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Building Conservation Associates

Boston City Hall

Location: Boston, Massachusetts 
Year Built: 1968 
Original Architect: Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles 

Boston City Hall was designed by Kallmann, McKinnell, and Knowles as part of a nation-wide competition. It is internationally recognized as a masterwork of 1960s modernism and civic design. Boston City Hall has been the seat of municipal government in the City of Boston since the building opened to the public in February 1969.

BCA worked to complete a Conservation Management Plan (CMP), completed in 2021. The plan was funded as part of the Getty Foundation’s Keeping it Modern grant. The international grant initiative focuses on important buildings of the twentieth century. The conservation management plan provided a historic overview, assessment of significance, identified issues and opportunities, developed conservation policies for managing the building into the future.

As part of the CMP, BCA developed cleaning methodologies for the interior concrete surface. Care was taken to identify methods that would remove surface soiling without removing the underlying patina that had developed. Methods were identified that could be implemented by maintenance personnel without damaging the concrete.

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