• Patrick L. Kennedy (COM’04)

    Patrick L. Kennedy (COM’04) Profile

Comments & Discussion

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There are 100 comments on Tracing the Changing Face of Kenmore Square

  1. The destruction of Kenmore Square by Boston University is one of the great tragedies in Boston’s recent urban development. What was once a diverse cultural mecca has become whitewashed, gentrified, and boring. The independent book and record stores, nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and shops have been replaced by cookie-cutter corporate chains and overpriced restaurants for Brookliners and BU parents. The Rat is the most celebrated club in the city’s music history (which this article does a good job of demonstrating). Many still mourn the loss of late-night eatery Deli-Haus by holding annual, private Deli-Haus dinners.

    One thing missing from this article is the suspicious fire in the building that housed the Army Navy Store and Galaxy(?) Records. Unsubstantiated rumors pin the blame on BU. While the university may not have been involved, the fire helped them achieve their goal of pushing out the small businesses and riff-raff in order to appeal to the parents of BU students.

    I would argue that Kenmore Square lost both its color AND its vitality. Few people go to Kenmore Square as a destination anymore. Instead it is a waypoint as one travels to Landsdowne Street or Fenway Park.

    1. I think it’s important to look at the way Boston as a whole has changed in that time. The Combat Zone melted into a revitalized Theatre District, the South End turned from ghetto to upscale and quickly filled with well-off families, Brigham Circle is now home to a few trendy, upscale restaurants, and a set of luxury apartments just went up in Allston by the Griggs T stop.

      Obviously, the universities are partially responsible for attracting an educated demographic, and are partially responsible for working to keep crime away from their campuses. But the whole city has changed to match this kind of revitalization over the past 10 years or so. It’s wrong to pin the blame on just BU.

      1. The place to hang out in the day was 1869 Beacon Street Apt 2 and 2nd SHIFT BFI Brighton District. Animal House in the day.1869 Beacon St Apt was a 1970 Sec (8) rent controlled dump no doubt but a free dump is a free dump right? A Squatters paradise for crank cocaine CLEEN UNDERWEARS, free love, AND A free open toilet. The roof collapsed like a deck of cards four times during the 1970 – 1980’s the foundation is no good !! I wouldn’t go near that crap hole 4 all the tea in China and then some and thats putting it mildly. But the parties which lasted four days on end were fun. The place is cursed many many times over . I feel one day that place will collapse again. All those tenament projects were poorly built. You would have to be absolutely stupid and i mean stoopid to live their today. Miss the Rathskellar a lot! That relief hole i put in in the third floor ceiling in apartment 3 ha ha ha ha ha.Far out man!!! OUTTA-SIGHT!!! Just a matter of time, one more good nor Easter and some freezing rain that roof will collapse again. they should have re-inforced that shit-hole with iron beams and re-barred concrete. Laugh my ass off at what some ass hat’s paid for that slum!! and a slum it iz!! You got scammed cuz in case ya didn’t know!!! 1869 Beacon St bad karma all around ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW 1970 a true unchallenged candidate for Salems Lot Dark Shadows runner up sequel . Kenmore sq is nothing today the 1970’s so much better urban decay and filth is all i see in Kenmore today. WKRP in Cincinatti!!!!!!!!!!!

    2. I won’t deny how great The Rat and Deli-Haus were; I certainly miss them. But I also think that you’re confused by your nostalgia and prejudice (Brookliners and BU parents? Are you kidding?), and that you’re wearing blinders in regards to the current state of Kenmore. You lost all credibility when you claimed that it’s no longer a destination; the “overpriced” restaurants you decry are outstanding and draw people from throughout the city. If anything, there are *more* people there on an average night than there were in the gritty days.

    3. I absolutely agree. The ubiquitous chain stores and monolithic facades have made what was once a unique area in the City – one that catered to residents and visitors alike – an Anywhere, USA, spot on a map. The loss of the old brownstones is particularly galling, especially when the University’s initial submissions to the City represented that the facades (and the building set back they represented) would be maintained. That the BRA allowed such a radical departure from this plan represents another example of the symbiotic relationship the University has with this Administration.

      (BTW, the name of the store was Planet Records).

      1. DO YA REMEMBER HMV RECORDS DOWN TOWN CROSSING

        THEIR WAS ANOTHER PLACE CALLED MIKEY FINNS AT DOWN TOWN CROSSING

        BROOMFIELD WATCH REPAIR????

        FATHERS 2 AT KENMORE WAS IT LOCATED RIGHT OVER THE BRIDGE??

