Famous Boston shopping spot getting a makeover

Boston

THE historic Faneuil Hall Marketplace attracts an estimated 20 million visitors annually, making it one of the United States' most popular tourist attractions. However, in recent years, the dozens of shops, pushcarts and restaurants that fill three separate buildings have drawn fewer and fewer Bostonians.

In fact, the city's longest-serving mayor, the late Thomas M Menino, used to say that the market was the only place in the city he could have lunch without being recognised, said Howard F Elkus, a founding principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects, a Boston company.

Hoping to draw the locals back, the marketplace's operator, Ashkenazy Acquisition, a privately held real estate investment firm in New York, has proposed the first major overhaul of the property since the 1970s. It bought the…