Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Federal Building (Boston)

This article is about a federal government building in Boston, Massachusetts For the similarly named building in Washington, D.C., see Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Federal Building (Washington, D.C.).

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Tip O'Neill building, Boston

The Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Federal Building is an administrative center of the U.S. federal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Named for former Massachusetts congressman and House of Representatives Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, the building houses the New England regional offices of numerous federal agencies, e.g. the Social Security Administration, the Peace Corps, Boston Passport Agency, etc. It is located at 10 Causeway Street.

History

Built in 1986, the building is named after Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill, Jr. (1912-1994), Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987. It replaced the Madison Hotel (formerly Hotel Manger, from the building's opening in 1930 to 1958), a buff-brick Art Deco landmark that hosted visiting NBA and NHL teams when they challenged the Boston Celtics basketball team and the Boston Bruins hockey team in the adjacent Boston Garden. The Beatles also stayed at the Madison Hotel when in town for a Boston Garden concert in 1964. By the 1970s, many of the hotel's 400-plus rooms were housing homeless and low-income people. The Madison closed in 1976 and was imploded on May 15, 1983.

Tenants

• Corporation for National Service
• Department of Agriculture; APHIS/PPQ; Food & Nutrition Service
• Department of Commerce; Export Enforcement
• Department of Homeland Security; Office of the Inspector General; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs & Border Protection
• Department of Housing & Urban Development
• Department of Justice; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives
• Department of Labor; Office of Administrative Law Judges
• Department of State; U.S. Passport Agency; U.S. Diplomatic Security Service
• Department of the Treasury; Internal Revenue Service
• Federal Labor Relations Authority
• General Services Administration
• Government Accountability Office
• Hanscom Federal Credit Union
• National Labor Relations Board
• Peace Corps
• Small Business Administration
• Social Security Administration
• Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

Architecture

Built mainly of pink granite, the Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Federal Building is characterized by intersecting triangular and chamfered-cornered rectangular sections, horizontal ribbon windows, a sheltered entry loggia off Causeway Street, a sequence of round bollards placed along its front elevation to deter traffic and truck bombers, and a large glass atrium that pours sunlight into its center concourse. In 2000 and 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency awarded the structure the Energy Star for its white reflective roofing system, installed to reduce the urban heat island effect, as well as its use of low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints and recycled-content ceiling tiles and metal studs.

Art installations

Since October 1986, the building has displayed Jane Kaufman’s “Crystal Hanging," a cascade of 9,000 glass crystals measuring 26 feet high and 16 feet across, in its atrium, as well as Mary Miss' "Cascading Wall Fountain," an abstract sculpture of dried twigs, plywood and painted cardboard.

Image gallery

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  Interior, O'Neill building

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  Jane Kaufman's "Crystal Hanging," interior, O'Neill building

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  Mary Miss' "Cascading Wall Fountain," interior, O'Neill building