folgert on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 11:56pm.

So many big cities have Ferris Wheels its become cliché.

So lets make a really big one. Let's make huge gondola cabins that transport like 12 passengers each. Have the wheel go very slow. Have the cabins rotate. Put cool lighting on the wheel that can change to connect with current events.

By mediaseth on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 9:04am.

I was in Detroit over the summer and they had an "urban beach" adjacent to a stage and a roped in public drinking area with faux tropical bar. It was nice. But think about it - DETROIT beat us to it. Well, NYC put a beach on the East River possibly before Detroit, and so on. For once, I'd like Boston to innovate something again. I mean, other than biotech type stuff that you don't want to put in public spaces. :)

Boston has in its past been a city where people from outside - out of state, usually - try new things before bringing them elsewhere (as in theatre, for example). However, when it comes to urban planning, Boston always seems to be behind the curve. A "me too" city a decade too late on trends. I don' know why - just a layman's observation.

By Scumquistador on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 9:16am.

if you ignore the entirety of the modern charles river and all ancillary facilities, i suppose that could be the case

also of note is the first university in america with an urban planning program. its a big famous one, in cambridge

By mediaseth on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 10:14am.

I agree that we have great Universities with great programs. It's a shame that Boston and surrounding cities and towns don't directly benefit from these programs. Provincialism prevails and municipalities tend to reject any ideas they perceive as coming from external sources.

One example:

Professor Barry Bluestone from Northeastern University offered a lot - even to set up office with students in his program - to Lynn. That was following a self-assessment study he did through the local Chamber of Commerce (in which I participated)

Like many such efforts, plans, studies and so forth, I think this effort was accepted with so much gratitude Bluestone and his team's recommendations just may get to collect dust on a shelf somewhere or stored in a city department's cabinet.

By Scumquistador on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 10:54am.

Well the urban planning program was established in 1924, i think the river was dammed in 1910? The esplanade and the parks were built right before WW2 got serious in europe. memorial drive and all that wasn't built until post war. so there are a TON of people still alive here from that time. hardly- and again, keep in mind the post i was actually replying to, HARDLY "always behind the curve"

i HIGHLY recommend this book to anybody that enjoys reading about the history of boston and urban planning and what not.

http://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Charles-River-Karl-Haglund/dp/0262083078

I admit i havent finished it, or picked it up in awhile, but I really should go back and re-read and finally finish it.

By Kaz on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 12:20pm.

Sure, maybe in Kansas.

But you can literally walk to a real beach from Government Center. Why would we throw sand on it and call it a beach just to have something to do with the space in the summer?

You can also walk to Frog Pond in the winter and it's surrounded by a park and trees. So, what's the point of another rink so close?

In an effort to "do something" with the space, it seems like they couldn't figure out anything useful or unique.

By roadman on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 12:30pm.

In an effort to "do something" with the space, it seems like they couldn'twere too lazy to figure out anything useful or unique.

FIFY

By Mjolnir on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 5:45pm.

Considering the plaza's proximity to the North End, they could have an Italian Food festival and decoration contest for City Hall.

That is, they can throw spaghetti at the wall until something sticks.

Hey-oh!

By Scumquistador on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 6:01pm.

city hall is already filled with limp noodles

By Ron Newman on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 2:43pm.

Do you mean Carson Beach in Southie? That's beyond the distance most people would consider "walkable". Otherwise, there's Constitution Beach in Eastie, which is literally not walkable-to since you have to cross the Harbor to reach it.

By Kaz on Fri, 03/04/2016 - 7:06pm.

It's 1 hr walking to Southie. There are other ways to get there, but the obvious point being made is that we literally live on the coast. A man-made beach in the city is pointless.