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As a Cambridge real estate agent, the city squares of Cambridge, Somerville and Medford and the town centers of Arlington, Watertown and Belmont, Massachusetts are my home turf. And as a lifelong New Englander who’s lived within twenty miles of Boston most of my life, I can introduce you to other nearby towns as we search for your new home. If you’re planning to sell your home in Cambridge, MA or nearby you’ll find plenty of info about the home selling process here too. Questions? Send me an email or call me at 617-504-1737.

Bowl and Board Building – RIP

The Former Bowl and Board Building Is No More

The Former Bowl and Board Building Is No More

I did a double-take this evening when I drove through the intersection of Putnam and Mass Ave.

The building that formerly housed Bowl and Board before it’s short lived Davis Square incarnation has been taken down.  There’s a big empty hole, surrounded by temporary fencing, at the corner of Mass Ave and Trowbridge Street.

Bowl and Board opened in Cambridge in the 1960s.  A favorite of many, it was a great place to shop for necessities – and indulgences – for your new apartment or condo.  The store moved from 1063 Massachusetts Ave in Cambridge to Davis Square in late 2008 but sadly this store, and the several others owned by the family, were liquidated at the end of 2009.  NPR did a series documenting the stores’ travails as the recession deepened.

It’s been sad and a bit bewildering to see the storefront – in its prime location, just blocks from the heart of Harvard Square – remain empty for so long.

Turns out that the building was bought from the former landlords (for $3,500,000) and is going to be the site of a new five-story building. There will be ground floor retail space, four floors of condos, and a garage underneath.

I hate to see another vintage one-story commercial building disappear.  Will we finally protect them when only a handful survive?  The Cambridge Historical Commission did a study of the building as part of the demolition application.  It has a wonderful vintage photo of the building at 1063-1077 Mass Ave. 

The retail building at 1075 Massachusetts Avenue was built in 1925. Messinger’s Pharmacy had the space at the corner of Trowbridge until Bowl and Board moved in in 1967.  Forty years is long enough that the building will forever be known as the “Bowl and Board building” to plenty of Cantabridgians.

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