        BEEN SO LONG CANT REMEMBER WHERE NARCISSUS AND LUCIFERS USE TO BE. UH I GUESS THE SONG TO KNOW WUZ UH BALL ROOM BLITZ BUT I DONT REMEMBER WHO WROTE IT>> YOU TUBE TICK OFF A TRUCKER ZLX KARLSON AND MCKENZIE DIDNT THEY GET IN TROUBLE FOR GOLFING OFF THE ROOF OF THE PRU???

        OLD MILWAUKEE “”NEW ENGLAND AFTER SHAVE””” WAS THE BEER TO DRINK AT FATHERS WORST? RIGHT?? NARAGANSETT LIGHT SHIP?? NEW ENGLAND CUT THROAT ROC GUT BEER?? $ BLUE WHITE SIGN
        $ 3.45 FOR A PITCHER SIX BUCK FOR 12 IN PIE HALF TIME PIZZA WHAT WUZ PIZZA PLACE NEAR KENMORE ARMY NAVY?? REMEMBER AGEAN FARE???

    4. Every Saturday morning, I would go to the record store and see what was new in music. It gave me some free entertainment during my years at B.U. On a recent visit to Boston, I thought I would show my children the store. Lo and behold, gone and some barnes and nobles/bu bookstore was in it’s place. Didn’t quite feel right, and why was the bookstore so far away from main campus?
      CLA’1973

        1. HI DO YOU REMEMBER A PLACE CALLED MILES STANDISH HALL NEAR KENMORE?? DIDNT IT USE TO BE A TRANSIENT HOTEL FOR BUMS AND WHINO’S??

          WASNT THEIR A BAR CALLED THE METRO?? I FORGET??

      1. I am wondering the same thing. Both my mother and I worked there at different times. I even had my tonsils out there as a kid in the 50s! I remember it changed to the Lahey Clinic around the late 70s, and then it all disappeared. Anyone know about “The Kenmore”? Thanks.

      2. The Kenmore Memorial Hospital, 619 Comm Ave, was operated by the Massachusetts School of Osteopathy. The building was opened in 1939, and providing space for both the hospital and the school. In 1944, the school was discontinued but the hospital remained in operations until the Commonwealth revoked its license in 1955, charging the hospital with no longer conforming to its educational and charitable mission.

        Most of this information was reported by the Boston Globe at the time.

    5. The loss of Kenmore Sq (KS) as a place with character and history — albeit a certain degree of grit, chaos, and craziness — was hastened to and lobbied for by at least 3 so-called neighborhood groups. The Fenway Civic, the Kenmore Beusiness Association (Pam Beale’s organization, she is/was the owner of a cool bar/restaurant, but she is rabidly pro-gentrification, corporatization of KS), and another shill/front of a group whose name I forget – it wasnt really a group except a Copley Real Estate front. Some guy named Daryl. He was a BU stooge too. These people pushed the city (or bought them off) and colluded with BU and the private landowners (who wanted to play ball) to – over time – turn KS into a bland, chain-store, high-end condo, BU-dominated place. It’s just the truth. And who was left to really fight it? tenants groups were decimated by that time. The Fenway CDC didnt have much leverage that far east. BU ran the show, people like the Fenway Civic are pro-gentrification/corporate/BU/Copley/old-school BRA hacks…so sayonara Kenmore Sq of old.

    6. Miss Nemos and Pizza Pad and Army Navy store . The place to check out is 59 High St 03570 — Hawkins v. McGee == Robot Pimp the house (Kingsfields House) where it all began. Wagon Wheel Mexico Maine, Dave Restaurant Rumsford Mane summer time across from shell station before the bridge.

  2. Agree with Ben. I’ve known Kenmore Square since 1975 and it was not a dangerous place nor were the many of the retail store boarded up. First BU destroys a place then it whitewashes its history. This is “urban cleansing” at its worst.

  3. A fine piece of journalism with lots of movement and well-researched history! I passed it off to my father (CAS’90 and GSM’97) so that he can reminisce about Kenmore’s colorful days gone by.

  4. Kenmore Square- bums, traffic lights that take forever, traffic, red sox fans who don’t know how to walk a public street, city and property owners who don’t shovel, and “Tickets”, “Tickets”, Tickets”, Tickets”,”Tickets”,…

  5. Very well written article and great slideshow. Thanks. As a local community activist I must, however, comment on how the text conveniently leaves out the story
    of how the original facade of the Hotel Commonwealth (which looked like a yellow plastic wedding cake and is pictured in the slideshow)was so hideous and so publicly derided that the BRA insisted that the developers, including BU, renovate it to the current condition. It cost them over $3 million to upgrade the facade. This was in 2004 – 2005. Since City Hall, and the BRA, almost never complain about any BU related project, this costly renovation was highly unusual.
    On another Kenmore Sq. topic, I recall the White Oil sign above the Buckminster when it had an oil derrick spewing out oil as lights. Quite a sight! I agree, mostly, with Ben, above that Kenmore Square has lost a lot of its funky charm and is quite antiseptic now. I don’t miss the rowdy nightclub crowds, but wish the developers of the Hotel Commonwealth had kept their original plan to incorporate all the existing buildings on that block which has wonderful turrets and other charming features.

