Filene's

Floon journeys to Downtown Crossing today to use The Hole as a backdrop for their call to force developers to put up performance bonds before they start digging.

Seems the majority owner of the Hole is sitting on $2.8 billion in cash and is looking for good investments, which apparently Boston isn't. Read more

Wait, what's that? That's not a Christo installation? It's just the developers trying to mollify an outraged city and protect what's left of the old Filene's buildings after more than a year of leaving them exposed to the elements at the giant hole in the middle of Downtown Crossing?

Oh, never mind.

Matthew I shows there's still some life in the old retail district.

Copyright Matthew I. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

The Globe asked local designers to come up with alternatives for the Filene's Hole and other vacant construction sites around town. "A vertical algae-powered bioreactor?" Sure, why not?

Well, not poor, exactly, but the local developer tells the Boston Business Journal he's tired of bearing the brunt of anger and jokes over the Filene's Memorial Hole, since that whole mess is almost entirely owned by Vornado Realty Trust and JPMorgan & Chase Co. out of New York, and his development company only has a small piece of it.

That's what they did in Wellesley, which has its own giant hole in the ground (where the Wellesley Inn got torn down for condos that never materialized). The Swellesley Report notes the developers actually agreed to do something to keep part of the town from looking like London after the Blitz:

... We'll miss seeing the tumbleweeds blowing across the vacant lot, but I guess we can't have it all. ...

The Globe details John Hynes' latest possibility for the giant negative space: Fewer floors, more apartments could dramatically reduce costs and make the project more attractive to the lenders who aren't giving him money now.

Tobyjug doesn't explain why he was at Downtown Crossing at 3 a.m., but no matter: He asks:

... [A]s I was walking by the crater, I started to hear Johnny (or is it Edgar) Winter's "Frankenstein". Strobe lights were going off all over the broken open parts of the building. Fog was rising out of the pit. Little "Enchanted Village" figures twirled in the windows. Did anyone else see/hear it?

The Herald reports.

Councilor and mayoral candidate Michael Flaherty says the developers behind the BRA Memorial Hole on Washington Street are actually sitting on a large sum of money, so the least they can do is fill in the damn hole already:

... In the spirit of returning and improving the vitality of this central downtown neighborhood, the developers should be ordered to make the graded site available to the Boston Public Market Association (www.bostonpublicmarket.org).

Given that Vornado and Gale have shown no signs of resuming construction before Fall of 2009, the former Filenes site is a perfect location to temporarily host the Boston Public Market. Located in the heart of the bustling financial district, accessible by the various MBTA stations and to the numerous area employees, residents and tourists, a public market offering organic produce will serve as a significant asset to the neighborhood. The Boston Public Market Association offers locally grown, healthy and affordable fresh food and is a refreshing alternative to the various fast food restaurants in the area. This is an interim solution that will seek to reinvigorate the suffering neighborhood and address the serious concern of the existing blighted site. ...

A Proper Bostonian submits a proposal that would both fill the hole and solve the South End's problems with the BU Biolab.

Donovan Slack at the Globe shows how the city let the developer of the Gaping Maw skirt the city's own zoning codes in an attempt to revive Downtown Crossing.

Paul Demers shows just how much somebody misses the old Filene's.

Czsz, meanwhile, discusses how sad the Financial District was on a Sunday walk:

... Not a single car drove by, and not a single other person walked down the sidewalk. Granted, it was Sunday, but what a wasted space this felt like.

I turned the corner to Franklin St. The Boston Stock Exchange was boarded up. The London Harness Company was shuttered for the day only, but signs announced it was going out of business.

Even the Propagation of the Faith Store is giving up.

Ed. Note: The BBJ has apparently unpublished the story, so whether it's accurate or not, I don't know.

The Boston Business Journal reports that the one company actually interested in leasing space in One Franklin Place - the tower that's supposed to replace the hole - is now backing away from the idea, in part because it's been unable to negotiate a lease with the hole's owner.

First Columbus Center, now the Filene's project?

Colleen responds in the only sensible way: She buys some shoes.

Lori Magno reports on the 11:30 a.m. incident, posts annotated photos.

You don't think Nordstrom put that telephone-shelter ad in front of the wreck of Filene's on purpose, do you?

OK, no, that thing's been up since before the demolition work began - but still ...

Some photos.

John Daley likes the idea of a shiny new highrise atop the old Filene's building, but he cautions that that alone won't solve Downtown Crossing's issues, notably crime and homelessness (ed note: See the intersection just outside the new Ritz).

Mike Mennnonno is delighted the city will be helping to end its shortage of luxury condos, but adds:

... Wouldn't it be better to move to encourage something more reflective of the area's ambiance (if you want to cal it that)--like making a concerted effort to bring more small, local businesses to the pedestrian section of Washington Street? Maybe make it an even more open-market style area, but on the seedier side of chi-chi? I mean, you've got Newbury Street if you want upscale in Back Bay, right? ...

Remember how Cher's "farewell" tour seemed to go on for years? Just when we though Filene's was dead (the Chestnut Hill Filene's is now all boarded up, with a large "Emergency Exit Only" stencilled above the door notched into the plywood), we see Filene's ads on TV, acting all la-di-da and showing bright, cheery people urging you to get down to Filene's right away for something (summer clothes, I think) as if it were still a real department store.

In any case, Rhea Becker said her farewell to the downtown Filene's yesterday, in what she expects will be her last visit to the store at which she'd bought so much over the past 30 years:

... I've filled my clothes closet and dresser drawers with items purchased at Filene's. I have dodged the perfume ladies who douse you as you rush through Cosmetics. I've found amazing bargains in the famous 'Automatic Markdown' basement. I even worked at Filene's for a few short hours as a 'red jacket' security guard in the basement. ...

Note: The Basement was spun off as a separate company years ago, which is why it stays open.