Out of Town News is nearing the end of its time in Harvard Square. What you need to know.
“There really is no place like it.”
The pages of the newsprint and magazines remain crisp.
But outside, the iron detailing around the eaves of the Out of Town News is starting to rot. And come the end of October, the news and reading materials from around the globe will no longer be sold at the center of Harvard Square, in anticipation of a renovation of the building and the surrounding plaza.
The Out of Town News will shut its doors by Oct. 31, having submitted a 60-day notice to end its lease of the iconic kiosk owned by the City of Cambridge. The news of the forthcoming closure, first reported by the Cambridge Day, came as no surprise to some, since the kiosk housing the newsstand and the surrounding plaza is slated for construction in the spring.
But for others, the change still marks the end of an era.
“It’s such an icon in Harvard Square that I think its loss will be felt for a long time,” Suzanne Blier, president of the Harvard Square Neighborhood Association, told Boston.com.
A newsstand has existed in the middle of the intersection of Mass. Avenue and Brattle Street for more than half a century. The center of Harvard Square has been a transportation hub dating back to the 1800s, according to the Cambridge Historical Commission. In the 1840s, horse-drawn omnibuses left the square every 15 minutes for Boston and electric street cars were introduced in 1889. By 1912, a headhouse was constructed at the center of the square with stairs and escalator descending to the subway, across from Harvard Yard. But according to the commission, it “was soon perceived as a hazard for pedestrians and automobile traffic.”
A newly designed Harvard Station was completed in 1928, and in 1976, the Cambridge Historical Commission nominated the subway kiosk with its notable curving roof to the National Register of Historic Places. It was officially added to the register in 1978.
Cambridge’s vice mayor Jan Devereux called the newsstand the “focal point of the most historic portion of Harvard Square.”
“It is the true geographic center of Harvard Square and it has a lot of emotional significance to people because it’s been a meeting spot and it’s in all of the images of Harvard Square for the office of tourism,” she told Boston.com. “When people think of Harvard Square, they think of that nexus.”
Rethinking the future of the kiosk
A newsstand has accompanied the iconic entrance to the subway station and transit hub for more than 60 years. Starting in 1954, when he was 23 years old, Sheldon Cohen built a succession of Out of Town News stands near the transit kiosk, according to the commission. The kiosk was restored and reconstructed in the early ’80s a short distance from its original location, and Out of Town News took up residence inside. Cohen sold the business in 1994 to Hudson News, and in 2009 Muckeys Corporation took over Out of Town News. Harvard Square Business Association Executive Director Denise Jillson told Boston.com that by 2009, it was clear with the changes in the newspaper industry that a newsstand was not in as high demand or as lucrative as it once was — and might not be the best use of the central building, which was showing signs of disrepair.Since 2012, she said, a public process has been ongoing to rethink the future of the kiosk and the plaza. The uncertainty over the future of the kiosk led to the formation in 2017 of the Harvard Square Neighborhood Association, which became active in the discussions over the redevelopment project and landmarking of the building.For Blier, the association’s president and a resident of the square for 25 years, the space is full of wonderful memories. “Not only do I go there to buy my news — I still read a lot both physical and online —but every year for my daughter’s birthday we would go in and buy a stack of magazines,” she recalled. “The kind of stuff that you don’t usually give to a child and it was her favorite present for most of her life, just all of these fashion magazines and sports magazines and others. There really is no place like it.”
An early departure for Out of Town News
The kiosk was designated a landmark by the City of Cambridge in 2017, the same year that the city established a working group of residents, businesses, and property owners to “create a vision” for the redevelopment of the kiosk and surrounding plaza. Ultimately, the group determined that the revitalized kiosk would “function as a flexible space accommodating permanent and temporary community uses,” with displays for visitors on Cambridge’s history. “It is a meeting place and it will continue to be a meeting place in a much more useful way that meets 21st century desires and needs,” Jillson said. And while it was determined the provision of news and other information materials will continue — the Out of Town News itself will not. That’s why for many it came as no surprise that the newsstand would be departing the square, although, “It was just the timing that was I guess a little bit of a surprise,” Devereux said. Muckeys’ lease of the space from the city was on a month-to-month basis, but they could have continued to occupy the space through the end of January. Owner Mike Patel did not respond to repeated requests for comment, but in 2016 he told the Boston Globe he hoped his business would remain after the kiosk’s renovation. “The customers love the store,” he said in 2016. “Business-wise, no doubt we do very well. Magazines and the newspapers too. There are still some people who buy them and we have some good magazines from different countries. And also some tourist attractions and they come and buy souvenirs, candy, soda, and water.” Devereux said over the last few years the business has had to live with a lot of uncertainty, knowing the newsstand didn’t have a long-term future in the space. “They probably just made a business decision that it was better to leave,” the vice mayor said.
‘The kiosk can continue … to bring people together’
According to Cambridge’s Community Development Department, the city is finalizing construction plans, working with the MBTA on coordination and permitting. Construction is expected to begin on the plaza renovation in spring 2020. The city will be putting out a request for proposals for “fulfilling the operation service envisioned” of the kiosk. “We’re hoping that whoever is selected by the city to manage the kiosk will keep some of the current physical news in it,” Blier said. Not only is news a part of the spot’s history — a place bringing together people seeking news from around the world — she said she believes there is still a demand for news in the center of the square.She said she does not consider other kinds of businesses that also happen to vend magazines and newspapers as alternatives to Out of Town News, given its location and history. She hopes that with civic engagement, the kiosk will continue to serve as a beacon — a “lighthouse” — in Harvard Square for bringing people together.“[Harvard Square] has changed dramatically over time and is a vibrant energized place,” she said. “We need to work together to make sure that we have a strong emphasis of what comes into the Square of things that help to retain its local vibrancy. In the same way that Sheldon Cohen had created from this place a wonderful mecca for news — the the kiosk can continue to have that kind of a role to bring people together.”Below, a look at the kiosk and newsstand through the years:
The 1st kiosk in 1915.
The kiosk in 1928.
The kiosk in 1928.
The kiosk in 1930.
Harvard Sq BERY 1938
The station in 1949.
The kiosk in 1954 to 1959.
Harvard Square in 1964.
Out of Town News in 1966.
Out of Town News and the kiosk before 1966.
Out of Town News in 1970.
The kiosk and Out of Town News in 1972.
Out of Town News in 1976.
Out of Town News in 1985.
The Out of Town News kiosk in Harvard Square in 2016.
A rendering of the proposal for the redeveloped plaza and kiosk.
