Faces Nightclub

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

I know there have been discussions about the Faces nightclub on Route 2 in the past.

Saw this article today:

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/cambridge/2011/01/development_plan_would_tear_do.html?p1=Upbox_links

Gist is they plan to tear it down in the spring to build apartments.

Comments

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

I'm actually shocked that they haven't done that already. It seems like kind of prime real estate, albeit a little close to a highway...

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

There were complications about ownership that stymied earlier attempts to buy it by developers. I now forget what those were, but my hopes kept getting raised only to be dashed.

Am I the only person on here old enough to have actually gone to Faces when it was open? Ron? Anybody?

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

I never went, but I remember hearing lots and lots of ads for it on the radio.

[ratushebarl.livejournal.com]

I never did but my younger brothers went there. That sign has always been a little special to me...now I feel like the last bit of original nonironic non-retro disco will be gone.

[junesrose.livejournal.com]

I was there, many times! In fact, met the whole KISS108 crew there when they had the USA for Africa night (1985). Matty even sat with us at the bar and chatted us up for a bit. Seemed liked a really nice guy.

Yes, I'm that old.

:/

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Oh, those were the days. The 1980s, a time of innocence and magic. Kind of.

[ron_newman]

I never went there. Wouldn't have been to my taste.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can't imagine it would have been your scene. (It wasn't mine, either.)

[thespian.livejournal.com]

I totally went.

[mamabunny72.livejournal.com]

I went there once for a teen dance party, circa 1986. I remember what top I wore, and that I got a bloody nose. Not from a brawl or anything!

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

My partner went when it was open and has really fond memories involving: a lot of purple paint, a fancy staircase and a disco ball. I was kind of hoping someone would buy it, restore it and turn it into an 80s club leaving most of the decor in tact. There probably isn't as much money in that as there is in condos :(

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

the one reason I could see for it not being a great spot is that you can't turn left, you have to go through that insane intersection to go anywhere, but such is city life.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

i think you can go behind and sort of work your way through in a better way, but yeah--it is less appealing for folks who might wanna head west often.

this was also in the news a month or so ago (became xmas dinner conversation)

[ron_newman]

I expect that whatever they build, they'll find a way to connect to the office park behind it, which has a road leading to Lake Street and its interchange with Route 2.

[knowthyself.livejournal.com]

I hope so--adding an apt complex there could really make the traffic backup in that stretch during commuting hours even more hellish. :/

[kpht.livejournal.com]

It's about time, there's no saving a building that's stood empty for 21 years. Seriously the building's been abandoned long enough to legally drink.

[blondeamazon.livejournal.com]

I would LOVE to get in there with my camera to snap picks of the decrepit state of things and to document the tearing down.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

This. I appreciate the heads-up from the OP. I've been meaning to photograph that bit of urban decay for years. (But at the request of "neighbors" they've covered up the Faces sign? Too bad.)

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

At least a few people have done so before...
http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/old_faces_nightclub_in_cambridge.htm

[junesrose.livejournal.com]

Wow, those are incredible pics! It brought back so many memories! I can't believe they would let that place get so bad. Sorry to see that happen, but I guess times do change.

Thanks for sharing, at least my curiosity is a bit quenched.

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

Considering that vacant building has been scaring me since I was a wee Jenskot, they can build a lawn flamingo park or anything else they damn please, so long as they make it go away. Seriously, the only way that eyesore could have been creepier is if the sign was covered in mime faces... or actual human faces... :(

[scarletdulcinea.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Faces. Where will I go to have my face stolen now?

[ron_newman]

Four stories, 227 apartments? That's 57 apartments on each floor. I don't see how that's going to fit on the lot.

[overstim.livejournal.com]

the article wasnt really clear if the Inn & Lanes & Games would be torn down as well. Or they could have meant 227 bedrooms' worth of apartments. OR the property might go farther back than one would think.

If theres a more amazing spot for a Sonic Drive in I dont know it.

[ron_newman]

The slum hotel won't be missed, but I sure hope they aren't going to tear down Lanes & Games. There aren't any other tenpin bowling alleys for many miles around.

[hikermtnbiker.livejournal.com]

Many years ago there was a classic car hop burger joint at Alewife. It was kitty corner from Summer Shack at the corner of Rindge and Rte 2. It had that space agey look with the angular roof line, lots of glass and covered car ports. Each parking spot had a phone that you used to call in your order. I don't recall if the waitresses wore roller skates or not. It was quite a treat to go there as a kid. Probably gone by the late 60s or early 70s. At that time there was also the Fresh Pond Drive-in movie theater. So a Sonic in the area would be totally cool and not so out of place.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

The Lanes & Games parcel is as far as I know not for sale. The motel I don't know.

There's another big complex already permitted behind there (construction is supposed to begin this spring), so the 227 apartments might be a total of that and the complex projected for Faces.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Ron - the author of the article has other facts wrong (e.g. calling it "games and lanes") so maybe the 227 isn't correct? Maybe 27 for 4 floors is more likely.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Faces and Rt 2 in general are great examples of wacky urban planning/lack thereof.

[ron_newman]

Route 2 was never intended to end at Alewife. It was supposed to continue east through Porter Square and connect to an Inner Belt expressway that would have edged around Union Square and Inman Square and plowed through the heart of Central Square. Aren't you glad that didn't happen?

only 4 stories

[msiebler.livejournal.com]

I'm glad its being redeveloped. I'm surprised its so short. Most of the other buildings there are much taller. There aren't any neighbors to complain about the views or the light.