#congress square

[onceuponatown]

Portland, Maine: Congress Street and Congress Square. Between 1900-1920.

[ceaseandinsist]

Three views, Congress Square, Portland, Maine.

The Portland Art Museum was built by I.M.Pei and I never really thought much of it, but today, I approached it from the west and north, across the street.  I don’t think I ever had seen it from this vantage point before.  And when I saw those slices of sky, then I got it.  

[archpaper]

Plans advance for Congress Square, a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use project in Boston

Plans advance for Congress Square, a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use project in Boston

Congress Square overview. (Courtesy Related Beal & Arrowstreet)

Boston is moving closer to turning an under-utilized part of its financial district into a 24-hour, mixed-used entertainment center. BostInno reported that the Boston Redevelopment Authority held a meeting on the project Monday night, which has been dubbed “Congress Square.”

Continue reading after the jump.

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[bilboyagathechickenfootedhobbit]

Congress Square 6.30.13

Photos by Bor Slana

[beakmansdiner]

Forest City's Heart of Grit.

Portland Maine has a spirit name and it’s spirit name is Forest City

  When I first stepped off the bus in Portland over 30 years ago, I was awe-struck by the gritty heart of Congress Square. It was thrilling and awful and wonderful, complete with a demon-possessed Dunkin Donuts and all sorts of bustle and hustle everywhere. It was everything a young observer in her early twenties could expect from a small northern city. It’s turbulent rhythm and enchantment, composed on sandpaper by lunatic dreamers, made it an oasis of true urban funk. Then one day, long ago, it was torn up and cleaned up, and its mood changed. 

Congress Square is where three roads converge into what can only be realized as the heart and soul of Portland: the ever elusive Arts District.  On one corner sits the brick-tossing State Street Theatre Building, on another corner, The Schwartz, which was once inhabited by high caliber local artists and other creatives. The Schwartz has been closed for renovations since about 2010.

The wedge shaped Hay Building rests on a median between The Portland Museum of Art and the now controversial cement and brick public park we lovers call Congress Square or The Square.

The Square has benches, a stage and an ugly clock, housed in an ugly box, that tells time differently from all the other clocks which, if you haven’t noticed, all offer their own rendition of time. The Square is backed by a huge hotel that changes its name as often as the weather changes. To the right of The Square is a grocery store and The Hammond Heirs Building, meticulously restored, after it burned, in December of 1999, taking one fatality in its wake. 

The now neglected and deteriorating mural, spanning the length of the back entrance wall of the hotel, was painted and repainted by local artist Tony Taylor, and other artists, as a community project which has served as The Square’s backdrop for people of all walks of life. 

People come to The Square to congregate with others, to play, to perform, to be entertained, to protest, to mourn, to celebrate, to watch others unfold unique dramas. 

Congress Square is a place of substantial feeling.

These days our perceptions of The Square are being played as a battle rages to keep it a public space. 

Just last week a bit of it was acquired by the newest owners of the hotel. 

Our cement and brick park, hardly rebuilt for comfort, is now portrayed as dirty and haunted by weak bladdered derelicts and drug dealers. 

Derelicts and drug dealers are nothing new in Portland and their habits are not isolated to Congress Square. 

To claim the square is a toilet, as some have done, is to rob it of its potent urban utility. 

Congress Square is not a morbid, decrepit wasteland that requires rehabilitation through privatization. Perhaps all it really needs is a small ferris wheel and some love for what it really is.

Over the years I have taken photos at Congress Square which, I believe, contradict rumors that high dry winds and urine soaked tumble weeds roll through the desolate heart of Forest City.

Here are some of my favorites:

Photo: The Hammond Heirs Building was meticulously restored after it  burned in December of 1999. There was one fatality.

Photo: The public mural by Tony Taylor and other Portland artists acts as the backdrop for Congress Square.

Photo: People relaxing and playing in the park.

Photo: Congress Square. The Square on the left. The Hay Building is the wedged building on the Right.

Photo: Left to Right: Congress Square/The Square,The Hay Building, The Portland Museum of Art.

Photo: A Fools No More Rally in protest of The Bush Administration.

Photo:Sponsored and unsponsored entertainments occurred frequently in The Square.

Photo: Many locals like to become part of the performance.

Photo: A local man attempts to upstage a performing band. The band attempts to ignore the expressive intruder.

Photo: The Schwartz Building is closed and has been undergoing renovations since 2010. The Portland Museum of Art is to the left. Congress Square is to the right.

Photo: We are never at a loss for attitude. By standers waiting to catch a glimpse of President Obama stand by the boarded up Schwartz Building on the corner of High and Congress. Mr. Obama was attending a special $10,000.00-a-plate dinner at The Portland Museum of Art.

Photo: Some gathered to protest while others gathered to share their religious views across from The Portland Museum of Art where President Obama was expected to attend a $10,000.00 a plate dinner.

Photo: The torch bearer for The Relay Torch Rally for Human Rights.

- Smyth Wolfe