Part of the entry plaza to to the Government Service Center in Boston—one of Rudolph’s largest urban projects. Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, photograph by G. E. Kidder Smith
RUDOLPH PRESERVATION ALERT:
The Government Service Center in Boston—one of Paul Rudolph’s largest and most multifaceted urban commissions in the US—is now threatened.
A just-breaking story in the Boston Globe newspaper has this startling headline:
State Puts Hurley Building In Downtown Boston On The market
Globe reporter John Chesto writes:
“Boston’s hot real estate market has prompted a number of developers to tear down and build up. Now the Baker administration wants a piece of the action.
“The administration on Wednesday unveiled plans to redevelop the state-owned Charles F. Hurley Building, at the edge of the old West End and Government Center, to open up a prime 3.25-acre site on the corner of Staniford and Cambridge streets. The deal could, at a minimum, fetch the state tens of millions of dollars.
“The state would issue a ground lease to a development partner that would oversee the design, planning, and construction of a new office complex, with the likelihood of new ground-floor retail and restaurant spaces as well. The administration said it expects to identify a redeveloper within the next 18 to 24 months after putting the project out to bid. Construction could start as soon as three years from now. No changes are planned to the adjacent Erich Lindemann Mental Health Center. . . .”
Rudolph’s design showed an attention to visual richness—an attempt to contribute to the streetscape—that is seldom found in modern government buildings. Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, photograph by G. E. Kidder Smith
While the building has been controversial for many Boston residents, immediate reaction to the story has been mixed and has included some positive comments. Among them are this question by one reader and response by another:
“Can whatever is built there actually be beautiful and make an important contribution to our city's architecture?”
“Good question. Going by what I see being built nowadays in Boston, I think highly unlikely.
Even folks who dislike the Hurley Building will regret it’s loss when they see what glass and chrome monstrosity replaces it.”
The building—really, several buildings in one—is a richly conceived composition of plazas, interiors, offices, public spaces, forms, textures, and seating, which was designed to serve many functions. It has housed facilities for education, health (including mental health), welfare, unemployment, parking, and other state government offices.
Where else, in government-sponsored construction, has such visual and spatial richness been created for public use? Photo from the archives of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.
The exterior plaza space has a variety of seating areas—and recently the public spaces have been brought up to current code standards by some sensitive interventions.
Recently, there have been sensitive interventions—like the metalwork shown above—to bring the spaces up to current code requirements. This work, for example, enabled the removal of temporary fencing. Such work could be continued, to deal with any perceived issues the building may have. Photo by NewtonCourt via Wikipedia.
If you’d like to help us save the building—one of Rudolph’s most interesting commissions, and a serious work of urban design—or have any information to share about this situation, please contact us:
Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation
office@paulrudolphheritagefoundation.org
and please leave a comment to save the building on the Boston Globe article’s comment section here!