Neal meets with Boston Olympic repsDate: 2/19/2015 According to Congressman Richard Neal, the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation is taking a “wait and see” approach to the plans being developed to bring the 2024 Olympics to Boston.
Neal told Reminder Publications the desire to bring the games to Boston might be the leverage needed to create commuter rail linking Pittsfield and Springfield to the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority hub in Worcester.
Neal chaired a meeting between the state’s Congressional delegation and members of the Boston 2024 committee on Feb. 12 as well as to members of the group working to bring the Olympics to Boston. The group included Scott Blackmun, CEO, U.S. Olympic Committee; John Fish, chairman, Boston 2024; Richard Davey, chairman, Boston 2024; David Manfredi, Master Planning Committee, Boston 2024; and Dr. Cheri Blauwet, three-time Paralympian and co-chair, Boston 2024.
Neal said Fish “supported the position 100 percent” that the Boston Olympics could only help Boston. During the discussion the ideas of having whitewater rafting in Deerfield, basketball in Springfield and volleyball in Holyoke were discussed.
This is a contrast to the information on the Boston 2024 website, which only mentioned using the University of Massachusetts Amherst as the only possible event site in the area.
As far as economic development impact, there is no mention of any community other than Boston. The website reads, “Boston’s bid is being reverse-engineered to advance Boston’s vision for its future up to and through the year 2030 when the city will celebrate its 400th anniversary. The 2024 games are designed to be part of an enduring legacy for the city that will leave a modern transportation system, revitalized public spaces, affordable housing, and campus improvements for the local universities whose facilities and land are a vital part of the venue plan.”
Neal expressed concerns about cost-over-runs in the plans to convert and build venues for Olympic events. He noted how the $2 billion Big Dig project ultimately cost $19 billion and put other initiatives that benefited other parts of the state on hold or eliminated.
Earmarks are no longer being used in Congress and Neal explained that federal money that could be used to help support an Olympic effort would come out of funds allocated to the state, with the governor and the Legislature determining how they would be used.
He believes there would be the threat of over-runs in an Olympic effort without public oversight.
While Western Massachusetts might be feeling left out of the effort, Neal said this concern was shared by other members of the delegation including Reps. Niki Tsongas of Lowell and Michael Capuano of Somerville. Both of them expressed the need for regional equity.
He reported Sen. Elizabeth Warren was “very firm” in wanting to see the Olympics benefit the rest of the state.
During the construction of the Big Dig, “all felt it [a lack of regional funding] during those years,” Neal said.
Neal explained that speaking with Blackmun he learned, “The Olympic proposal is very real. Boston could really get the Olympic Games.”
Because of that, Neal added we have “the rarest of opportunities in Western and central Massachusetts to advocate aggressively for improving transportation for rail.”
He said that he and other members of Congress would be meeting with Gov. Charlie Baker to discuss their viewpoints and concerns as well as members of the Legislature.
According to the timeline on Boston 2014 website, Boston must declare itself an applicant city by Sept. 15 and submit the application by Jan. 8, 2016. The International Olympic Committee would then releases a shortlist of candidate cities by April or May 2016. In the summer of 2017, the final decision would be made.
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