Boston's skyline is readily recognizable from any number of
angles and with good cause. It represents an artistic
compilation of structural shapes and sizes that combine to
create an urban landscape second to none. Standing out among -
and definitely above - the surrounding structures, the Back
Bay's John Hancock Tower is Boston's tallest landmark beating
out the nearby Prudential Tower by several floors.
However, the John Hancock Tower stands out
for more than its height. At 62-stories high, the mirrored
rhomboid earned a place in the hearts of longtime Bostonians
when the proud structure - criticized at first for being too
flamboyant - began shedding window-sized glass panes like huge
crystalline tears falling from the face of a gentle giant. The
cause of the falling window panes was traced and remedied, but
not until after Bostonians had grown used to signs warning them
to watch out for falling glass - tidbits of which likely remain
stored in shoeboxes and kitchen drawers throughout the region.
The result of that unseemly introduction? Locals came to embrace
the building once criticized for being too tall, too modern, too
glitzy, too...well...too...and came to see it as one of their
own - defending its imperfections while heralding its height,
strength, poise, and to-die-for view from its 60th floor
observatory.
Designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei, the John Hancock Tower
was completed in 1976 to create additional office space for the
John Hancock Life Insurance Co. which already occupied two
buildings - the Berkeley Building on Berkeley Street and the
Clarendon Building on Clarendon Street - across the street from
the site of the John Hancock Tower. Visitors reach the tower's
60th floor observatory through a side entrance on St. James Ave.
across the street from Trinity Church and Copley Place where
they purchase tickets and board an express elevator that whisks
them to Boston's highest lookout point. On a clear day, visitors
will likely be able to pick out Provincetown at the end of Cape
Cod on the eastern horizon, New Hampshire's White Mountains to
the north, and Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts to the
west.
Pay-per-view telescopes are posted at
strategic points around the perimeter of the observatory. And
while the view is spectacular, so is the audio-visual
presentation that describes how Back Bay came to be (it was
created by filling marshlands with gravel in the early 1900s)
pinpointing where the Hancock Tower would stand in water had
that project not created the Back Bay neighborhood.
Hours
Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday noon to 10 p.m.
Admission/Fees
Adults: $4.25
Children: $3.25
Seniors: $3.25
