The coming year promises both new venues from design luminaries and the completion of renovations for many of Boston's established event spaces. Here are the city’s 10 most anticipated openings.
1. In November, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will unveil a $345 million renovation that includes the new four-floor Art of the Americas Wing. The 121,307-square-foot wing will be comprised of a central glass structure with two adjoining pavilions and will feature art from colonial America through the mid 20th century, as well as works from North, Central, and South America. A 150-seat auditorium will also be featured, as well as a 12,184-square-foot glass-covered courtyard.
2. Fall sees the unveiling of the Paramount Production Center, the renamed and fully renovated Paramount Theater. Built in 1932, the restored entertainment venue will feature a 575-seat auditorium, a black box theater for 150, and a 200-seat screening room. Emerson College acquired the property in 2005 and oversaw the three-year $135 million renovation.
3. Adding to her spots Drink, Sportello, and No. 9 Park, Barbara Lynch will open Menton in late January. This fine-dining restaurant with a Provençal theme will have a main dining room that seats 60. There will be two private rooms—an intimate space with seating for 10 and an open view of the kitchen as well as a private dining room for up to 50. The restaurant will be designed by Cheryl and Jeffrey Katz, who designed No. 9 Park, and will feature hardwood floors, a color scheme of grays, taupes, and greens, as well as silver and chandeliers.
4. Hotel Veritas, a 30-room boutique hotel in Harvard Square, is also set to open this month. Reflecting the look of an old New England residence—the building was originally a private home built in the 1880s—the exterior has been restored and four stories have been added. The style of the rooms is described as classic and elegant, holding strong to the area’s historical tones. The hotel’s lounge, Simple Truth, will feature a fireplace and 13-foot-high windows. Two-bedroom suites will be used for boardroom-style meetings for up to six.
5. In early spring, the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center will complete $21 million worth of renovations. In addition to new lighting throughout and general repainting and refurbishment, Boston’s oldest convention center will debut two restaurant spaces totaling 20,000 square feet. The restaurants are an effort to introduce the convention center, which has been primarily used for trade shows, to the general public as an option for private parties and meetings. The placement of one of the restaurants on the corner of Boylston Street is an meant to reawaken the block, which hasn’t seen much commerce in recent years.
6. Adding 16,000 square feet of event space, the Boston Conservatory will debut its renovations in October. New event space will include two dance studios and a theater studio, while the existing theater will add an orchestra pit, an extra 320 seats, handicapped accessibility, and new theatrical lighting. The renovations, which began in May 2009, are expected to cost $30 million.
7. Beginning this year, the Old State House, which previously limited its booking of private events, is opening itself up for rental. The historic building features two main floors and four large galleries. The two upstairs galleries can be used for seated dinners, one seating 75 and the other 50. The entire capacity for the building is 150. Although caterers may be contracted, no open flames are allowed in the building. There’s a basement kitchenette and catering trucks are permitted outside.
8. This month the Hotel Commonwealth will debut the Gallery, a complex of four meeting and event spaces. With views of Kenmore Square, the facility measures 1,700 square feet and accommodates 75 people seated and 125 standing. The Gallery is adjacent to Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks, which caters the facility.
9. The W Boston will open the subterranean bar, Descent, styled to be the “speakeasy of the future.” Opening in the spring, this bar from Sasha Petraske, the cocktail guru behind Milk & Honey in London and New York, will feature a drink menu inspired by 1920s New York cocktail culture. Accessible via elevator, the interior design will be conceived by Bentel & Bentel, who created the interiors for New York’s Gramercy Tavern, Craft, and Blue Smoke.
10. The W Boston will also open a 5,000-square-foot Bliss Spa in the spring. There will be a retail beauty boutique, two manicure and two pedicure stations, six treatment rooms, and men's and women's lounges. Bliss’s signature brownie bar will also be on hand.