  6. This article blatantly skipped over the long standing Graghm Jr.College that was housed in the hotel and other buildings i.e.Myles Standish Hall. BU then purchased those properties once the college became defunct. WHat happened to the infamous corner dance and drink hangout KKK Katy’s? SHame on the writer for neglecting so many other iconic memories to those who attended college or lived in the area during the 1960’s and 1970’s….How about the dance club “Flicks?” This was the real Kenmore Square. Give me more time and I can tell you more stories.Mine are authentic.

    1. I was a student at Grahm in the early ’70s. I remember all kinds of places in addition to the ones already mention, i.e., Brighams (great ice cream with jimmies), Homer’s Fried Chicken (great pizza burgers) which then became Churchill’s Fish & Chips (both of which places served good food a poor student could afford), Sizzlebord (sp?). Grahm and Kenmore Square were both great places for kids just out of high school and quite possible out of their home towns for the first time. I never considered it dangerous of shabby, just funky and interesting – think Harikrishnas, Scientologists, panhandlers, students (and yes, a few bums), all in one place. It was great!

    1. I don’t think this “writer blatantly skipped over” mentioning Grahm Jr. College. I am glad you brought it up, as I was a student there in the mid 70’s. He just wasn’t aware of the college…maybe. But the article is fabulous!

  7. I remember many late nights going through Kenmore Square in the late Eighties looking over my shoulder for potential muggers. It was outright unsafe. So yeah its lost some of its gritty culture but I think it’s a lot safer and cleaner for the current BU students. So kudos to those that helped make it better…

    1. Sorry, Michael, but gotta call b.s. on this one. Ok, maybe you felt that way, but I was there in the late 80s and never felt worried about getting mugged in Kenmore Sq. Yeah, there was plenty of violence — mostly the kids going to Narcissus, which housed 3 nightclubs, and attracted kids of different races from outer neighborhoods who often all got into fights with each other. But you could always just step across the street when the sh_ hit the fan. It was the heart of Boston’s music scene, and a great spectacle of local color even when the city (and BU) was busy trying to gentrify all that away. The icon in T station used to show a black and white photo of a dude shredding an electric guitar. Bet that’s long gone. So, not to pick on you, Michael, but the grungy, fascinating street life of Kenmore was not actually a danger zone, unless you were a parochial club kid looking to beat up a kid from another neighborhood. But I do remember kids like you, who were terrified of anything that didn’t resemble suburban life. Ah, and here’s to Mr. Butch.

      1. Yeah, seriously, Michael…think you need to grow a pair! I was there in the 80’s too and completely agree with ‘Here Comes A Regular”…and I’m a girl!

        1. …a girl, mind you, who used to walk around kenmore square (even by myself sometimes) at 1, 2, 3:00 am! Loved a late night/early morning jog there and around the Charles;)

  8. I went to BU in the early 1980s. I lived in Myles Standish Hall for two years.

    Kenmore Square was gross. But it was vital and unique in a way that it is not today. It had, as Times Square in NY did, a sense of adventure, danger and decadence.

    When I returned to Boston in 2011, I went to Kenmore Square and thought the new “contextual” architecture completely insipid and fake looking. The Hotel Commonwealth looks like something Disney would put up in Orlando, FL.

    My further observation about BU is that the opulence of the campus, the ornate lampposts, new buildings, new dorms, new benches and new parks, were nice, but that they all came out of the pockets of overburdened students and parents paying exorbitant tuition and fees.

    Suburbanism is what Kenmore Square is now.

  9. No mention of the Pizza Pad?! That place was awesome. Cornwalls used to be across the street but seems like it should have been mentioned. Kenmore used to feel a little dangerous but in a good way. Great article.

    1. Pizza Pad was a fixture. Where everyone went after all the fight had gone out of them, and all they wanted was alcohol-soaking pizza (and pretty lousy pizza at that.) For a quieter scene, you went to Captain Nemo’s next door. (Two pizza places, both next to The Rat.) Nemo’s had little seating, but much better pizza, and pinball!

