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 What's
new in Boston Massachusetts in 2005?
Editor's note:This fact sheet is
produced by the press office of the Greater Boston Convention
and Visitors Bureau. More details are available by visiting
its web site www.bostonusa.com
Hotels, airport, convention
centers, high-speed rail, tunnels and transit
*The "Big Dig" tunnel network
under downtown Boston and the harbor connecting the south and
north parts of the city, the airport, & the transcontinental
highway I-90 is completely open; the fifty-year-old overhead
highway through downtown is demolished & construction of
the new 30-acre park to replace the highway will begin.
]
The new Logan International Terminal
E will be complete by January 2005.
*The new Delta Terminal A will open
April 8, 2005
* In May 2004 a new and accessible
Airport subway station opened. Fare to downtown Boston: $1.25
* Completion of Silver Line bus access
from the South End, downtown, South Station, the Convention Center
to Logan Airport- in its own dedicated lanes will occur in early
2005 providing visitors fast & inexpensive service.
* The Harbor Express now offers direct,
year round $10.00 Logan Airport-downtown Boston (Long Wharf)
cross-harbor connection. The Logan-Boston Water Shuttle
offers weekdays service every 20 minutes & weekend service
every 30 minutes. Free bus service connects dock to terminals.
* Logan International Airport now offers
1200 fights daily including 14 international carriers offering
inbound Boston-New England service. American Airlines began new
nonstop Manchester (England) Boston daily service on May
15, 2004. JetBlue, Logan's newest carrier, offers service from
Long Beach (California) Denver & Florida. Service from Oakland
(San Francisco) on Jet Blue began May 4, 2004. Aeromexico began
nonstop Mexico-Boston service February 13, 2004. Alitalia began
direct nonstop Rome-Boston service July 2, 2004.Additional Philadelphia-Boston
service by AirTran (fourth daily non-stop flight) began July
1, 2004.
* The ten-daily high speed Acela Amtrak
New York City- Boston 3-hour-23- minute trains set ridership
records in 2004; currently ridership is up 38%. The two Boston
Amtrak terminals- Back Bay & South Station - are within walking
distance of most hotels.
* Boston CruisePort hit the 97-port
calls' mark for the first time as Holland America Cruise Lines
introduced weekly departures from Boston to Canada in May 2004
(Boston offers weekly NCL Boston- Bermuda cruises). New England
and Canada cruising, a traditional fall favorite, has become
a popular itinerary for summer cruising to and from Boston. Scenic
cruising along the North Atlantic coastline is offered on several
cruise lines including Radisson, Silversea, Princess, Seabourne
and Crystal cruise lines. One of the closest downtown cruise
terminals in the world, the Boston CruisePort is one mile east
of South Station on Summer Street. Boston anticipates reaching
beyond 100-port calls in 2005.
* In 2004 five new hotels opened, bringing
the number of new hotels open since 2002 to fourteen. The 81-room
Courtyard by Marriott Copley Square and the 112room Onyx
Hotel, 155 Portland Street opened in May 2004, the 175room
Hampton Inn & Suites Boston Crosstown Center and the 220room
Jurys Boston Hotel opened in June 2004 and Bulfinch Hotel, a
Clarion property opened in September 2004.Extensive hotel renovations
have been conducted with more than fifteen existing hotels investing
more than $340.7 million into renovations & restorations
of historic architectural features since the beginning of 2002.
Under construction in 2005 are the 790-room Westin Boston Waterfront
Hotel, the 424-room Intercontinental Hotel at 500 Atlantic Avenue,
and the 300-room Charles Street Jail hotel, with scheduled 2006
openings. Construction on the Boston Mandarin Oriental on Boylston
Street Back Bay, and the Regent Battery Wharf on Boston's waterfront
is anticipated in 2005.
* The new 18 -hole Quarry Hills golf
course opened minutes from Boston in Quincy in June 2004 . The
$100 million project is a result of the capping of a 450-acre
landfill using eight million cubic yards of fill from the Big
Dig excavation. The course will enlarge to 27-holes in June 2005
and a new Clubhouse facility will open.
* The new 516,000 sq. ft. Boston Convention
& Exhibition Center (BCEC) opened on June 10, 2004. The new
8,500-sq. ft. Conference Center at Harvard Medical has opened.
