Kiosk Home at Last

After seven years and three moves, a longtime Cambridge landmark and Harvard Square centerpiece will return to its rightful place Sunday night.

Out of Town News, the famous local newstand, will move from its temporary site in the Square to a new permanent structure located a few feet away, company officials said.

The 30 year-old newsstand survived the reconstruction of Cambridge's central subway stop because of a federal law which protects businesses displaced by construction projects using federal funds.

"We are grateful that we are able to be here," said Fred Cohen, son of founder Sheldon Cohen. He added that the Perini Construction Company and the federal government, which funded the project, "accommodated us by moving us several times."

Out of Town News first relocated in 1978 to accommodate the construction of the extension of the subway's Red Line.

Since then, it has been moved into a temporary kiosk on wheels until the business could return to a permanent structure.

Though the new home for the newsstand was torn down in 1961, it has been rebuilt because efforts by the Cambridge Historical Commission four years earlier put the newsstand on the National Register of Historic Places. By law, buildings on the register must be preserved, though they may be removed, replaced or rebuilt.

Before razing the building over the old subway exit, the Perini Construction Company the firm which handled the MBTA reconstruction, saved the structure's distinctive copper roof for eventual repair Perini duplicated the original building over the subway station and topped it off with the refurbished roof in accordance with its contract with the MBIA.

Out of Town News will rent the renovated historical building from its new owner, the City of Cambridge, for an undisclosed sum.