          1. Nemo’s was only open till 2AM, so if you made the true last call back in the day, you’d be forced to go to Pizza Pad. Best experience ever was seeing Flava flav, hanging out in Pizza pad at 2:30AM after playing the Orpheum with Anthrax. Top hat, big clock and three ladies in his booth. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH BOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

  10. I went to BU for graduate school a while ago, before today’s big changes, and I thought Kenmore Sq. then was the place I wanted to get out of the fastest. The article did a fine job of tracing the development — much admired by many! and inevitable, BTW — of this place that once held little attraction for most of the city, despite the good music and book stores and night clubs. Progress always brings changes that don’t go down well with everyone, but in terms of the spread of BU — oh, and the rest of Boston! — Kenmore took leaps forward.

  11. I lived in Kenmore Square while I was a student at Grahm Jr. College. I had the best time of my life, I don’t ever remember The Square being seedy. I was there 1973 – 1975. We recently had a reunion in Boston, returned to the Square, and I love the way it is now !!!! I lived, at the time, in the HOTEL KENMORE, called then Kenmore Hall. The Citgo sign was right out my window….Loved it!

    1. Hi Linda, I’m a homicide detective with the Boston Police Cold Case Squad. I’m investigating a 1970 homicide of an art student at the Art Institute of Boston. As you can amgine the case file is very old and the information in it is out date (no computers). I am trying to fine an individual by the name of Gerry Blumenthal who worked in Sebastians Clothing in the square. If anyone can remember this person it would be greatly appreciated. It is very hard to locate people after so many years. I can be reached at john.cronin@pd.boston.gov or 617-343-5837 Thanks

    2. Linda, I worked at a small private hospital named Kenmore Hospital as a nurse in the 70s. It’s been gone for quite a while now. The area was not seedy at all. Not dangerous. They kept the area up. I think the change must have come in the 80s. I moved out west in mid 80s. When I went back a few years back, I didn’t know it!! But glad the University has put it to good use. I read that they took it over to urban upgrade the area, not necessarily for education.

  12. dude you don’t know what its like, its rough in kenmore still. my brothers and i went to get buff chix at uburger and my boy was mugged. who cares that stuff is gone,its all good. west campus is where its at anyways. party party party

  13. Grahm Jr. College, Al Capones, the Rat, Deli Haus, Libby’s..Pizza Pad, Agean Faire, Jocomos,Celebration, Lucifers, 1 Landsdowne St.. Fenway Park ..Brighams,.. those of us who attended Grahm Jr.College, these are a few of our memories.. we lived our memories in this neighborhood called Kenmore Square that in now big biz rather than neighborhood. those were the days…

    1. They say you can’t go back again, but you can and we did (my husband and I – we met at Grahm 42 years ago), but it’s just not the same. At least we Grahmites have our memories to hang on to.

    2. I went to gram junior college in Boston 1973 through 1975. I worked it all Capone’s for one and a half years Erin can tell you it was one of the best pizza places in Boston at the time. It brought back so many memories, not including all the free pizzas given to graham students who made fake phone calls to the pizza store every night, ordered pizzas and then never came to pick them up. Countless TV producers and directors were the recipients of those pizzas! Miss those days.

  14. This is a great article and not surprisingly biased towards BU position on the area’s development, as we are on their web page. Development and change happens everywhere, everyday and can ruin an individual’s notion of a sense of place. It is just extra disappointing when the building is, architecturally, F*ing ugly. It was extremely unfortunate that the architectural team/BU did not salvage any of the existing buildings or character of the square ala The Charles hotel(former jail). If they had managed to take the time and effort to do so, it would have remained a truly special place.

    1. Thank you for this comment. Everything you said is exactly right. The re-development of Kenmore turned into a forgettable place with absolutely no respect for the important role it had once played in Boston culture. “No sense of place.” But BU has always been like that, very much like NYU in NYC. Make no mistake, at heart, it’s a corporation with no sense of any of the fine things that might be taught in its classrooms. (signed, Former Alumni.)

  15. Lucifer’s. I went there when I turned 18 and saw Herman and the Hermits. I’ve lived in the West Fens since 1978 and watched all these changes first hand. The city itself is ever-hanging, but what has been done to the Kenmore Square is a crime. KS is now nothing more than a sanitized crossroads.
    Personally, I miss the IHop Mississippi’s and the Kenmore Army Navy. At least Jerry from the Kenmore A+N has reopened in DTX after all these years, and I DO shop there often.

    1. Their will never be another Nemos or Pizza Pad Jazz Work shop or Pauls Mall
      Mollys Allston Mass. The Army and Navy Store was the best !!!

  16. I went to BU and lived in Myles from 1968-71. Kenmore Square was great then, with diverse restaurants, live music, independent shops and, most notably, New England Music City. It was constantly ahead of the wave, with all the latest releases, domestic and British. I stopped there each afternoon on my way back from class, often parting with my meal money for the latest.
    The new Kenmore Square is nothing special. The old was unique.

