Government Center station is an
MBTA subway
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates rapid transit (heavy rail), light rail, and bus rapid transit services in the Boston metropolitan area, collectively referred to as the rapid transit, subway, or the T system.
The c ...
station in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts. It is located at the intersection of
Tremont, Court and Cambridge Streets in the
Government Center area. It is a transfer point between the
light rail Green Line and the
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
Blue Line. With the Green Line platform having opened in 1898, the station is the third-oldest operating subway station (and the second-oldest of the quartet of "hub stations") in the MBTA system; only
Park Street and
Boylston Boylston may refer to the following communities:
;Canada
* Boylston, Nova Scotia
;United States
* Boylston, Massachusetts
* Boylston, New York
* Boylston, Wisconsin
* Boylston Junction, Wisconsin
It may also refer to:
* Helen Dore Boylston, au ...
are older. The station previously served
Scollay Square
300px, Scollay Square, Boston, 19th century (after September 1880)
350px, Scollay Square, Decoration Day, 19th century (after September 1880)
Scollay Square (c. 1838–1962) was a vibrant city square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was na ...
before its demolition for the creation of
Boston City Hall Plaza
City Hall Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts, is a large, open, public space in the Government Center area of the city. The architectural firm Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles designed the plaza in 1962 to accompany Boston's new City Hall building. The ...
.
The station was closed on March 22, 2014 for a major renovation, which included retrofitting the station for
accessibility
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
and building a new glass
headhouse
A head house or headhouse may be an enclosed building attached to an open-sided shed, or the aboveground part of a subway station.
Markets
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, head houses were often civic buildings such as town halls or courth ...
on City Hall Plaza. The new fully accessible station was reopened on March 21, 2016.
History
Scollay Square
![Scollay Square Brattle Loop platform 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Scollay_Square_Brattle_Loop_platform_2.png)
As the first horsecar lines were built in the late 1850s, the
Scollay Building in
Scollay Square
300px, Scollay Square, Boston, 19th century (after September 1880)
350px, Scollay Square, Decoration Day, 19th century (after September 1880)
Scollay Square (c. 1838–1962) was a vibrant city square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was na ...
became the transfer point between the various lines. The
Metropolitan Railroad
The Metropolitan Railroad was the second streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C., United States. It was incorporated and started operations in 1864, running from the Capitol to the War Department and along H Street NW in downtown. It a ...
, the largest of the horsecar systems, used the
Tremont House hotel a block to the south of Scollay Square as a terminus for many routes.
The northern section of the
Tremont Street Subway
The Tremont Street subway in Boston's MBTA subway system is the oldest subway tunnel in North America and the third oldest still in use worldwide to exclusively use electric traction (after the City and South London Railway in 1890, and the Bud ...
opened on September 3, 1898, with a station at Scollay Square.
The station had an unusual platform design. The three-sided main platform served northbound and southbound through tracks plus the Brattle Loop track, one of two turnback points (along with
Adams Square) for streetcars entering the subway from the north; a side platform also served the loop
Boston Elevated Railway
The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities. Founded in 1894, it eventually acquired the West End Street Railwa ...
(BERy) streetcars from Everett, Medford, and Malden (which formerly ran to Scollay Square on the surface) used Brattle Loop, as did cars from
Lynn and Boston Railroad The Lynn and Boston Railroad was a streetcar railway chartered for operations between Boston and Lynn, Massachusetts in 1859. Following a number of acquisitions, the railway was a part of a 1901 street railway merger that formed the Boston and Nort ...
and its successors. The last of those, the
Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway
The Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway (Eastern Mass) was a streetcar and later bus company in eastern Massachusetts, serving northern and southern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. Its precursor company was the Bay State Street Railway, which ...
, used the loop until 1935.
Scollay Square and Adams Square had similar baroque headhouses with four-sided clock towers. Unlike Adams Square, the Scollay Square headhouse had its entrance at one end of the structure. A small exit structure was located to the north, while the Brattle Loop used a separate entrance built into a building at Court Street and Brattle Street. The headhouses of the Tremont were sharply criticized as "pretentiously monumental", with the Scollay Square headhouse compared to "an enlarged soda fountain".
