Best of the New: Spaces
Airport Station
The MBTA's former Airport station in East Boston, a 1950s relic mercifully bulldozed last fall, was about as much fun as taking the redeye to Pittsburgh. Blue Line passengers had to fight through skinny turnstiles, lug their bags down a dumpy staircase, and beg for help, because signage didn't exist. To the T's credit, the new $23 million station, which opened in June, addresses almost every deficiency, short of heating the open-air platforms. (Brrrr!) Best addition: flight information monitors at the front door. This station is downright cool.
Brattle Arcade
Seven architects and their clients collaborated over five decades to shape the arcade, each adding a chunk as it grew. The result is an outdoor room, a brick-paved gallery with a partial glass roof, connecting Brattle and Mount Auburn streets near Harvard Square. It opens at different spots to a paved plaza, a sloped garden, and the Harvest restaurant.
Charles River Bike Path
Runners, bladers, and bicyclists rejoiced with the improvements to the Cambridge-side stretch of the path between the Harvard and Longfellow bridges. Crosswalks with traffic lights now control cars speeding down Mass. Ave., curbing mad dashes by runners and pedestrians. Near the Longfellow, the sidewalk mercifully widens, and a paved path from Memorial Drive to the Longfellow ended those muddy adventures.
East Cambridge
In East Cambridge's heyday, factories churned out candy, candles, and caskets. Now the largest housing boom there since World War II is transforming about 100 acres near the Lechmere T stop. By about 2025, the rehabilitation of factories and new construction will add 4,500 apartments and condos. One development, the former Haviland candy factory, now being converted into the One First condominium complex, will incorporate a copper kettle salvaged after the last chocolate-covered cherry rolled off the factory line. If only that intoxicating smell could return, too.
Hanover Street View
Only the North End's senior citizens can recall when one could peer down Hanover Street and almost see Scollay Square. But the views of Boston half a century ago weren't nearly as good as they are today - or will be - now that the Central Artery is history. Since the green-trussed monstrosity came down, residents attest that the sun seems brighter, the FleetCenter seems closer, and one can practically wave to Haymarket's food vendors. Boston's skyscrapers, the Zakim Bridge, and the North End's quaint profile have emerged in all their glory. If the Rose Kennedy Greenway ever happens, one word may say it all: bellissimo!
Nashua Street Park
This tranquil spot came out of nowhere last fall, after plywood fences surrounding a longtime Big Dig equipment lot quietly came down, revealing 2.5 acres of tree-lined walkways and benches overlooking the Charles River. Nestled between the Lechmere viaduct and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, the park, with granite sitting stones, landscaped lawns, and stylish street lamps, holds its own against the Esplanade. While North Point Park, across the river, is slated to be the crowning jewel of the Charles River Basin, Nashua Street offers an enticing glimpse of what's to come.
Smith & Wollensky
Inside this 19th-century armory, the bartenders treat everyone like kings. No wonder the bar scene has been bustling since its September opening. The bartenders, poached from a who's who of local upscale establishments, can tell you anything about their 550 wines. Drinks are pricey, but you're paying for the service and atmosphere, too: How often do you get to drink by a fireplace that warmed the First Corps of Cadets in the late 1800s?
South Boston Maritime Park
Here at Northern Avenue and D Street, opposite Fish Pier, messages are carved into the granite steps and benches. They include markers that tell you how many rods you are from the harbor's edge, snippets of nautical poems by Robert Burns and John Masefield, and lessons in how to read weather warnings from flags. In warm months a cafe will emerge.
Street Makeovers
After years of bumps and holes, many area roads got new coats, some thanks to the Democratic National Convention. More than $3 million went into repaving. Highlights included Beacon Street from Arlington Street to Mass. Ave. and sections of Boylston Street. Cantabrigians have smooth sailing along a northern stretch of Mass. Ave. Somerville drivers glide down College Avenue, and Brookliners scoot along Harvard Street, enjoying new blacktop, lighting, and sidewalks.
Trinity Undercroft
A magnificent space mined out of the earth beneath Trinity Church in Copley Square, it serves as an informal assembly room. Architects Goody Clancy deepened and widened the shallow old basement, thus exposing the pyramidal bases of four granite piers that support the church above. A delicate tracery of wood spans the new space, giving it the feel of a garden house, while art-glass doors and partitions by Alexander Beleschenko are as delicate as a watercolor wash of distant scenery.
Parris Landing
Once you cross the soaring, swooping Zakim Bridge and take a right, you will be headed to Parris Landing at the Charlestown Navy Yard. And once you cross into the Philippe Starckre-designed interior, you will soar and swoop again as you take in a five-story, all-white common space in the 367-unit waterfront condominium. Starck has poured scoured concrete floors, refinished the doors in white, and added stainless-steel hardware. Stairways are concrete and glass, and whimsical Oldenburg-like sculptures will soon fill the atrium.
The following writers contributed to the "Best of the New" reports: Naomi Aoki, Alison Arnett, Carol Beggy, Chris Berdik, Karen Campbell, Robert Campbell, Monica Collins, Michelle Bates Deakin, Peter DeMarco, Geoff Edgers, Anthony Flint, Catherine Foster, Jan Gardner, Joshua Glenn, Meredith Goldstein, Ken Gordon, Amy Graves, Patrick Gerard Healy, Stephen Jermanok, Sheryl Julian, Patrick Kennedy, Doug Most, Kimberly Moy, Charles P. Pierce, Mark Pothier, James Reed, Bridget Samburg, Shira Springer, Lise Stern, Rachel Strutt, Tina Sutton, Emily Sweeney, Rachel Travers, and Joe Yonan. Send e-mails to magazine@globe.com. 