Where can you and your significant other go for a weekend getaway when one of you loves sports and the other one loves shopping? Patriot Place, Boston's newest entertainment complex, sports venue, and shopping mall all rolled into one, is the solution.
What Will You Find Here?
In addition to including Gillette Stadium, home to the 3-time Super Bowl champions New England Patriots and the New England Revolution soccer team, Patriot Place is also a huge outdoor shopping mall specializing in entertainment retailing. Most shopping malls include "anchor" stores - typically one or more large department stores that attract large numbers of shoppers who then visit the smaller shops and boutiques elsewhere in the mall.
Here, however, the "anchor" formula is unique: in addition to the stadium, you'll find the only Bass Pro Shops in New England anchoring one end of the mall and at the other end an equally weighty anchor, an enormous Showcase Cinema de Lux movie theater flanked by Showcase Live, an entertainment space for musical performances, children's theater, and comedy. In between these three anchors, you'll find smaller stores, shops, restaurants, and pubs. You'll even find "The Hall," a museum dedicated to celebrating and preserving the accomplishments of the Patriots and New England football.
If you love hunting, fishing, boating, camping, and outdoor life, you could easily spend a whole day in the enormous Bass Pro Shops alone. If you get bored with shopping for all of the gear that you could possibly need, no problem--stop by the in-store shooting gallery or settle down by the huge hunting lodge-like fireplace in the store's bar and relax with a drink and some snacks. For a taste of nature, head up to the observation deck and use one of the telescopes to look for wildlife in the complex's adjacent wetlands and woodlands.
Other shopping options include lots of athletic and weekend clothing stores such as Eastern Mountain Sports, Puma, and Old Navy. You'll also find a Bed Bath and Beyond, a Christmas Tree Shop, and, if you want your clothing to communicate your loyalty to the team, a Patriots Pro Shop.
If you have tickets to a game, you can stop off at the stadium as you progress through the mall. Otherwise, you might catch a blockbuster movie in the theater or head for dinner at Skipjack's, Tastings Bar and Bistro, or try some fabulous Northern Italian cuisine at Davio's.
Why Combine a Stadium with a Mall? And What's Next?
By this point, you may be wondering: are you in a stadium that happens to be surrounded by some stores, or are you in a mall that happens to contain a stadium?
The answer is: this didn't just happen! After Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots since 1994, tried first to get funding to build a new stadium in South Boston and when that didn't happen, even entertained an offer to move the team to Connecticut, he decided to use his own money to build the sports and entertainment center of his dreams. And what you see today is just the beginning.
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Patriot Place opened in 2008, and much more is planned for 2009: a luxurious Renaissance Hotel and Spa, and a new outpatient health care facility run by two of Boston's best hospitals, Brigham and Women's and Mass General.
