Bloomberg Baystate Business With Tom Moroney, Joe Shortsleeve, Kim Carrigan, Anne Mostue and Janet Wu 10-19-22 Bloomberg Senior Aerospace/Defense & Airline Analyst George Ferguson discusses Spirit Airlines shareholders backing the sale to JetBlue. Denise Jillson, Executive Director of the Harvard Business Square Association, discusses Cambridge raising fees on new large commercial developments. Jeff Ostrowski, analyst at Bankrate, discusses a new study showing the best states in which to retire. Stephen Faber, Executive Vice President of Related Beal, talks about a $1.2 billion development approved for the Fort Point neighborhood. David Paleologos, Director of the Political Research Center at Suffolk University, has new poll numbers in the MA Governor’s race. Bloomberg’s Ed Ludlow discusses the newly released Tesla earnings.
The Harvard Square Theatre has sat vacant and desolate on Church Street for more than a decade.
But behind the boarded-up front doors, an effort is underway that could bring the iconic movie theater back to life, according to Michael Monestime, a spokesman for billionaire Gerald Chan. Chan bought the theater in 2015 for $17.5 million, adding to his more than $100 million in properties portfolio in the heart of Cambridge.
“We’ve … hired some new staff to help reimagine what’s possible to really bring this important site back to life,” Monestime told GBH News last week, “and I hope to have more to report back to you and the Cambridge community in the near future.”
Community leaders say they would welcome any progress on the building after years of vacancy. But that progress will have to wait as designs are drawn up — new designs that reflect a new pandemic world, one where a shrewd businessman might not want to solely invest in a big screen after theaters were starved for attendance for two years.
“From time to time, we’ve been notified that there are people within the building,” said Denise A. Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, who has been working for years to reopen the theater. “And yes, you know, there are rodents because guess what? It’s an urban environment and there are rodents everywhere.”
On an otherwise busy Thursday night this month, there were only a handful of people passing by the shuttered entertainment site, aptly illustrating the decade-old void that has descended on this block of Harvard Square.
Harvard Square boosters complain that the center of gravity for nightlife in Cambridge has shifted to Central Square and say the demise of the theater may be a significant reason why.
For 28 years prior to its closing, the Harvard Square Theatre was the regional showcase site for the “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a cult classic that attracted devotees in large numbers who dressed up and sang along to the raunchy lyrics while tossing rice and popcorn to the audience.
“Oh, God. I went to ‘Rocky Horror’ a lot,” said Mark McGovern, a longtime Cambridge City Council member and former mayor. McGovern recalls hanging out in “the pit” in Harvard Squareduring the day and taking in movies at night. He has led a five-year effort to reopen the theater. In 2017, following a deluge of complaints from residents about the empty building in the heart of Cambridge, the City Council threatened to take over the theater by eminent domain.
“Eminent domain is tough!” McGovern said. “People think it’s a very easy thing for cities to do. It’s really complicated. But I do think even putting that on the table pushed Mr. Chan a little bit into saying, ‘OK, well, I don’t want that to happen. I need to do something with the property.’”
He did. But local opposition and the pandemic got in the way.
A stalled plan
On July 8, 2012, the owners of the moment, AMC Loews, closed down the 90-year-old Harvard Square Theatre and sold it to local millionaire Richard Friedman. Just a few years later, he sold the …
After 50 years as a retail and cultural hub in the middle of Harvard Square, The Garage will soon be redeveloped.
“We love the building,” said John DiGiovanni, president of Trinity Property Management. “It was and is a very cool place. But what I would say is cooler than The Garage is Harvard Square.”
DiGiovanni said the old building — which dates back to 1860, when it was a horse stable — is not accessible for patrons with disabilities. He also hopes the redesign will reinvigorate the property to bring in new customers, and that “40 or 50 years from now people will be talking about how cool [the new] place was.”
Construction plans filed with the city show developers plan to begin renovations in 2023, rebuilding the interior while preserving the masonry facades on Mt. Auburn and Dunster streets. Trinity Property Management is working on getting restaurants, retail businesses and office tenants into the new building, though leases have not yet been signed.
