News
Old Boston Lives On
August 12, 2010
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| The Boston Preservation Alliance announced a dozen recipients of the 2010 Preservation Awards to be formally presented at an October ceremony. One is the Ames Building (above) that owner Normandy Real Estate Partners converted from office to hotel with a renovation designed by Cambridge Seven Architects. Built in 1890 when it was the tallest in Boston, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Normandy bought it in ?06 and with Ames Hotel Partners restored the lobby?s vaulted mosaic ceiling, the masonry fa ade, window surrounds, and moldings. |
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| Emerson College with Elkus Manfredi Architects brought the 1932 Paramount Theater back to life by transforming what was a 1,700-seat movie house into a 590-seat live performance space that also houses student residences, a 150-seat black box theater, a screening room, nine rehearsal studios, six practice rooms, a sound stage for film production classes, a scene shop,classrooms, a restaurant, and staff/faculty offices. The historic finishes were saved while many of the Art Deco details were restored and incorporated into the new space. If the spirits of stars like Charlie Chaplin, Sarah Bernhardt, and Buster Keaton ever roam these halls at night, they'll be partying. |