Later stations on the
East Boston Tunnel
The Blue Line is a rapid transit line in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, one of four rapid transit lines operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It runs from Bowdoin station in downtown Boston under Boston Harbo ...
and
Washington Street Tunnel incorporated this criticism into their more modest headhouses.
On June 10, 1901,
Main Line Elevated
The Orange Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of the MBTA subway system. The line runs south on the surface from Oak Grove station in Malden, Massachusetts through Malden and ...
trains began using the through tracks through the Tremont Street Subway, while streetcars continued using the Brattle Loop.
The main platform was divided into separate sections for northbound and southbound elevated trains, each with separate staircases and ticket takers, with sliding platform sections to meet the high-level doors on the El cars. Passages under the Brattle Loop were built from each side to the Brattle Loop platform, which had its own staircases and ticket takers for streetcars. On July 9, 1904, streetcar passengers began paying fares to the streetcar conductors and the streetcar ticket office was repurposed for southbound El passengers.
Court Street
![Court Street station postcard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Court_Street_station_postcard.jpg)
On December 30, 1904, the East Boston Tunnel opened for streetcars from Maverick Square in East Boston to a one-track stub-end terminal at Court Street next to Scollay Square. A passageway was built connecting the two stations.
A bronze
statue of John Winthrop was relocated from Scollay Square to the Back Bay in 1903 to make room for the exit stairs from the station.
Erected in 1880, the statue had already been moved in 1898 to make room for the first headhouse.
The stub-end track at Court Street was normally restricted to one streetcar at a time; however, two were commonly allowed during peak periods. On October 6, 1906, a conductor was crushed to death between two streetcars while preparing his
trolley pole
A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" (electrified) overhead wire to the control and the electric traction motors of a tram or trolley bus. It is a type of current collector. Th ...
for the return trip - the second such accident at the station. In addition to these incidents, the stub-end terminal was operationally inefficient, which prompted the need for a replacement.
Return to streetcar use
On November 30, 1908, Elevated trains moved into the parallel Washington Street Tunnel and the Tremont Street Subway through tracks returned to streetcar operations.
The separated platform areas were kept; the through tracks offered a free transfer to East Boston Tunnel streetcars (plus a small toll for use of the tunnel, separate from normal BERy fares), while the Brattle Loop platform was kept separate for "foreign" (non-BERy) cars on a separate fare system.
Scollay Under
![Scollay Under station, January 1916](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Scollay_Under_station%2C_January_1916.jpg)
In 1912, the BERy began an extension of the East Boston Tunnel west to
Bowdoin. Court Street station was abandoned and the passageway closed on November 15, 1914.
The floor of the station was removed and the tunnel angled down through the former station to allow for the extended tunnel to proceed under the existing Scollay Square station. The upper part of the former station was later converted to storage space.
Scollay Under opened on March 18, 1916, an
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
with staircases to Scollay station. The 1898-built main platform was extended during the project to accommodate expected loads of transferring passengers.
On April 18, 1924, the East Boston Tunnel including Scollay Under was converted from low-platform streetcars to high-platform third-rail-powered rapid transit.
A portion of the low streetcar platform remained east of the new high platform.
The northbound (Cornhill Street) entrance was closed on November 24, 1917, forcing all passengers to use the southbound Tremont Row entrance. In 1927, the original headhouse was replaced with a simple staircase to improve sightlines for auto drivers.
The station was further renovated in 1928 with new lights, and improved fare collection equipment. Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway service to Brattle Loop ended on January 13, 1935, though some BERy streetcars continued to use it.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) replaced the BERy in 1947 and continued to reduce streetcar services. The last Brattle Loop service was discontinued in 1952. The northbound platform was extended over the loop in 1954 to allow two 3-car trains of
PCC streetcar
The PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) is a streetcar (tram) design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the ...
s to board simultaneously.
Government Center
Boston City Hall Plaza
City Hall Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts, is a large, open, public space in the Government Center area of the city. The architectural firm Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles designed the plaza in 1962 to accompany Boston's new City Hall building. The ...
replaced Scollay Square in the early 1960s. Scollay Square station was wholly renovated, and the northbound tunnel was realigned to accommodate the foundation of
Boston City Hall
Boston City Hall is the seat of city government of Boston, Massachusetts. It includes the offices of the mayor of Boston and the Boston City Council. The current hall was built in 1968 to assume the functions of the Old City Hall.