But some current tenants and frequent visitors to The Garage are concerned about what this project means for the future of the neighborhood. Comedian, podcast host and Harvard Square frequenter Ken Reid joined GBH’s Morning Edition this week to reflect on his memories of the shopping center.LISTEN 8:26Ken Reid on Morning Edition | June 7, 2022
Reid grew up in Melrose and would ride the Orange Line to spend time at The Garage, where he recalls digging through crates at record stores looking for gold, getting artisan coffee in the pre-Starbucks world, and renting films like “Eraserhead” from Videosmith.
“Almost nothing of the Harvard Square I grew up with exists. Frankly, almost nothing of the Boston I grew up with exists,” he said. “That’s not necessarily for the worse … but it is losing character.”
Reid said The Garage stood out for its unique businesses that customers couldn’t find elsewhere, especially before the Internet. Now he expects some current Garage tenants will shift to online businesses, while he hopes others will find new physical spaces.
“We’re working with the owner of the building to hopefully relocate us somewhere in the Harvard Square area,” said Rueben Kayden, a senior tattoo artist who will take over the storied shop after the move as the current owner retires. “That’s the ultimate goal. But that comes with a lofty price.”
Kayden, who has been tattooing at Chameleon for 17 years, said he’s been leaning on the shop’s community. Moving costs may end up clocking in around $80,000-$100,000, he said, not including rent. But Trinity Property Management is working with the business, and clients are offering help in whatever ways they can. Some are donating money, others with carpentry or plumbing skills have offered their time.
“It’s about keeping the culture of tattooing alive in Harvard Square,” Kayden said. “Small businesses are closing constantly, and I feel that there isn’t much flavor left in Harvard. We’re one of the last artistic endeavors available in the area. And it became my personal mission to make sure it stays alive and stays true.”
– The three-day festival has wrapped up and cleaning crews have now taken over Harvard Athletic Complex. More than 50 artists performed at Boston Calling, including headliners Metallica and Nine Inch Nails. It’s the first time the music festival returned to the stage after the Covid-19 pandemic and it wasn’t without a few bumps in the road.
Friday night event organizers announced another change in the line-up, after a positive COVID case for their Saturday night headliner, The Strokes. Instead, Friday night’s headlining band, Nine Inch Nails, would play a second set on Saturday night.
Ben and Jerry’s reopened its Harvard Square location on Dec. 21 following a nearly two-year-long hiatus.
The shop — once located inside The Garage shopping mall on John F. Kennedy St. — closed in 2020 at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its new location sits across the street at 35 JFK St., formerly David’s Tea.
Bloomberg Baystate Business for Thursday, January 6th, 2022 – Bloomberg News reporter and Boston Bureau Chief Carey Goldberg on the latest Covid surge straining hospitals around the country (2:39) – Anne Mostue reports on blood testing innovations from local biotech companies (8:47) – Adam Sachs, CEO, Vicarious Surgical, on his company, awards for worker satisfaction, and return to office (15:02) – Bloomberg News reporter Mark Gurman on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) going on in Las Vegas (22:37) – Dr. Melisa Lai-Becker, medical director at Everett Hospital, on the impact of Covid on her hospital (31:46) – Bloomberg Opinion columnist and markets editor John Authers on the Fed minutes that moved the markets (49:54) – Janet Wu reports on business activity in Harvard Square (57:18) – Denise Jillson, President of the Harvard Square Business Association, on the closing of the historic Brattle Square Florist shop, and how her members are impacted by Covid (1:05:00) – Greg Reibman, President of the Charles River Chamber of Commerce, on the office park for hybrid workers in Needham, and their members view of vaccine mandates (1:16:06) – Bloomberg Radio meteorologist Rob Carolan on the approaching snow storm (1:23:49) Hosts: Tom Moroney, Joe Shortsleeve, and Kim Carrigan Producer: Dan Pierce
On a sweltering morning in Harvard Square, Leah Samura strode through the future home of a recreational marijuana shop she plans to open this fall and marveled at the irony of the location: The store where she will soon sell legal pot was once a police station.
Janet Wu sits down with the developer behind Boston’s new Four Seasons, The Charles Hotel, The Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and The Liberty Hotel, to name a few.
Dick Friedman has a number of new projects, and they have surprising locations.
Janet Wu sits down with the developer behind Boston’s new Four Seasons, The Charles Hotel, The Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and The Liberty Hotel, to name a few.
Dick Friedman has a number of new projects, and they have surprising locations.
