Wow. That place has been derelict since I came to Boston, over fifteen years ago. It's about time! Now if somebody knows what's going to go there, we'd be all set.
Hooray! It will be so nice to see that gone. According to an article in http://cctvcambridge.org/node/2525, it has been empty since 1990.
I remember reading in the Globe that the owners didn't want to demolish it because they were afraid Cambridge would claim it as open space or take other options away from them.
Quick Google search didn't turn up any news on it...was hoping to find a demolition permit or something...maybe those with better Google-foo will have better luck?
i just drove by it about 1/2 hour ago and didn't see any activity there. sometimes bulldozers park in the empty lot, i've noticed. hopefully they were just on break or something but i didn't see anything =/
Ugh, I've been trying to find a newspaper article. I suspect that the newspaper articles were just reporting it was being torn down and that was paired with speculation that it was going to become condos.
Do they really rent you a room without a credit card or photo ID? If so, I'd consider that a reason to recommend the Cambridge Gateway Inn, at least to anyone who values their privacy.
FYI - before that location was Faces, the nightclub, it was Aku Aku, a Chinese/Polynesian restaurant, with great (tacky?) Polynesian decor, fancy drinks, et al!
About all I can recall of Faces (never went in, despite being a college student during the appropriate time frame) is the 6-word review I saw of it in the Globe during my internship. *ahem* I quote:
Big noise. Big hair. Big mistake.
End of review. No wonder it closed, with raves like that.
I remember this place from the late 70s' and early 80s. What a low-rent disco this joint was. Even then it was always hit or miss on the crowd. Whether you'd get laid or get in a brawl -- always a tossup walking in the door. I think it was '81 when I - and about 5 of my friends - got in a brawl there with the bouncers over a broken front glass window. What a hoot that place was. Lots of coke in that place. It was probably the late 80s when the place really went downhill - I was away, but when I got back the place was closed down. But if you grew up here... you went to Faces every once in a while.
Did anyone realze that there is an old MDC outdoor skating rink right off the Route 2 - Lake street exit? Yep. Ice skate, play hockey and then street hockey when there wasn't any ice. I think the actual pavement/rink still exists, but it's all overgrown now. Cmabridge/Arlington should actually do something in that area again - let kids walk to a rink.
Also, people take for granted that overpass right by Faces, but it wasn't always there. Use to be to cross that - as kids - it would be "Go... Go... GO!!!"... that was an ugly road to cross.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 12:44 pm (UTC)My boyfriend and I have created dozens of stories about what Faces used to be/currently is. My vote goes to zombie safe haven.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 12:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 02:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 02:16 pm (UTC)I remember reading in the Globe that the owners didn't want to demolish it because they were afraid Cambridge would claim it as open space or take other options away from them.
Here are some interesting photos of the interior from 2006
http://mandy-moon.livejournal.com/569366.html
Quick Google search didn't turn up any news on it...was hoping to find a demolition permit or something...maybe those with better Google-foo will have better luck?
no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 02:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 02:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 03:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 03:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 03:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 03:27 pm (UTC)hopefully they were just on break or something but i didn't see anything =/
no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 03:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 03:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 06:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 06:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 06:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 06:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 06:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 07:15 pm (UTC)Before Faces was Faces, it was a Chinese-Polynesian restaurant, but its name was not Aku-Aku. Aku-Aku was indeed where the Summer Shack is now.
Now I can't remember what the name of the restaurant that preceded Faces was.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-10 10:27 pm (UTC)Big noise.
Big hair.
Big mistake.
End of review. No wonder it closed, with raves like that.
they're finally cleaning the lot up
Date: 2008-07-13 04:33 pm (UTC)Did anyone realze that there is an old MDC outdoor skating rink right off the Route 2 - Lake street exit? Yep. Ice skate, play hockey and then street hockey when there wasn't any ice. I think the actual pavement/rink still exists, but it's all overgrown now. Cmabridge/Arlington should actually do something in that area again - let kids walk to a rink.
Also, people take for granted that overpass right by Faces, but it wasn't always there. Use to be to cross that - as kids - it would be "Go... Go... GO!!!"... that was an ugly road to cross.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-24 12:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-24 12:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-24 01:24 pm (UTC)