Rooftop with a View

Last Friday we were in the city with our house guest. She was taking the ferry to Hingham to see some other friends, so we walked around the waterfront for a while. After she went to board the boat we headed back across the channel via the Seaport Boulevard bridge, heading toward South Station.

As we turned onto Atlantic Avenue I remembered reading that the office building on that corner has an observatory that is open to the public, so I mentioned this and we went inside. We had to show IDs and the guard took down our names, then we were directed to take the elevator to the 14th floor.

Once there we turned a corner and saw a door leading outside. The "observatory" is just an open area of the roof, which was fine that day (though it was warm and quite humid) but would be something to keep in mind if you're thinking about visiting.

It's not nearly the tallest building in the area, but how often do you get to go on the roof of any downtown building? I did take a few photos with my phone camera.

This is the view looking roughly north over the Rose Kennedy Greenway, with the off- and on-ramps for route 93 in the foreground. The Harbor Towers buildings are in the middle, with the New England Aquarium behind them (out of view from this direction) and the Marriott Long Wharf hotel just barely visible in the background.

The view to the south is somewhat more open (for now at least):

 

This area certainly looks quite different than when I worked over here in the 1990s. The open spaces have been gradually filled in by development. I would imagine that the parking lots between Northern Avenue and Seaport Boulevard will eventually be replaced by buildings as well.

If you are interested in visiting this site yourself, it's open during business hours Monday to Friday. The building is at 470 Atlantic Avenue, adjacent to the Intercontinental Hotel.