Hey, there! Log in / Register
Remembering a billboard
By adamg on Sun, 06/18/2006 - 6:09pm
On Boston Crazy Driving, Tim says good-bye to the old Sunbeam billboard on I-93 in Dorchester, which came down last week:
... The change leaves me cold because now it seems like driving into Boston is no different than driving into Cleveland or Jacksonville. It wasn't a major landmark, but it was one that reminded me of some great childhood memories of coming into Boston.
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
I-93 south landmarks
Boston still has at least a couple of unique landmarks on I-93 in Dorchester:
Corita Kent's Keyspan Gas tank
The huge chain and lock around a storage warehouse (whose name I can't recall, so I can't find a photo right now)
Landmarks indeed
Ron,
I would heartily agree that Sister Corita's painting and the Fortress storage building are great landmarks along 93, but they're a dying breed. Of course, the IBEW's new color diode sign and the 80-foot tall windmill are both distinctive as well.
One note on the gas tank: when they copied the painting to the tank it is on now, I swear they didn't get it quite right. The striking likeness of Ho Chi Minh is there (interestingly, he used to make salads or desserts at the Omni Parker House), but, as a boy, I swear I remember seeing also the profile of Fred Flintsone in the Orange stripe. It's definitely not there, and I still look for it every time I pass in hopes that either my memory isn't or my eyes aren't deceiving me.
At any rate, I lament the loss the billboard the way I lament the loss of the Curley Lumber sign and the old painting on the Planet Storage building in the South End in which there was a whale jumping out of the water, but the artist(s) forgot to paint the whale's fluke below the water line.
I guess it's the little things that make a difference to me.
Fortress! That's the one
And for those of you not familiar with it, here's a photo.
Forgot to mention
The reason (so I'm told) that the big balloon lock is often missing from the side of the building, which is what makes it so unique, is because people drive by and shoot at it with real guns and bullets.
I didn't believe it until I looked closely one afternoon in rush hour(s) traffic and noticed the facade is all pocked with holes caused by some kind of upward traveling projectile.