    1. I was there, living at Myles from Sept. 1969 to May 1971. Ninth floor with the Citgo sign flashing in my window. I did the same thing, going to New England Music City. Bought so many records there from the Abbey Road import and Procol Harum’s Home to Workingman’s Dead and Lola vs. Powerman… And so many great shows at the Boston Tea Party on Lansdowne St., just a five minute walk across the bridge. What a time, what a place!!

  17. No mention of the beautiful building on the corner that BU owns and has always had empty, except for the convenience store. The entire rest of the building isnt being used.

    1. I defintely agree with you. This building would make excellent dorms for graduate students or faculty wanting to living near campus. Often I walk passed hoping there will be some type of construction occuring inside.

  18. I understand that many of you alumni have gone back to BU for a visit and have not been impressed with the changes in Kenmore Square. But as a fellow alum, these are changes that needed to take place folks! BU is at the end of the day a big business, right? The school needs to market itself as a downtown university, but at the same time a safe university. If you look at the typical target market for admissions, it’s not the punk rocker from the 70’s type kid. It’s the eclectic art student that is multi-talented, it’s the kid who finished top-10 in their public school from xyz city in america with an amazing SAT score, and it’s also the rich Northeast, West Coast, and Chicago suburb students who have parents that are able to donate annually to the endowment fund. BU is trying to move up the rankings of Universities so our degrees have more worth- and having an on campus square with crime and dingy night clubs doesn’t help the case. I’m sorry, but in 2013 you wouldn’t see a guy with a surf board and no shirt walking into a bar in any major city- this isn’t the 70’s! You have to be realistic! Also, BU owns many of the buildings in Kenmore, therefore, they are INVESTMENTS! If the school can increase it’s endowments or drive the public image of their tenants then they owe that to the school. I’m all for diversity, but not grime infested, crime stricken corners

      1. I’ve lived in KS since the 80’sthrough all the gentrification it is an easier if somewhat blander place in which to live but every once in a while you get a taste of what it was like and people often reminisce but things change and mostly for the better

  19. “Also, BU owns many of the buildings in Kenmore, therefore, they are INVESTMENTS!”

    Exactly the problem. Monoculture of a private corporation seeking maximum growth and value eliminates the charm of individual businesses coalescing to serve customers. It’s all done according to plan and not organic development. Hence… dull dull dull and nearly cookie-cutter. So I just pass through these days.

  20. I fondly remember taking and teaching dance classes at the Joy of Movement and yes, Deli Haus after a night dancing at Narcissus & Lipstick. Kenmore Square just doesn’t have the same flavor it did back then. Now it’s just like Boylston & upper Newbury. Blahhhh!

  21. I don’t disagree with anything that has been written.

    I just completed the first draft of a history of the Square. I spent three months doing a lot of original research. I lived in the square from 73-75 and had plenty of first hand knowledge and good times as a student (GJC, RIP). As a student however, I was quite oblivious to what was going on more fundamentally. If you look at the data, you find a big decline from the 70’s into the 80’s, including an escalation of crime and serious drug pushing. That just added to the attraction for unwelcome visitors. It gives pause to think that Steve “The Rifleman” Flemmi threatened to kill the owner of the Rat and burn it down. Things look so good to us on the surface. Makes you think.

    I agree with the funk – most of that is gone, from everywhere in the city. Jacks Joke Shop, RIP. Passim’s, the diversity was incredible.

    I never got hurt, but a classmate saw a cop get shot and I witnessed a robbery. Of course we were all invincible then.

    BU clearly had an agenda. They viewed (and still do) as KS being a “Gateway” to their campus. They also held no love for Henry Vara, who owned the clubs. Their goal was to take control of what happens in the square. But they don’t want to operate things there. Just keep their neighborhood safe and clean. Judy Norton has it nailed solid.

    Check out the website link included. Download the PDF – that’s where my work is I’ve done a lot to substantiate my work. BTW, I wrote the piece as a personal endeavor. No axe to grind. Just a lot of good memories, but a recognition of reality.

  22. Anyone have a photo of the traffic lights leaving Kenmore Sq. headed west at the Commonwealth/Beacon fork, before the recent construction? When the lights turned green, there were 10 or so green arrows pointing all different directions. Can’t seem to find a photo of it.

  23. My grandfather and his partners built the Hotel Kenmore and it
    was one of Boston’s most elegant and favoured hotels. All of the
    baseball teams stayed there and as a teenager I met Connie Mack,
    Mickey Mantle, Sherman Lollar, Billy Martin, and so many of baseball’s
    greats back in the day. I even worked in the hotel for several years
    and it remains to this day a vital part of who I am. My parents were
    married in its Crystal Ballroom as were other relatives and there were
    wonderful parties and celebrations there in its function rooms and
    excellent restaurants. In those days Kenmore Square was a fine and
    desired location. It is sad what it has become now in its gentrified,
    bland condition no thanks to Boston University who has engulfed the
    entire area like a giant spreading cancer much s NYC has done in the Greenwich
    Village area of NYC. Too bad one cannot go back to the days of glory as they are gone forever.

