clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Harvard Square’s Out-of-Town News kiosk will finish year without ideas for its replacement

Deadline for bids had been Nov. 17

The Cambridge City Council earlier this week pushed back two key deadlines related to the fate of the iconic Harvard Square kiosk that currently houses Out-of-Town News.

Recall that Cambridge’s $4,600,000 renovation plan for the square’s central plaza has no room for the kiosk as it is today. The 500-square-foot structure dates from 1928, when it opened originally as an entrance for the Red Line stop. It has been used as a newsstand since 1984.

The newsstand owner’s current lease is up in July 2017, shortly before Cambridge wants to start renovation work on the city-owned plaza.

Bids for what that renovation work would produce in place of the kiosk were supposed to be due Nov. 17. What’s more, potential bidders had until Nov. 8 to ask the city questions about the process.

The Cambridge City Council, however, alarmed that things were moving a tad too fast and wishing to hear from more corners, voted unanimously this week to reset both deadlines for January.

Make no mistake: The current kiosk is doomed. What’s next is not exactly clear.