Simplify the following text for a Grade 8 native English-speaking person.
Original: Faneuil Hall ( or \/ Ë fÃ nÉ l \/ ; previously \/ Ë fÊ nÉ l \/ ) , located near the waterfront and today 's Government Center , in Boston , Massachusetts , has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742 .
Simplified: Faneuil Hall ( or \/ Ë fÃ nÉ l \/ ; previously \/ Ë fÊ nÉ l \/ ) , is near the waterfront in Boston , Massachusetts . Today it is the city 's Government Center , but in the past it has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since it was built in 1742 .