  24. I lived on Bay State Road as a BU Student (four years in the BU brownstone right behind the Citgo sign) for eight years total from 1983-1991. It was a time with all of the gritty splendor that you are all referring to, with certainty. I saw fights, literally, every weekend in Kenmore Sq, kids getting their heads bashed in, one kid got shot one night outside the Rat (I don;t think he died), and it was unsafe. As our litigious society came to being in the 1990s, having students get mugged or beaten in the “hip” Kenmore Sq. wasn’t exactly a donating parent’s dream. BU stepped in and did the right thing.

    While I have fond memories of hearing that Michael Stipe shopped at the used record store, and I got Aimee Mann’s autograph upstairs at the Rat, I agree wholeheartedly with the comment above that mentions the gentrification of Boston as a whole being the modus in the 1990s. This article by Mr. Kennedy shows that the Rat was done before BU ever entered the square proper with it’s purchases (other than the BU Bookstore by Narcissus, which was, unquestionably, a big improvement over the awful BU Bookstore prior to that, as any BU Alum from the late 70s can attest). Sure, I spent my time in Pizza Pad, and at Spit on Landsdowne, and Who’s On First (when it was cool) and Father’s Too on Beacon…like I said, I lived there.

    The new Kenmore Sq is less kitschy, but it is good. All things shall pass, and anyone remembering the old Kenmore Sq–yes, the commenters above–are over 50 years old now. It sounds like our grandparents when they used to say they liked Harvard Sq when it had a candy shoppe and a buggy hitching post. It’s over and done, just as Kenmore before the late Mr. Butch (RIP) was over and done, also. It’s just that the people who frequented THAT Kenmore, as we will be next, are all dead.

    Great article, Mr. Kennedy. I enjoyed it and am pleased that it came up on my websearch.

    1. We lived there at the same time…. and you really think this is an improvement? You feel no sadness that all the kids passing through there today will have little to remember but this sterile corporate vision that is not significantly different than any suburban mall?

    2. I see your point, but still regret what happened at Harvard Square. Today, put a roof over Kenmore square and you have a shopping mall, in anywhere USA. Same generic stores. Tasty, Sandy’s, Booksmith, the original Passims, real used bookstores, Out of Town News. At least KS has not succumbed to that. Yet. Though B&N, McDonalds and Pizzaria Uno are a good start.

  25. BU asks for money from alumni to do this to the storied history of Kenmore Square? From 1990 to 2001 I witnessed the beginning of the BU corporate takeover of Kenmore and returned over and over from 2001 to 2005 increasingly horrified to discover how BU was systematically blighting a formerly thriving tapestry of a familiar corner of the cradle of American intellect. Great institutions do not paper over inequality, vice, and violence by erecting fiscal facades high enough to keep out the riff raff–a great institution would have embraced Mixed Nuts, Butch, the methodone crowd and all the rest of the chaotic and living messinesses emblematic of Boston’s own history. And a great institution would have taken responsibility for all of them as a good neighbor.

    To whoever said this is good for BU’s endowment–to what end? So BU can insulate its super rich students from the plight of people that share their world? It was wrong to kill Kenmore Square to make BU incrementally more palatable to the Long Island and international rich. Columbia has Harlem. UPenn has the frightening streets of Philadelphia. The rich still send their students there and alumni still give on the quality of the experience and education, not the illusory “public safety” of the experience. Artificially constructed illusions of cornucopian prosperity divorced from economic reality are anathema to the authentic and uniquely American education all Boston students deserve. Kenmore Square was wild and alive; part of BU’s soul died when it suffocated Kenmore Square with a pile of cash it collected from its indebted students.

  26. Worked in Kenmore SQ for HoJo Boylston and HoJo Comm Ave 1976 to 1980 and enjoyed every minute. There was the Rat and other dives to go to for our liquid lunches and nites and every afternoon Sox game we got in to free watch for a a couple of innings. Credit office looked out onto Fenway Park and the Square was so electric during home games. There was homeless guys Mr. Schmutz who dropped his drawers if no one gave him $$$$ and then the famous “Dog Collar” guy who was attired in tee, jeans and pounds of dog chains. George “Boomer” Scott and Tommy Harper used to park cars for the hotel and John Havilcek and other Celtics used to stay at HoJo Boylston Street. Trafic was horrendous you could sit there for 3 light changes and not move but have such great memories! Also had a great baseball card shop where Stub Hub is now and you could get mint cards from 50’s and 60’s for pennies.

