While Boston’s City Hall may not be the best-looking building in downtown Boston, the edifice’s appearance is not a good enough reason to move it out of Government Center. In fact, it may just be an endearing quality.
Boston City Councilors John Tobin (Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill) and Paul Scapicchio (East Boston, North End) have both requested to sell the current City Hall and move out of the architecturally incoherent and aesthetically bland building and into soon to be vacated Hynes Convention Center. But while it is true that City Hall is not the most attractive thing to look at, especially considering the beautiful buildings it is surrounded by – historic landmarks like Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market – it does give the city a certain sense of character.
While Tobin claims the request to sell the building also has to do with large heating bills and environmental issues, those are problems that should be addressed without simply changing addresses. Tobin has even described moving City Hall to the Hynes Convention Center as “killing two birds with one stone.” But what Tobin fails to realize is that moving the city’s civic center away from Government Center will actually kill a distinct central part of Boston – especially if Scollay Square, the sprawling plaza that surrounds City Hall, is sold with it.
Scollay Square is an extremely important part of Boston. Few cities across the nation have such a vast, open area reserved just for the public. The plaza gives Boston a European-feel, something it has come to be known for. Countless events have been held in the plaza including concerts, Super Bowl celebrations and protests. The plaza provides the citizens of Boston the ability to make their voices heard, directly in front of their elected representatives. City Hall was designed and built in the 1960s, a time filled with outspoken citizens, and the layout of both the plaza and City Hall demonstrate the impact of those times.
There is also something to be said for having many local, state and federal government offices located near one another. City Hall is conveniently located within 10 blocks of the Statehouse, making the daily business lives of many Bostonians much easier.
A move to Hynes Convention Center would separate the local aspect of the government from the federal and state aspects that currently reside mere blocks away. While the Hynes Convention Center is expected to lose most of its big convention business to the new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center starting in June, moving City Hall there will not solve that problem. City officials have already begun looking for a tourist draw to fill the building, but they must get innovative, and the City Hall relocation plan is not the right way to do it.
With the current economic situation, rebuilding City Hall is not an option, and selling it should not be one either. If the economic situation improves, then and only then should the Hynes Convention Center be considered as a temporary solution.
Just as one never throws away an old family heirloom because of rust or an unpleasant look, Boston should not allow these two city councilors to throw away one of Boston’s well-know relics simply because it has gone out of style.