Kenmore Square
The Kenmore Square is a public square in Boston's Fenway - Kenmore in the state of Massachusetts in the United States. To him several main roads converge, including Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue and other major thoroughfares. In the square there is the metro station of the MBTA Kenmore and binds him with it to the power of public transport. The Kenmore Square is located in the immediate vicinity of Boston University, Fenway Park, and Lansdowne Street, a center of Boston nightlife. Finally, in the square with U.S. Highway 20 ends the longest street in the United States.
History
The land on which there is the Kenmore Square today, was originally a swampy, uninhabited corner of the mainland, which marked the mouth of the Charles River narrow into the wide, marshy Back Bay. Until 1705 the area was part of the colonial settlement of Boston, as the small village of Muddy River as Brookline declared itself independent. The piece of land was henceforth to Brookline, as the river Muddy River the eastern boundary of the new town marked (see Figure 2).
The part of Beacon Street west of the square was planned in 1850 and provides connections to Avenue Street (now part of the Commonwealth Avenue, by Allston leads ) of, for Mill Dam Road (now Brookline Avenue ) as well as to Western Avenue, which in near present-day Beacon Street was. The Boston and Worcester Railroad and the Charles River Branch Railroad united here to visit the Back Bay to cross on a separate railway bridge, which led directly to the Leather District. The railroad tracks still exist today and have still largely their original course. Minor adjustments were necessary during the construction of the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Boston South Station to accommodate today's Green Line.
In 1874, the city of Brighton with Boston merged. In this context, the boundary line between Boston and Brookline was redrawn to connect the new Back Bay neighborhood with Allston - Brighton.
Still in the year 1880 was the Kenmore Square sparsely built-up (see Figure 3). Around 1890, the measures to Landaufschüttung had reached the area, making the place was first connected to the eastern side with parts of the city.
In 1888 the first tram tracks were laid on the Beacon Street, which ran above ground from Coolidge Corner to Massachusetts Avenue across the square. Today they are used by the Green Line C of the MBTA. Other tracks were laid on Commonwealth Avenue to Union Square in Allston, which were later traveled by the Green Line A and Line B Green. 1914 Boylston Street Subway was extended to Kenmore Square and out there on the surface. In 1932 the route of the Green Line in the area of the square were laid underground and open stops at the Blandford and St. Mary 's Street.
The built at the corner of Kenmore / Commonwealth Avenue in 1915 Kenmore Apartments were later made to the Hotel Kenmore with 400 guest rooms. The owner Bertram Druker made it to the well- known baseball Hotel, which housed all 14 teams after the war. From the 1960s it was used until 1979 by Grahm Junior College for various purposes. After the College had been closed apartments have been re-established, known as Kenmore Abbey today.
The CITGO sign
A large, double-sided sign with the logo of the CITGO - oil company dominates ( a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela SA) to Kenmore Square and has become, among other things by its visibility in television broadcasts of games of the Boston Red Sox to the landmark of the place. The current sign with an area of 18 m², was presented to the public in March 2005, after it had been restored for over 6 months. As part of the renovation work of thousands of LEDs were installed, the daily up by 1 clock illuminate the characters in the morning. In 2010, LEDs have been replaced with new ones that are supposed to be against the winds and temperature fluctuations resistant. Earlier versions of the sign were illuminated by neon signs - last 5,878 pieces with a total length of about 5 mi ( 8.05 km ) of them were built. CITGO himself describes the logo as " Trimark ".
The first sign that stood in the same spot since 1940, showed the logo of the Cities Service, which operated a local store on the ground floor of the building on which the sign is mounted, and was replaced by the Trimark in 1965. 1979 ordered the governor Edward J. King to the shutdown of the shield to symbolically promote energy conservation. Four years later, CITGO wanted to dismantle the battered by the weather shield and scrap, but was completely surprised by public protests against the removal. The Boston Landmarks Commission therefore ordered a shift of scrapping to allow a discussion on the way forward. Although the shield was never officially declared a landmark, it was revamped and lit up in 1983 again for the first time. Since it is continuously in use.
The label was founded in 1968 highlighted once more in a photo gallery of Life Magazine in the short film " Go, Go Citgo " and in 1983. The connection between Fenway and the Boston Red Sox is so strong that the baseball fields of the Little League - for example, the Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine - are often decorated with the CITGO icon. The label was founded in 1984 in addition caricatured by Neal Stephenson in his book The Big U as " the Big Wheel sign", which is worshiped by the members of a fictional fraternity.
In September 2006, the Boston City Council Jerry McDermott announced that the sign Hugo Chavez should be removed against the President of the United States George W. Bush in response to continued insults the President of Venezuela. Alternatively recommended McDermott, the flag of the United States or the logo of the Boston Red Sox over the sign to hang on until Chávez is no longer in office.
On 15 October 2008 a small fire inside the shield caused damage to property in the amount of approximately U.S. $ 5,000 and led to a partial melting of the plastic and visible smoke trails.
In the media
Gary Cherone facilities is reminiscent of the in the 1980s at the Kenmore Square prevailing music scene on CD 1 ( song 6) of the album Take Us Alive the band Extreme.