  27. My main comments are in reply to others above.

    The loss of Kenmore Square is Boston’s loss… glad I left Boston at the right time.

    1. Yes, there was a “Kenmore Hospital”. It was affiliated with the Lahey Clinic, on Beacon Street, just outside of Audubon Circle. It closed when Lahey moved to Burlington.

      1. I was born at Kenmore Hospital in 1957 and can’t find any information whatsoever. Anyone have pictures or info about the long-lost hospital? Thanks

        1. Larry, My Mom might have taken care of you when you were born! She worked there in the 50s and I worked there in 1970-72. It was private and was bought out by Lahey Clinic. But I don’t know any more than that. I am trying to look online for info, but I have found nothing about it. Mom even got her nurses license from them – not sure if it was a genuine nursing school – she is gone and just cannot find a thing. I have a letter from the Superintendent of Nurses from 1939 saying she was a student of the hospital and completed an 18 month course in nursing. I had my tonsils taken out there in the early 60s. Interesting stuff, but still looking.

  28. Growing up near Brookline Village in the 70’s – 80’s, I spent much of my youth/teens in Kenmore Sq. (we just called it Kenmore then). I could walk or ride my bmx bike there in minutes. It was how I entered Boston and it had so much happening. At age 12, I was mostly concerned with pizza and video games! Nemos and Pizza Pad had them, but much more down in the Bowladrome (plus pool and candlepins) and there was actually a small arcade right across Brookline Ave. next to the Salvation Army.

    By age 14, I had discovered drugs, alcohol and hardcore punk. Other than the hardcore venues (just halls often) themselves, there were two spots (camps?) where the punks hung out. Kenmore Sq. and Harvard Sq. Often many of the same people, but they were provincial and distinct (ie: Harvard kids went to Rindge/Latin or maybe from Medford etc.). Yes The Rat had many of those shows (eventually), but Kenmore had it’s scene regardless. Lots of us then, hanging around in Nemos/Pad, in front of the Rat/Blaine Hair School, outside on the steps, (They demo’d my stoop in front of Planet Records!) and you could sit on top of the T canopy then. Mr. Butch or someone would buy alcohol for us and somehow on Sundays punk kids could drink at Fathers Too. One time I got busted with Butch by the Metro cops (remember them?). They drove right up onto the lawn under the Charlesgate where we were drinking/getting high on the benches and stole my 12 pack of beer and put in their trunk and drove away. Probably laughing the whole time they went and drank it!

    I still have my old leather jacket I bought at Kenmore Army Navy. Used to love the double cheeseburger special at Charlie’s Cafeteria (not to be confused with Charlie’s Kitchen (Harvard) or Charley’s Saloon (Newbury St.)). And yes, sometimes we would go eat for free at the Hare Krishnas. Late after closing you could get donuts out of the dumpster behind Dunkies (they were all in a bag). We called it drunkin donuts or dumpster donuts. Ha ha.

    My interest in sports dwindled by my teens as most of my interaction with Sox fans was when they would come pouring out after the games during the summer. They would be drunk and try to fight us all the time. They used to sell them these little souvenir bats (clubs) at Fenway. Pisser! Also the character of Sox fans – and all Boston sports fans really – in those days was a bit rougher than today.. The Cask ‘n Flagon was a dump. The Boston Ramrod had to be very discrete, right next to Baseball Tavern (another dump). Ha ha.

    I moved away from Boston years ago, but go back sometimes. Last time I saw Kenmore it looked like a cartoon of itself. What a tragedy. But it should be no surprise. Boston excels at destroying itself. Leveling neighborhoods and all of it’s history with it. Go back to Scollay Sq. The old West End. There is little semblance of what once was downtown. But I will always miss the old Kenmore. The people, the problems, the craziness.

  29. I REMEMBER THE WEEK LONG PARTYS 1869 BEACON STREET APT 2 BALLROOMS OF MARS BFI 2ND SHIFT BRIGHTON THE NIGHT THE CEILING COLLAPSED IN THE TAP BRIGHTON, MA?? EVERYBODY HUNG OUT AT 1869 DURING THE 1970 – 1985. SEE YOU AT THE CASK AND FLAGGON. LAKE OF FIRE 1994. BFI 2ND SHIFT BADDEST OF THE OLD SCHOOL BAD MISS THE KUFF AT IRISH VILLAGE THE SHAMROCK. OFF THE KUFF 02181????THE KING ARTHUR HOTEL THE BOYNE BUS STOP ON WESTERN AVE THE NIGHT BFI BRIGHTON CAUGHT ON FIRE. DO YOU REMEMBER JOHNY D’S? KINVARA SULLYS POOL HALL??LIBERTY BOOK STORE AND THE PEEP SHOW BOOTHS FOR 25 CENTS/ BLIZZARDS 74 75 78 80 84 ROOF COLLAPSING @ 1869 BEACON STREET NOT ONCE NOT TWICE BUT THREE TIMES!!FOND MEMORIES OF FREEZING!!

