The Harvard Square kiosk will reopen as a community space in early 2025

The monument will be renamed Cambridge Kiosk and will become a “cultural breeding ground, community space and visitor information centre.”

The kiosk on Harvard Square is renamed Cambridge Kiosk. (David L Ryan/Globe Staff)

The Harvard Square Kiosk, which has stood in the heart of the square at the mouth of the MBTA stop for nearly 100 years, will reopen early next year, the city of Cambridge announced Thursday.

The kiosk, which has been “recently restored,” will open in partnership with the Cambridge Office for Tourism and Somerville-based nonprofit CultureHouse, the city announced. The landmark will be renamed Cambridge Kiosk and become a ‘cultural breeding ground, community space and visitor information centre’.

“The activation of the Cambridge Kiosk represents an important milestone for our community,” Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang said in a statement. “By transforming this historic landmark into a dynamic public space, we will provide greater opportunities for creativity, connection and collaboration in downtown Harvard Square.”

The historic kiosk had been vacant since before the pandemic, when it was a long-standing Cambridge landmark News from the city closed in 2019. The kiosk was the natural center of the square and has provided global news since 1978, when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was registered as a Cambridge Landmark in 2017.

Since 2019, the kiosk has been under construction, surrounded by fencing, in the middle of Cambridge’s biggest tourist attraction, seemingly forever. The Boston Sphere reported last week that construction cost $3.3 million, or about $6,600 per square foot.

Now Cambridge is looking for community members to join the Cambridge Kiosk Advisory Committee and local partners to host events at the kiosk. CultureHouse will hold community meetings and surveys to discuss how the space can be used in the future.

“The programming at the Cambridge Kiosk will continually evolve to meet the needs of the community and transform the space into a dynamic hub where people from all places and backgrounds can come together to experience culture and build relationships,” said Aaron Greiner, executive director of CultuurHuis.

Applications for the advisory committee are scheduled for December 9.

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, covering education, politics, crime and more.

Boston.com Today