Word: faneuil
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...face of Boston's Faneuil Hall is a metal plaque reading...
While men like Andrew Jackson and Daniel Webster debated the future of the Republic in the hall, merchants in Quincy Market across the square sold sides of beef and sacks of potatoes to the citizens. For nearly a century, Faneuil Hall and its three-block-long annexes-Quincy, North and South Markets-stood at the center of Boston's commercial life...
Only a decade ago, the Faneuil Hall area was deserted and even dangerous. When the middle class left for the suburbs, most of the meat and vegetable wholesalers moved to outlying areas, and the market buildings were left virtually empty, plagued by vandalism and fires. During the '60s, the city began slowly to reclaim the area: city hall was completed in 1967, and soon restaurants and luxury condominiums on the nearby wharves began to bring young, career couples back into the city. In the pull-down-and-build-over-again spirit that has led to much urban blight...
...Redevelopment Authority that the markets could in fact be recycled-not pristinely restored as museum pieces but refurbished and adapted as living, working sources of tax revenues. The most energetic proponent of restoration, Architect Thompson began negotiating with real estate developers, and in 1974, the city of Boston leased Faneuil Hall Marketplace to the Rouse Co. of Columbia, Md. Only after the planners agreed to stagger the opening of the buildings (Quincy Market opened in August 1976, the South Market in August 1977) did the banks agree to finance the project...
Whatever it may lack in historic authenticity, Faneuil Hall Marketplace makes up for in continuity of purpose. The refurbished marketplace today serves the Boston community much as it did in its past heyday: young city workers gather there for lunch and laughter, and matrons come to buy the fresh produce. There are, of course, some changes: J.L. Dembro, one of the few remaining meat merchants, also sells fruit cups, and one old greengrocer has added a salad bar to his line of fresh vegetables...