  30. Every time I read an article about Kenmore square, the author completely leaves out The Art Institute of Boston (700 Beacon St.) where, for better or worse, I attended college for a year and a half. It would be nice if mention were made. This is the first time that I’ve “visited” Kenmore sq. since ’79 (though a merely virtual visit), and I agree with some of the posts above, it looks utterly soul-less now, no charm, no grit, doesn’t seem to be a real shopping place; all that seems to be left is the confusing confluence of roads. I didn’t like it a lot then, but it was in a way home, and it certainly had the spirit of a center and maybe even a sometimes important, if violent, one. The Author William Gibson said some years ago that Geography no longer exists: this is a perfect example. If you block out downtown Boston in the distance, Kenmore Square could be badly made urban “improvement” anywhere in the industrial world. I suspect if it had been left alone, The Rathskeller (had it survived its floods) would now be a celebrated tourist spot, the home of punk rock where Sting played and the Cars were discovered, where Stevie Ray Vaughan, Chris Isaak and The Beastie Boys also played – disco died all by itself, and instead of the utterly modular looking hotel where the army-navy store was, there would now be buildings that had some older architectural charm, and where the current oyster bar could have just as well set up shop. The changes don’t seem to have been inspired by a real attempt at urban improvement, but rather by America’s – via the BU administration’s – favorite method of crisis management: knock everything down. When, for all the money the city must have spent, some buildings could have been bought and incentives to more reputable businesses given, some brighter street lights and extra police patrols, maybe a joint effort to tidy up the Rathskeller as punk faded and alternative came into being, a strategy that would have given a new spirit to the square without utterly crushing its history.

  31. Well, in honesty, I wonder how many of those basking in nostalgia would still find this level of entertainment appealing on a regular basis. I think I was unusual continuing to make that scene until around age 35. But having my shoes sticking to a cement dance floor on half-dry spilled beer truly requires a level of immaturity. That scene is heaven for college ages, but is it really expedient to tie up several city blocks of skank just to accommodate this narrow cohort? Also recall Woody Allen flicks at Nickleodeon, and Cream at Psychedelic Supermarket on the BU campus.

  32. I should add, for the sixty year olders who still pine for debauchery, you can still find a lot of it in Central Sq, Cambridge- cordially referred to as Mental Sq by locals.

  33. I remember the Rathskellar from the 60’s. A rather large group of us girls were
    on Nursing affiliation at Children’s Hospital and would walk down to Kenmore
    Square. Played the juke box downstairs…..remember “Spanish Harlem” being played pretty often! Long picnic tables and benches. Always had a great time and remember one wild St. Patrick’s night !

  34. I worked at Kenmore Deli for 2 years while attending Graham Jr. College and became a bit of a fixture in the square for hawking “get your pizza here, etc… I knew all main players at The Rat, the cask, Fenway, down-under etc.

    Now 63 years old, I look back on those days with a sense of great fondness! Micki dickoff, my french girlfriend, my years at WLVI TV 56, etc…

    1. Wow, a fellow Graham-mer, eh? Surprised no one mentions Bunratty’s either…that and the Rat my faves…when Graham went belly up I went Mt Wachusetts and then finished up at Emerson…Kenmore was a blast & Harvard Ave too, Seven Stars, Rileys Roast Beef, Grecian Diner….oh yeah!!!!

  35. Went to BU 83 thru 87. Fond memories of Kenmore Square.
    Anyone remember Mr. Butch?
    India Quality restaurant, my first Indian food.
    The CVS.
    Mississipi’s.
    Aku Aku.
    Soup r Salad.
    Charlie’s Cafeteria. 2 cheeseburgers, fries, and coke for $5!!
    Pizza Pad! Awesome cheese steaks.
    Narcissus.
    Then on Lansdowne, Spit and whatever the other club was.
    Miss them all.

    1. Hi Mary. The address was 617-619 Commonwealth Ave. It was private and was bought out by Lahey Clinic – maybe in the 80s. But I don’t know any more than that. I am trying to look online for info, but I have found nothing about it. My mother even got her nurses license from them – not sure if it was a genuine nursing school – she is gone and just cannot find a thing. I have a letter from the Superintendent of Nurses from 1939 saying she was a student of the hospital and completed an 18 month course in nursing. I had my tonsils taken out there in the early 60s. Interesting stuff, but still looking. There is another person, Larry, who wrote a post above saying he was born there also. Check it out.

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