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Will We Ask Where the Northern Ave. Bridge Went, Too?
Speak up now and save the landmarks that make Boston... Boston!
Commercial advertising
is now a landmark. How pathetic we as a society have become.
The people who watch the
The people who watch the super bowl for the commercials are easily attracted to big, shiny lights.
Relax
It's a big, easily recognizable sign that's been there for ages. If you're a baseball fan anywhere in the country, even if you've never left your mother's finished basement, you know that sign. Seems a bit silly to get moralistic over it. It's at the intersection of sports and commercialism, so it plays here, I get it. But it's silly.
Tio Pepe says hola.
And it's still COMMERCIAL advertising
Othere in this thread are talking about the Coca-Cola sign and the White Fuel sign, both of which went away years ago. DId the world fall off its axis because of that - no.
Things change - get used to it. And while some things are worth preserving, a big ugly neon sign advertising an oil company just doesn't qualify.
This is new to you?
The Prudential Tower isn't named after female Puritan church leader Pru Dential.
Broadway and 42nd in NYC is just a shitty traffic jam...except they filled it with neon advertising and it's now a tourist destination. In fact, in order to *keep* its status, there's a regulation that *requires* the landlords to sell the space as lit-up advertising if they have enough room AND that they keep the signage lit at least until 1 AM every night.
The HOLLYWOOD sign was a real estate development ad originally.
haha
Are you for real? Or making a funny?
(it's hilarious if its a funny.. .sounds like a drag name)
So people in other cities
are stupid enough to grant landmark status to COMMERCIAL advertising. Doesn't mean that Boston has to fall into the same trap.
Can I assume you take offense
Can I assume you take offense at Fenway Park being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
After all, Fenway Park was named after the then Red Sox owner's "Fenway Realty Company" and is believed to be the earliest example of the use of stadium naming rights for corporate marketing.
Clearly commercial advertising can never offer any contribution to a city's culture.
Not sure your point
Are you suggesting that because it's commercial or advertising that it can't play an important role as a landmark?
If you're up on the 20th floor of a tower downtown and look out the window and see the Citgo sign, you immediately know you're facing (south)west. Any time of day or night.
That's a landmark. It's original intention as an ad is somewhat immaterial. If GE wants to plant a giant GE logo on the top of its new 50 story corporate headquarters and it becomes something that ships and planes can see on approach from the east because it stands so high above the horizon, then it's a landmark.
Move it to the Seaport
and bolt it to the Northern Ave Bridge so that the charm of Boston remains. That quintessentil 1940's lighting technology will wed nicely with the bridge technology of the 18th century. While we're at it we should follow the Detroit model and bulldoze the Seaport (maintaining bike lanes) to restore it to its landfill, natural state
Tear it down
It's an ugly, often broken, private advertising symbol for a company which has only a minor local presence and controversial international ownership. Why exactly do we need to keep this?
Andy Warhol aspects aside, it's not particularly artistic or notable. There are plenty of better local landmarks worth saving.
After 20 years I don't really
After 20 years I don't really need it anymore, but when I was getting used to traversing the city, the Citgo sign was a useful navigational aid.
The North Star of BU. It
The North Star of BU. It might not be particularly artistic or notable. It's a giant sign for a company many do not like, but it holds a sentimental value for me too.
Sox
Back in the old old days before every game was televised, it was iconic to see the Citgo sign flashing when homers were hit over the wall, during the sports segments of the 11 o'clock news. Especially memorable for those of us who remember the '67 pennant drive.
Good point
We clearly need to have it replaced with a giant Dunkins' logo which is more locally appropriate
Agreed
Having a commercial sign as a landmark is dubious at best. Time to retire it and move on.
Maybe we can do like the old Coke sign that "had to" be preserved - temporarily take it down and then lose it. :)
Ellis
Yeah, since Ellis the Rim Man came down the world went to hell anyway.
Wow, learn something new
Wow, learn something new everyday. I don't know how I manage to go all this time and only learning it now.
Hmmm... it would also mean it wouldn't take long to find myself having one less relatable thing with future BU students if the sign goes.
The Eiffel Tower was once a Citroen ad
So there is nothing wrong with iconic advertising becoming beloved and important.
[Edited to correct that it was not it's original purpose.]
That's not true. It was built
That's not true. It was built for a World's Fair as a demonstration of steel structure and practically to serve as a radio antenna.
Not originally...
The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 for the World's Fair of 1889. Citroen wasn't founded until 1912. And the Citroen advertising on the Eiffel Tower ran from 1925 until 1934.
Not Really
The tower was built in 1889 for the world's fair. It wasn't until 1925 that Citroen rented the use of the space. The advertisement came down in 1934 when the company went bankrupt.
I'd have no objections if they wanted to remove the Citgo sign and use the structure for something non-commercial.
Except that the Eiffel Tower
no longer carries the Citroen ads. And nearly every image of the Tower that is in popular culture doesn't show the ads either.
Red Sox, step up to the plate
Red Sox, step up to the plate.
Kidding, right?
What, you expect the Red Sox to actually step up and get some skin in the game? To actually do something, even as something as lame as to preserve a sign that's pretty much only useful to them, for the neighborhood that they crap all over on a regular basis? Stop talking crazy talk.
The Sox have been a blight on
The Sox have been a blight on the blocks immediately surrounding the park for decades by blocking development with nuisance lawsuits. They don't maintain the streetscape or real estate they've banked. The Sox constantly advocate for more parking to serve suburbanites in direct conflict with the interests of neighborhood residents. They barely engage in any community outreach or neighborhood charity beyond a few comp tickets and meetings where the gist is "this is what we are doing and you can't stop us so screw you!".
