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Backhoe takes out electricity to parts of Fenway, Back Bay, Kenmore Square
By adamg on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 9:27am
Firefighters, police and NStar workers are on scene on Massachusetts Avenue by the Berklee construction site, where a backhoe took out some underground power conduits around 9 a.m., causing a power outage that extends to Northeastern and Bay State Road. The backhoe operator was apparently injured, but not critically.
Roving UHub reporter Chelsea reports:
Saw flashes then puff of smoke at mass ave and belvedere
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Comments
Forget to call Dig Safe?
^
The site in question burned
The site in question burned and was rebuilt circa late 1950s, not always possible to know the exact route utilities took through that neighborhood as the rail yards a block away started to be decommissioned and filled in for what's now around the Hynes/Pru. A mistake documenting a line is 5 feet to the south of where it really is makes a huge difference.
No kidding?
Wonder if the BPL has old photos of this site.
Well, they sure do know where that cable is now.
First pic: Straight up from
First pic: Straight up from the Christian Science dome is St. Cecilia's church, our reference point. To the east of that building (right) is the today's Hilton. At the east end of Belvidere is today the Sheraton, formerly the western point of the rail yard. Diagonal from St. Cecilia's across Belvidere at Mass Ave is Berklee's construction site.
That building burned sometime in the 50s and was rebuilt as a single story edifice by the time the Sherry Biltmore burned in 1963 (an interesting fire with the biggest ladder job to date in BFD's history, by all accounts).
Mechanics Hall, not visible in this picture, was closed in 1959 when utilities began to be rerouted for the urban renewal project (Prudential project and Turnpike Extension).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library...
Another view of the scale of the rail yards from the same era (circa 1925). Mechanics is a dark blotch almost dead center in this picture, above the Christian Science publishing house temple roof.
Rumor is that Verizon, RCN, Boston-Edison, and steam utilities are a maze underneath Belvidere and St. Germain streets as result of the initial gulf the rail yards created, and the subsequent urban development. They trace back to Back Bay Station area and then downtown to the east and west to the Mass Ave border of the Fenway toward Kenmore area.
Did you intend to link to two photos?
You described two photos but only linked to one of them. (Also, where can I find the BPL's description of the photo?)
2nd pic?
There's only one link...
That's an interesting
That's an interesting picture.
What's the large modernist building across Mass Ave (and in half a block) from the Christian Science admin building?
Movie a giant movie palace
Movie a giant movie palace and entertainment facility, Loew's State if I recall correctly. Ron if a movie buff person and maybe remembers.
Stupid computer user.... here
Stupid computer user.... here are the two links!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library...
Yep - Loew's State Theatre
which in its final few years had its name changed first to Donnelly Memorial and then to Back Bay Theatre. You can read more about it here:
Cinema Treasures: Loew's State
The building also contained a second much smaller theatre, the Fine Arts:
Cinema Treasures: Fine Arts Theatre
I've never understood why the city of Boston allowed this to be demolished, since it was well-used up to its final days.
That is interesting history there.
It'd be cool to tour the tunnels, which I'm certain are off limits...
Still got juice
Well, my building at the Pru center still has power, so what good was it? :)
National Grid is doing a lot of work on my street, and the other day just as I was leaving my apartment a dump-truck tried real hard to take down the powerlines and drop them on me. He missed. You'd think they'd be used to looking out for this sort of stuff...
(Hope the operator recovers quickly!)
177 Huntington out
Across the other side of Belvidere from the Pru and we are out.
Walked down 20+ flights of
Walked down 20+ flights of stairs, not the most fun I have had in a while.
Anyone have any idea when it will be fixed?
Noon
NStar is saying.
They are now saying evening.
I work at 177 and just got the email.
Good thing this didn't happen yesterday
... while there was an important funeral going on a block away.
Construction was halted for
Construction was halted for Mayor White's funeral. Ron.
,
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saw that guy
i think i saw this guy in the back hoe on my way to work. he was standing over huge hole on belvedere, on his phone like he had a big question for his boss.
i work nearby and we saw lights flicker outside the building (several stories up at CSB 177), a few times internally then we lost power. there was smoke coming out of that site.
you could look across to kenmore and the alarms at fenway were flashing like it was October 2004 and Ortiz was up at bat (10th inning, you know the one).
hope that guy is alright!!