Goodbye, Faces (hello, Davis Square crime)
Publication date: June 11th, 2007
|
by Maria Varmazis | Published in:
Local | 10 Comments
Tags: camberville, crime, Davis Square, faces, Massachusetts, neighborhood, Somerville |
Just a few days ago, while idling in evening rush-hour traffic around the Alewife Brook Parkway, I stared at bit at Faces.
That creepy, dilapadated building right on the tail end of route two east has been slowly decomposing since I was in elementary school. (Sorry if this makes you feel old — if it’s any consolation, it make me feel like a kid.) I’m now a post-undergraduate working a salaried, professional job and that old nightclub is still abandoned, boarded-up, and a complete eyesore for anyone entering the Camberville area. What better greeting to visiting students, parents, tourists and business investors than a long-abandoned nightclub?
A little while ago on the Davis Square community on livejournal, I asked if anyone knew why this building has remained in its forgotten state for so long. It’s hard to ignore, and surely that’s prime real estate (even if it is next to a busy highway). A few people pitched in answers but no one could authoritatively say why Faces was still around.
Well, the Boston Herald’s Scott Van Voorhis reported a few days ago that Faces is finally getting its funeral. Hallelujah! That answers the question about Faces’ future. It doesn’t tell me what the heck took so long for someone to decide to tear this place down. Despite my best google-fu I really can’t find any definitive information on this place. Is it owned by the city of Cambridge? Perhaps the Commonwealth? Maybe even the Cambridge Gateway Inn (which lives in Faces’ ugly shadow)?
Tonight I’ll try to bike here and take a few photos of my own (or at least snap a few on my cell phone as I’m sitting in traffic). Until I see bulldozers on that site I’m not going to bust out the champagne for Faces’ demise-party.
If the Faces site is turned into rental property, I do wonder how that will affect the Alewife Brook parkway traffic. That entire area needs an overhaul. The backups are one thing, but have you ever tried to explain that area to someone who’s never been there before?
“Get into the leftish lane, but not all the way, be like in the right lane of the left lane, then after the traffic light be careful of traffic merging on the right and then cross over to the right two more lanes.
…Aw, screw it, just follow the signs for Tufts and try not to hit anybody.”
And just a PSA for any of my Davis Square neighbors: there have been a rash of break-ins in the area over the past few weeks, and it seems they are only getting worse.
Read the discussion on the Davis Square LJ community for specifics on locations, etc. My housemate, who has been living in this area for a few good years now, says these rashes of break-ins tend to come and go, but it’s still good to be aware in this open-window season.
Perhaps worst of all, it seems even potted plants aren’t safe. Flower theft is not a victimless crime, people!
June 21st, 2007at 11:39 am(#)
[...] you to the people who emailed me in the past week. Jake Wark sent me two photos in response to my post and photo about Faces, Cambridge’s magnificent eyesore. Unfortunately, I was slow in posting [...]
June 23rd, 2007at 1:41 pm(#)
i wouldn’t get to excited about faces being torn down. its was supposed to be taken down in the fall of 2002 and replaced with a new hotel and condos… not sure why that didn’t happen so it could this time it could be for real.
what a relic
also i don’t think its owned by the city of Cambridge. i was told its privately owned and for years the owner has been holding out on selling to developers.
any idea how long its been closed? i can remember that in 1987 it was still closed, but it looked alot better and less abandoned (like it still had a roof).
i’ve also heard it to be rumored to be a crack house.
December 6th, 2007at 5:47 am(#)
THESE ARE THE OWNERS:
MARTIGNETTI, CARMINE A., DANIEL A. , MARTIGNETTI, JOSEPH A. MARTIGNETTI &
RONALD A. MARTIGNETTI, TRS. OF THE
P.O. BOX 102
WINCHESTER , MA 01890–0102
WHEN WE WERE KIDS LIVING IN ARLINGTON WE USED TO PLAY AROUND THERE WAS PRETTY COOL INSIDE.
June 17th, 2008at 10:13 am(#)
I had the misfortune of being referred to the Cambridge Gateway last weekend for 3 long nights….They should tear that place down along with Faces. Faces became the joke of our trip. We went and looked in one of the windows where paint had chipped off enough that we could see in a hallway. It still had some sort of cheesy wallpaper and red carpet. There were pylons, garbage and old power tools littering the inside. We asked every cab driver that brought us back to the hotel about Faces. We received a different answer each time. One guy said it closed in the 60’s. One said the 70’s. One told us he moved here in 89 and that’s when it closed. They all told us it was quite the happening place. When we inquired why it wasn’t tore down, we were told there were people fighting over who owned it. There was some sort of green mildew-y stuff on the outside walls by the roof and it was actually eating away the concrete.