The Fenway is thriving now not because of the Sox but in spite of them. If the team had their way all the mixed use development since 2000 wouldn't have happened to preserve surface parking lots and the Back Bay Fens would have been paved for parking. They only care about money and don't give a rats ass if they turn the area around them into a seasonal parking lot, toilet, and vomitorium, for their suburban fans.
The Sox won't ever spend a dime to improve the Fenway as a neighborhood because they don't care about anything outside the ticket gates.
Could put it on the VFW
Could put it on the VFW Parkway/Rte 1, there has been a void since the Fontaine's Chicken flew the coop.
What about the forest?
All this talk about the sign - doesn't it seem a bit strange that BU is selling land adjacent to their campus? Are they trying to get out of the landlord business? Or do they someone else to tear it down and build a skyscraper, so that BU doesn't look like the 'bad guy' in doing so?
I'm surprised they are selling the BU Bookstore's building
Do they plan to relocate the bookstore elsewhere on campus?
Yeah I was surprised too
The Globe story said that BU doesn't want to expend the effort (e.g. time and money) to redevelop that half of Kenmore, so they are looking to let others do it. They expressed a great interest in Kenmore being a positive entrance to BU.
What it didn't say, but my take is that with the market sky high, it's time to make the big bucks in selling off these tired properties that they bought for a song in the 70's and 80's. Who can blame them? They are not used for academic purposes, so owning them is kind of outside their core concerns.
You mean the "campus" bookstore
that's actually run by Barnes and Noble, and not the University?
Still better than "no bookstore at all"
Borders was a chain, too, and yet it's a lot less fun now to poke around the giant Walgreen's in Downtown Crossing for half an hour when you're meeting somebody.
Yes, and still a major bookstore
as it's one of only two full-sized B&Ns within Boston city limits. The only other somewhat large new-book store in Boston is Trident on Newbury Street.
But asd a campus bookstore...
But as a campus bookstore, it's actually pretty far from the center of campus, isn't it? Maybe they think they can find a better space for it elsewhere.
True, though not unique in that way
Lesley's store is up in Porter Square, MIT's in Kendall Square, Suffolk's on Cambridge Street on the north side of Beacon Hill. All a bit distant from the centers of those campuses.
Not sure what's the hubbub
Not sure what's the hubbub here. Yes, the store is run by Barnes and Noble. But its still heavily patronized by BU students. One of the main places if one want to buy any BU labeled gear. The next to top floor is set up of roughly all required and recommended text book sorted by course (even if many of us just go there to figure what books and buy them online or some other means). When we graduate, it is the place we go pick up our cap and gown.
Doesn't the above basically make it the campus bookstore? Regardless of who is technically managing the store?
Oh and locationwise. Yes it is far off form the center, but it is remains squarely in the realm of BU along with Myles as the eastern edge There's also Danielsen Hall, but we kinda see it as Siberia when it comes to the campus.
Just an FYI but most colleges
Just an FYI but most colleges do not run their own bookstores and do, in fact, contract them out, leasing the building and all. It's just that you recognize the name B&N because they're not solely in the campus bookstore game generally, and in this location particularly (i.e. the inventory caters to the general public on the lower floors).
That being said, it shouldn't matter so much who actually runs it since the B&N does serve as BU's campus bookstore. They will either move to another location (hopefully in central campus somewhere but where?) or move to an online-only outfit with textbook pickup and delivery, which is growing increasingly common for smaller colleges (e.g. Curry College in Milton).
I'd love to see a small used bookstore take the place of the dinosaur that is B&N. But I'm sure that won't happen, which is a shame because one has to travel quite a ways away to get to a good bookstore (esp after the hole in the wall closed on Park Dr at Beacon a few years ago).
Can we get rid of Fenway now
Can we get rid of Fenway now too? It's an eyesore with terrible sight lines and a AAA team.
Heh
Replace it with the Coke sign
This city needs an upscale,
This city needs an upscale, luxury Cito sign.
Now THAT pisses me off! The
Now THAT pisses me off! The Citgo sign is a beloved landmark and for many of us a happy symbol of our days youth around Kenmore Square and a beacon to Fenway Park! Please let it stay and keep illuminating!!
Two points
1. I don't think it's a matter of "letting" it stay, as putting up the money and the effort to make it possible for it to stay.
2. I tend to fall on the "landmark" side of things, and I'd be sorry to see it go, but I don't really think that those of us (like me) who no longer live in the neighborhood (and definitely those who never did live there and are occasional visitors at best) should have much, if any, say in the matter.
Lost in all of this
Lost in all of this, but what is the fate of Cornwall's?
Read the Globe article
The owner hopes to be able to stay, whatever becomes of this area. She's a leader of local businesses, so her voice will be heard.
sorry
Sorry, I hadn't read that article. Potential good news, perhaps.
Where did the White Fuel sign go?...
... and the Tip Top Tomatoes. (I DO know where the Fontaine's flapping chicken went.)
Where?
Do tell!
Just change it to a GE sign
Just change it to a GE sign and we're good to go.
Idea
In order to sidestep the whole idea of giving landmark status to an existing commercial advertising sign (especially a controversial company like Citgo), why not replace it with a replica of the ORIGINAL sign....The Cities Service sign. Cities Service morphed into Citgo, but the trademark was retired.