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BOSTON-The city has awarded a $250,000 consulting contract to a Toronto firm to help plan the revitalization of Downtown Crossing, Boston's shopping district that recently lost two of its biggest retailers.
Urban Marketing Collaborative was selected by the Boston Redevelopment Authority out of four firms vying for the contract, a BRA official says. The company beat the competition with a 140-page proposal detailing its work in revitalizing other retail areas, including Providence, RI, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
Urban Marketing will have between six and eight months to study the crossroad at Summer, Winter and Washington streets, and make recommendations on improvements that can help the city achieve a branded identity for the floundering retail area. In recent months, two of the area's largest retailers, Filenes and Barnes & Noble, have vacated their Downtown Crossing locations, leaving empty storefronts along Washington Street.
The city attempted to improve Downtown Crossing's image by repairing sidewalks, adding more benches and flowers and installing solar-powered trash compactors but Mayor Thomas M. Menino called for a re-branding and revitalization effort to improve the streetscape and bring in new businesses for the thousands of workers and residents who pass through the area daily.
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