Seaport Square ‘cultural corridor’ a response to needs of Boston’s artists, developer says

Replaces plans for larger theater

BY TOM ACITELLI  FEB 17, 2017, 11:00AM EST

 

WS Development

Apparent demand for smaller cultural spaces in Boston drove the decision to do away with a proposed 200,000-square-foot performing arts center in the last major bit of Seaport Square under development, according to developer WS Development and members of the city’s arts community.

The scrapping of the larger theater center at Seaport Square in Boston’s Seaport was part of a slew of changes that WS Development recently proposed. In the larger venue’s place will be what the developer describes as a “cultural corridor,” per Tim Logan and Malcolm Gay in the Globe.

That corridor is due to feature much smaller venues—which some in the Boston arts community say are more in demand than mammoth locations (just look at the recent acrobatics executed to preserve Boston’s Colonial Theatre).

Still, the change has rankled some who see the corridor in place of the center as a bait-and-switch—just a way to get the necessary nods to commence development.

However! It appears that the original 2010 Seaport Square master plan included caveats: re: a performing arts center, including its dependency on “local demand and funding.”

For now, WS Development is gathering feedback from the arts community about what the venues along the cultural corridor should look like, including how big they should be. That could take a year. And the full build out of Seaport Square could (and will probably) take into the next decade.