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Cambridge to celebrate reopening of historic Harvard Square kiosk next week
The city will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Cambridge KiOSK in Harvard Square Friday, May 30 at 10 a.m.
The historic kiosk and former newsstand in the middle of Harvard Square will reopen next Friday for the first time in more than five years.
The historic kiosk, stylized as the Cambridge KiOSK, will open in partnership with the Cambridge Office for Tourism and Somerville-based nonprofit CultureHouse, the city announced. The landmark will be a “cultural incubator, community gathering space, and visitor information center,” the city said.
The plans to open the kiosk, which has sat at the mouth of the MBTA stop for nearly 100 years, as a community space were announced in October of 2024. The city will celebrate its grand reopening May 30 between 10 a.m. and noon with a ribbon cutting and live music.
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The ceremony will also debut the inaugural exhibit, “a pop-up newsstand celebrating Cambridge’s rich print media history,” inside the Cambridge KiOSK, the city said.
The historic kiosk has been vacant since longtime Cambridge landmark Out of Town News closed in 2019.
The kiosk, originally built as an entrance to the subway in 1927, was the natural center of the square. It began operating as a newsstand in 1983. The kiosk was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and a Cambridge Landmark in 2017. The rotating exhibit will, in part, honor the newsstands’ legacy, the city said.
Since 2019, the kiosk has been under seemingly perpetual construction, sometimes surrounded by a chain link fence, in the middle of Cambridge’s most popular tourist spot. The Boston Globe reported that the construction cost $3.3 million, or about $6,600 per square foot.
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Other events planned for the Cambridge KiOSK include open mics, art workshops, historical exhibits, and stand-up comedy. CultureHouse is promoting an interest form for local artists, organizations, and businesses to pitch events and activities at the site.
“Out of Town News once brought global conversations to Harvard Square when news from overseas was hard to access,” CultureHouse Executive Director Aaron Greiner said in a statement. “Today, information from around the world is readily available on our phones, but it’s local connections that are often hardest to find.”
The Cambridge KiOSK’s new hours will be on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Cambridge Visitor Information Center, which was temporarily located in a nearby bank, will reopen in the historic kiosk. In a statement, Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang called the reopening “a milestone for our community.”
“This transformation respects the KiOSK’s rich history while creating new opportunities for gathering, creativity, and civic engagement in the heart of Harvard Square,” Huang said. “We are excited to see it thrive as a welcoming hub where residents and visitors can connect and celebrate Cambridge’s cultural vibrancy.”
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The kiosk’s restoration is a part of overall construction to Harvard Square’s central plaza, which is set to be completed in the fall of 2026.
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