The Center also features a state-of-the-art 480-seat amphitheater,
seven meeting rooms and a rotunda for special events
Museums, attractions,
exhibitions, theatres, parks:
* Boston will host several major cultural
exhibitions in 2005 including: Amazing Jellies New England Aquarium
(now-permanent); John F. Kennedy Library Museum will present
Presents for a President and First Lady (Nov '04-Nov '05) JFK
in World War II (May-Nov '05) Handmade and Heartfelt (Nov '05-Nov
'06), The popular "Campaign!" exhibition will continue
through April 2005; Art Deco only East Coast USA showing
last stop before its return to London (through Jan '05); Cars
of Ralph Lauren exhibition at Museum of Fine Arts (March '05-June
'05); Tiffany Jewels: 150 Years exhibition at Museum of Fine
Arts (Sept '05-Dec '05); Star Wars exhibition Museum of Science
only USA exclusive collaboration with Lucas Films
(Oct '05-Dec '05)
* The dramatic I.M. Pei designed John
F. Kennedy Library Museum celebrated its 25th anniversary in
October 2004
* The Prudential Skywalk will offer
a new "Welcome To Boston!" Theatre in their 50th story
Observatory September 2004
* Theatre news for 2005: The Opera
House* very successful presentation of "Lion King"
(July-February '05) will be followed by Dora The Explorer, and
then Phantom of the Opera March 30-May 8, 2005the Wang
Theatre will host 20 productions (from the Bolshoi Ballet to
Chicago!); the Shubert Theatre will host sixteen productions
(from Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company to the Paul Taylor
Dance Company); beginning on November 26, 35th Season of Black
Nativity at Converse Theatre on Tremont Street; the Wilbur Theatre
five productions* (from Elaine StritchAt Liberty to Nobody Don't
Like Yogi); and the Colonial Theatre* will present seven productions
(from Evita! to Little Shop of Horrors) *these are Broadway In
Boston productions. Boston's Shear Madness, America's longest
running play, turns 25 in January 2005. Boston's Blue Man Group
has added new material to its performances and will add a number
of performances during the Holiday Season. The Huntington Theatre
will host its 23rd season featuring seven productions five
to be performed at the Boston University Theatre on Huntington
Avenue, and two to be performed at the Virginia Wimberly Theatre
in the new Theatre Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts
in the South End. The Lyric Stage Company of Boston will present
seven productions. In Cambridge the American Repertory Theatre
will present nine productions (featuring the South African Festival)
and open a new 300-seat Theater At Zero Arrow. North of Boston
the 350-seat Stoneham Theatre will present three musicals and
three plays each year (from the Who's TOMMY to Mousetrap) as
well as concerts and new works. In partnership with the Huntington
Theatre, the new Calderwood Pavilion, comprised of the 360-seat
Wimberly Theatre and the 200-seat Roberts Studio Theater at the
Boston Center for the Arts will open October8, 2004, four blocks
south of the Wang and Shubert TheatresOn January 5, 2005 a new
theatre facility in Cambridge, a brand new, 300-seat second theatre
with the American Repertory Theatre: The Theatre at Zero Arrow
Street, between Mt. Auburn Street and Massachusetts Avenue in
Harvard Square will open.
* The Institute of Contemporary Art
has begun construction on a new 62,000-sq. ft. 4-story Boston
waterfront museum, which will open in 2006.
* 2005 Music News: New York City's
James Levine has become the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 14th
conductor; the 120th Boston Pops will be presented May 11-July
6, 2005. The 13th biennial Boston Early Music Festival &
Exhibition will be presented June13-19, 2005.
* A "new" Boston Harbor Island
Spectacle Island will open as a new visitor attraction
in early 2005. Boat service will be available from Long Wharf
in downtown Boston.
* The Boston Tea Party Ship Museum
will complete restoration of the Museum in Spring 2005.
* During Fall 2004 three new riverfront
parks North Point, Nashua Meadows, & Paul Revere Landing
will be complete, resulting in a greenway connecting the
Boston Harbor with the Charles River Esplanade park. In 2005
the 44-mile Boston Waterfront Harborwalk from the JFK Library
to Winthrop will open.
* New architecture & design: Several
new architectural landmarks opened in 2004: Atelier 505 in the
South End; the Stata Building MIT by Frank Gehry; & the Boston
Convention & Exhibition Center by Rafael Vinoly.
* A Boston landmark made famous by
one of history's most popular TV shows will turn 35 in December
2004 the Cheers Pub at 84 Beacon Street on December 3,
2004.
* Garden Tour News: Elm Bank Horticulture
Center, the new 36-acre hands-on horticulture center operated
by America's oldest garden society (Massachusetts Horticultural
Society was founded in 1829) is open in Wellesely, 12 miles west
of Boston, offering programs & events. One of the oldest
horticultural resource centers in the world, their library is
renowned for its collection of books related to early agriculture,
horticulture, and landscape design. The grounds contain various
garden spaces from the historic Italianate Garden to the educational
New England Trial Garden to the whimsical Weezie's Garden for
Children. Several plant societies and garden clubs have also
installed permanent demonstration and display gardens at Elm
Bank
* As part of the new Charles Basin
Parks, groundbreaking in 2005 of Charles River Skatepark is planned.
* Sports: In 2005 Boston will host
the USA Indoor Track Championships, the 108th Boston Marathon,
the 41st Head of The Charles Regatta, and Tiger Woods will return
to the new TPC Boston golf course for the 3rd Deutsche Bank Championship
on Labor Day Weekend.
2005 BostonUSA festivals
& celebrations:
* Boston's New Years Eve FIRST NIGHT:
December 31, 2004 (Friday); December 31, 2005 (Saturday); Boston
Chinese New Year: February 6, 2005; Boston St. Patrick's Parade:
March 20, 2005; Boston Marathon: April 18, 2005; Boston's February
& April School Vacation Weeks: February 21-25, 2005; April
18-22, 2005; 120th Boston Pops: May 11-July 6, 2005; 35th Boston
Gay Pride Festival & Parade: June 11, 2005; 24th Boston
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