Downtown Crossing (Boston)

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Junction of Washington , Summer, and Winter Streets , 1857 ( engraving by Winslow Homer )
The Washington Street from the intersection with Summer Street viewed from. The Old South Meeting House can be seen in the background.

Downtown Crossing is a shopping district in downtown Boston in the state of Massachusetts of the United States . It's just east of Boston Common and west of the Financial District . In Downtown Crossing there are many department stores with extensive retail space, as well as restaurants , souvenir shops, retailers and street vendors. The area of Washington Street between the streets Temple and Bromfield , like parts of Winter - and Summer Street for the road is blocked, the pedestrians that there can move freely.

The "Leader District"

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the area along the roads was Washington and Tremont from the School Street to Beach Street as Ladder District ( Head of District ) designated. The name does not come from the goods produced there, but from the course of the side streets that look like the rungs of a ladder between the two main thoroughfares when you look at them on a map.

Historical background

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the neighborhood along Summer Street was very expensive and featured urban mansions designed by Charles Bulfinch and other famous architects. The fire in Boston in 1872 destroyed much of the neighborhood, particularly in the area between Summer , Washington and Milk Streets .

Department stores

Between 1895 and 1917, Downtown Crossing was the Boston center for department store shopping . In 1841, Eben Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh opened the first Jordan Marsh wholesale, which was later converted into a department store. In 1881 another large retailer was added with Filene's , later a Gilchrist and a Kennedy's followed . These stores tended to attract middle-class visitors as well as other businesses such as grocers and restaurants.

All over the USA, department stores in city centers had to contend with the challenges of suburbanization and additional competition from large-scale hypermarkets after World War II . In Filene's , the part in the basement split off as Filene's Basement and became an independent department store chain, whose flagship store was still located in the basement of the former Filene's . In 1988 both companies, which previously had the same owners, were also formally and organizationally separated. The building that houses both stores was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 .

In 1996 the former Jordan Marsh department store was taken over by Macy’s , and in the spring of 2006 the Filene’s flagship store closed . In the same year, the company announced Vornado Realty Trust announced the former site of Filene's for 100 million US dollars to have acquired. The goal is an extensive renovation of the property, which is expected to cost around US $ 620 million and includes the construction of exclusive shopping opportunities, commercial properties and residential units. The plan also includes a new 38-story high-rise building 495  ft (150.88  m ) high. Filene's Basement was closed during the construction phase and has not yet reopened.

Filene's Basement filed for bankruptcy on May 4, 2009 . The New York company Crown Acquisitions and the Chetrit Group made an offer to purchase 17 of Filene's 25 locations , including the Downtown Crossing branch , which generated 13% of the company's total sales: Vornado Realty Trust had 500,000 a month Paid US dollars to Filene's in compensation for the closure of its Downtown Crossing store . However, these payments were discontinued in January 2009 without notice.

Suffolk University extensions

In 2007, Suffolk University bought a building on West Street and renovated it into apartments, now home to around 270 students. In 2010, the university restored the historic Modern Theater and built a ten-story student dormitory above it , which now houses another 200 students.

Others

The Downtown Crossing station of the MBTA connects the district directly to the urban underground network. State Street and Park Street stations and the Silver Line bus routes are also within easy reach .

A small mall called Lafayette Place Mall was added to the Jordan Marsh department store in 1985, but closed again in 1992 and converted into office space. The Corner Mall has many restaurants and a few smaller retailers.

The Boston Irish Famine Memorial is located in front of the former Borders Book Store on the corner of School and Washington Streets .

gallery

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ladder District. (No longer available online.) Panorama - The Official Guide to Boston, archived from the original on April 9, 2012 ; accessed on April 5, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bostonguide.com
  2. ↑ Tina Cassidy: AREA CODES THE LADDER DISTRICT HAS AS MANY DEFINITIONS OF PROPER DRESS AS IT DOES HOT NEW NIGHTSPOTS. In: Boston Globe . November 17, 2001, accessed April 5, 2012 .
  3. ↑ a b Shopping at Downtown Crossing. August 14, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Thomas C. Palmer Jr .: Filene's project to feature a high-rise. Condos, offices, hotel, stores part of plan in Downtown Crossing. Boston Globe , September 29, 2006, accessed April 9, 2012 .
  5. ↑ Donna Goodison: NY firm to nab 17 Filene's Basement stores for $ 22M. A buyer is in the basement. (No longer available online.) Boston Herald , May 5, 2009, archived from the original on September 16, 2012 ; accessed on April 9, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bostonherald.com
  6. ^ Thomas C. Palmer Jr .: Suffolk University to get new dorm. In: Boston Globe . March 14, 2007, accessed April 9, 2012 .
  7. ↑ Sarah Mattero: Restored Modern Theater Finally Opens Its Doors. (No longer available online.) In: The Suffolk Voice . November 6, 2010, archived from the original on March 21, 2012 ; accessed on April 9, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thesuffolkvoice.net

literature

  • David Tatham: A Drawing by Winslow Homer . Corner of Winter, Washington and Summer Streets. In: American Art Journal . tape 18 , no. 3 , 1986, ISSN  0002-7359 , OCLC 482511174 , pp. 40-50 .

Web links

Commons : Downtown Crossing  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 42 ° 21 '19.6 "  N , 71 ° 3' 37.7"  W.