Boston: Hynes Convention Center (Back Bay)#

Opened: 1988 (replaced 1963 Hynes Auditorium). Exhibit space: 176,480 sq ft. Walk Score: 97.

The convention center the neighborhood fought to keep.

What Was Here Before#

The Back Bay was tidal mudflats until the 1850s–1880s landfill (gravel brought by rail from Needham, 24 hours a day at peak). The Hynes site, in the western portion near Gloucester and Dalton Streets, was filled around 1871–1880. For the next 70+ years, the site was occupied by Boston & Albany Railroad rail yards — freight operations, coach storage, and maintenance facilities. The residential brownstone grid of Back Bay (Commonwealth Ave, Marlborough, Beacon) developed to the north; the rail yards were the southern boundary.

Boston: BCEC / Menino Center (South Boston Seaport)#

Opened: 2004. Exhibit space: 516,000 sq ft contiguous. Walk Score: 62.

What happens when you build big on empty land.

What Was Here Before#

Underutilized industrial piers and derelict waterfront. The state used eminent domain to assemble a 60-acre site. A lost 1999 plan by Cooper Robertson proposed smaller blocks, a network of parks, and “active street fronts” — killed by political opposition and post-Big Dig budget constraints.

Boston: MassRobotics — Innovation Commons Model#

An independent nonprofit robotics hub in Boston’s Seaport District. Relevant as a precedent for what a convention center building could become when operated as an industry commons rather than a single-use event facility.

Overview#

Self-described as “the world’s largest independent robotics hub.”