By the way, if you’re ever in the Arlington area, don’t stay at the Cambridge Gateway. It’s gross. Our room had carpet burns everywhere, the bathroom was gross and there were families living there. One cabby we had told us it was a “flophouse”. We’ll have to look into our accomodations a little better next time. Yuk.
July 10th, 2008at 7:41 am(#)
Today they started tearing it down.
September 6th, 2008at 10:05 pm(#)
does anyone know what exactly it used to be? I’ve seen some speculation and the first post mentioned it was nightclub at some point? I’d love to know what it was before it was closed and began decomposing…
September 15th, 2008at 9:16 pm(#)
I’ve always been intrigued by Faces and that creepy dusty chandelier that I can see as I’m sitting in traffic. I know it’s probably a hazard area inside but I want to go in and check it out - although I know I would definitely get in trouble. Abandoned places are so intriguing though. Too bad no one can re-vamp it and make it a nightclub, I’d go. The training officer at my work used to go there when she was younger said it was “hip” back then.
September 23rd, 2008at 9:01 pm(#)
Back in the seventies and early eighties Faces was one of the premier dance clubs in the Boston area. I started hanging out there on friday nights in about 84 but by 87 they started having problems with their liquor permits due to underage drinking. They had started running under twenty nights on sundays in 85 or 86 but when that started spilling over into 20+ nights they got in trouble. They had some limited success after that as an under 20 club but that was eventually undermined by gang fights. There was a brief rebirth as a regular nightclub in the early nineties but it never regained the popularity of earlier times and eventually closed for good.
In 1984, the year I turned twenty, there were three or four clubs that you had to go to. One was Faces then there was the Metro on Lansdowne Street, Narcissus in Kenmore square and The Palace in Saugus. The second tier was 9 Lansdowne, Aquarius in Quincy and the Paradise in Allston.
I never understood why Faces could not make a comeback. When you consider it’s large parking area, that Meadow on the Belmont side of the building was all Gravel parking spaces, and it’s proximity to major highways and the T you would think that you could make a go of it. The Martinetti’s owned the club back in the day and when it was open it seemed like they had invested some money in it. It had four separate dance floors separated by a few steps, three smaller floors in “wells” and one central floor. There were at least three bars in the place as well. Music videos were big then and Faces had three screens that dropped out of the ceiling with projection systems to show videos with the song they were playing. I remember some time around 85 it was closed for six months for remodeling and was even hotter when it reopened.
I’m guessing part of it is that the Martinetti’s are probably at least in their 60’s now and perhaps older. If so they probably don’t have the energy or the interest in reopening in addition to the fact that the last time I was down that way the building looked structurally unsound. The family also owns (I think) Martinetti’s Liquors which at least was a pretty successful outfit.
All I know is that Luigi and I had a blast going there back when we were two youts but now we are just two forty somethings with wives, mortgages and 6 kids between us. In fact my oldest would be old enough to get in Faces if it were still open.
By the way, the red tile roof on the side was the entrance to The Forbidden City Chinese Restaurant. There was also a bar in the front right corner called Kings Pub. In the early seventies Faces was the original Aku Aku Polynesian restaurant. They had a huge fire and moved from there to where Jasper Whites Summer Shack is (was? I don’t get to Cambridge much anymore) When the building was rebuilt it became Faces. My guess is that was 1971 or 72 because my brother was home from Vietnam and drove me over to watch the fire.
November 13th, 2008at 12:17 pm(#)
Awesome read there Mark. Nice trip down memory lane. Faces still fascinates me everytime I drive by, somebody actually posted pics on the internet of the interior not long ago. Amazing pics, the place looks like they were open one night, and the next night were closed, and the place was left to stand the test of time.
As far as the property is concerned, it is owned by the Martinettis, who also own The Gateway Inn as well as Lanes and Games. I am pretty sure there is a zoning issue with the Faces property that has put the Martinettis in contention with the city of Cambridge. I believe they have told the city that they will leave the place as an eyesore until they get the concessions they need over the zoning issue.
I also think DUI enforcement had a lot to do with the demise of the club, as many people would drive down the Concord Turnpike (Rt 2) to the club. Imagine the field day Staties and city cops would have nabbing people driving out of there
November 21st, 2008at 6:10 pm(#)
Faces was a great club, back in the late 70’s early 80’s
wish it could have made a comeback.