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Here's What Boston's City Hall Plaza Could Have Looked Like

BOSTON (CBS) – This week marks 55 years since Boston picked a design for City Hall Plaza.

For those not totally in love with the current modernist structure, we're getting a glimpse of what might have been.

The Boston City Archives shared a few of the rejected designs from the 1962 competition.

The first looks like an inversion of the building Boston has now with what appears to be a plaza in the middle.

boston city hall plaza invert
(Image credit: Boston City Archives)

The second is a circular design with what looks like an amphitheater in the middle.

boston city hall plaza round
(Image credit: Boston City Archives)

And this design resembles a more traditional office building.

boston city hall plaza office
(Image credit: Boston City Archives)

The winning look we see today was selected from 265 entries. The jury that judged the design competition wrote that they were looking for a plan that would "recognize the City Hall as an imposing symbol of City government at its best."

boston city hall plaza final
(Image credit: Boston City Archives)

Read The Jury's Letter

The jury said the ultimate pick designed by Kallman McKinnell & Knowles was "excellent and allows for a dignified, appropriate and exciting City Hall."

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