It is a cont ...
. The work drastically altered the shape of Brattle Loop and provided a new northbound-to-southbound turnback loop. The stairways to the lower level were relocated, and a fare lobby was built in a low brick structure at the surface.
The 1963-built headhouse was often described as resembling a
bunker
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...
or a cave, even by MBTA management. Government Center station was dedicated on October 28, 1963, though the new loop was not activated until November 18, 1964, when the Commonwealth Avenue line was extended from Park Street to Government Center.
Despite the new name, several tiles mosaics reading "Scollay Under" and "S" were still extant and gradually uncovered over the years.
On August 26, 1965, as part of a wholesale rebranding of the system, the
MBTA
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
(formed in 1964 to replace the MTA) designated the remaining streetcar routes as the
Green Line and the East Boston Tunnel line as the
Blue Line.
In 1968-69, a "Phase I" modernization added false ceilings, fluorescent lights, and other aesthetic upgrades.
In the late 1970s,
Mary Beams - an artist at Harvard's
Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts
The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts is the only building designed primarily by Le Corbusier in the United States—he contributed to the design of the United Nations Secretariat Building—an ...
- painted 19 murals which were placed along the wall behind the Brattle Loop. Although intended to be temporary, they received protective covers in the late 1980s and remained in good condition until the 2014 closure.
On February 11, 1983, the
Green Line E branch
The E branch (also referred to as the Huntington Avenue branch, or formerly as the Arborway Line) is a light rail line in Boston, Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Auth ...
was shut down by snow for several days; a Government Center-Lechmere shuttle ran in its stead - the first use of the Brattle Loop in three decades. Even after the E branch resumed operations several days later, the shuttle service ran until June 21, 1997.
Since, the loop was used only for temporary car storage, largely during events at Boston Garden (later
TD Garden
TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, a subsidiary of the Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Ontario. It opened in 1995 as a replacement for the original Boston Garden and has been k ...
) and after the morning peak.
Renovation
![Scollay Under tile sign MBTA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Scollay_Under_tile_sign_MBTA.jpg)
In 1990, the state agreed to a number of transit expansion and renovation projects to settle a lawsuit from the
Conservation Law Foundation
Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is an environmental advocacy organization based in New England. Since 1966, CLF's mission has been to advocate for New England's environment and its communities. CLF's advocacy work takes place across five integr ...
over the environmental impacts of the
Big Dig
The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T Project), commonly known as the Big Dig, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery of Interstate 93 (I-93), the chief highway through the heart of the city, into the 1.5-mile (2.4& ...
.
Due to its cost, complexity, and the need to completely shut down a major transfer station, Government Center was the last of 80 key stations to be upgraded for
accessibility
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
. Original plans in the 1990s called for the project to add two new entrances to the station, using the former west entrance to the Blue Line level and the former Brattle Loop entrance to the Green Line level. The Blue Line entrance would be close to Bowdoin station, allowing it to be closed.
second page
The additional Green Line entrance was cut during preliminary design, but the Blue Line entrance was kept; until at least 2011, the MBTA still planned to close Bowdoin after Government Center was renovated. However, by 2013, the MBTA decided not to construct the planned west entrance at Government Center, and to instead build only a less-expensive emergency exit.
Site preparation began in mid-2013, and the main construction contract was awarded to
Barletta Heavy Division
Barletta () is a city, ''comune'' of Apulia, in south eastern Italy. Barletta is the capoluogo, together with Andria and Trani, of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. It has a population of around 94,700 citizens.
The city's territory belo ...
in July 2013. On March 22, 2014, Government Center station closed for two years for the reconstruction, which included new elevators, station entrance and lobbies, emergency exit-only structure on Cambridge Street between Court and Sudbury Street, escalators, LED signage, expanded fare collection area, upgraded back-up electrical power supply, improved interior finishes, station lighting, mechanical systems, and public address system. The abandoned side platform was almost completely tiled over. Additional vendor retail space was provided on both Green Line and Blue Line platforms. The platform levels feature
terrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...
flooring color-coded to the lines.
During Government Center station's closure, Green Line trains passed through but did not stop at the station. For the duration of the closure, the
B branch was cut back to Park Street (after the reopening of Government Center station, this would later be modified to keeping it at as the terminus permanently for five more years), while the
D branch was cut to Park Street at rush hours and North Station at other times. The "
C" and "E" branches kept their usual terminals.
Bowdoin station
Bowdoin station ( ) is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit station in Bowdoin Square in Boston, Massachusetts. The station is the downtown terminus of the Blue Line, part of the MBTA subway system. It has a singl ...
was kept open for all MBTA operating hours (for the first time since 1981) during the closure. A shuttle bus, the 608 Haymarket via Government Center Loop route, operated in a loop from Haymarket station via State Street station, Government Center station, and Bowdoin station.
During the first two months of renovations, two additional Scollay Under tile signs were uncovered on the Blue Line level. After the first sign was discovered in April, the MBTA announced that it would be restored and placed in the renovated station, similar to previously found mosaics at
South Station
South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan In ...
and
Arlington. In total, five 'Scollay Under', one 'Scollay', and two single-letter mosaics were restored. An original faregate, ticket booth, and ceiling arches were also found.
The 1970s Mary Beams murals - made of house paint on plywood - did not meet fire code for installation in the rebuilt station. Instead, they were sold at auction in October 2015, with the proceeds going to an enamel commemorative panel and new artworks placed in the new station.
By September 2014, demolition was completed and the steel frame of the new glass headhouse had been erected. At that point, the project was on schedule and on budget.
In July 2015 the MBTA announced that the project was still on schedule for a Spring 2016 reopening.
In August 2015, the MBTA revealed that the glass used on the headhouse was defective due to poor workmanship, with failed seals between the double-paned glass causing fogging. The glass was replaced at the contractor's expense and did not affect the project's schedule.
On February 2, 2016, the MBTA announced that the station would reopen on March 26, 2016 and that the project was within its budget.
On February 19, the MBTA tested multicolored LED lights to illuminate the glass headhouse. After several unpublicized notices, the MBTA announced on March 9 that the station would open on March 21 instead, with a ceremony at 11:45am and full opening an hour later.
On the radio command of Governor
Charlie Baker
Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 72nd governor of Massachusetts since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Baker was a cabinet official under two governors of Massach ...
, service to the station resumed at 12:43pm.
Design and engineering for the station cost $25 million; the MBTA estimated the construction cost would be $91 million. The primary construction contract was for $82 million, and total construction cost was $88 million. The new station headhouse design was heavily criticized in a monthly architectural review by the social commentator and critic
James Howard Kunstler
James Howard Kunstler (born October 19, 1948) is an American author, social critic, public speaker, and blogger. He is best known for his books ''The Geography of Nowhere'' (1994), a history of American suburbia and urban development, ''The Long ...
.
The headhouse has also been criticized for blocking the view of Old North Church from Tremont Street.
Since the loop opened in 1964, Government Center has been a terminus for scheduled service on one or more branches except for the 2014–2016 closure, 1980–1982, and a short period in 1967. It was the terminus for D branch service from 2016 to October 24, 2021, when it became instead the terminus for B and C branch service as part of preparations for the 2022 opening of the
Green Line Extension
The Green Line Extension (GLX) was a construction project to extend the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line light rail system northwest into Somerville and Medford, two inner suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. The p ...
.
Government Center was the northern terminus of the Green Line from August 22 to September 18, 2022; the closure of the northern section allowed for final integration of the Medford Branch, elimination of a speed restriction on the Lechmere Viaduct, demolition of the
Government Center Garage, and other work.
References
External links
MBTA – Government CenterGovernment Center Project pageStation site from Google Maps Street View
{{MBTA Subway Stations
Blue Line (MBTA) stations
Government Center, Boston
Green Line (MBTA) stations
MBTA subway stations located underground
Railway stations closed in 2014
Railway stations in the United States opened in 2016
Railway stations located underground in Boston
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1898
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1963