Revisiting a Boston (BC) Olympics using London as an example

During the 2010 Winter Olympics I tossed around the idea of Boston hosting a summer or winter games. My point then remains that the same: Boston is ideal because the local universities could already supply many of the venues. The big obstacle would always be the main stadium for Track & Field and the opening and closing ceremonies. Nearly every city that hosts is left with a White Elephant that costs hundreds of millions of dollars. But London may provide a solution. They built their Olympic Stadium as a temporary venue. It looked great on TV, holds enough for the games and can be shrunk as soon as it all wraps up. Londoners haven't decided what they will do with the space. There are a few different bidders looking to take over the remains of the stadium. Boston would probably have similar suitors depending on the location. I would guess that UMasss Boston would want a small stadium or maybe the Revolution would want to convert it to a soccer only facility. The possibilities are endless.

I would still love to see Boston host the games and wish our partner Fenway Sports Group would get behind it. I am practical too. This wouldn't just be a vanity project for BC. It would be a backdoor way to get the IOC to fix the air conditioning in Conte!

Finding space for the Indoor Practice Facility

BC's Strength & Conditioning Center renovations were a nice move. In the recruiting arms race it is always important to have the latest, greatest, biggest and best. So on the S&C front we are keeping up with the Joneses. The lingering issue remains the permanent indoor practice facility. It is a huge, needed project that is never mentioned by BC. I think the costs, political capital and the lack of space are all issues. But it will have to be done within the next ten years and probably should be done within the next five. I don't think donors would be an issue. BC always manages to rally support for important initiatives. I think the space and political issues are intertwined.

The minute BC announces a project in Newton or Brighton, it gets tied up with town-gown redtape. Although I don't think it would be as disruptive as a dorm, the idea of a "Football Practice Facility" would be the ultimate "not in my backyard" project for our neighbors. To avoid problems, my suggestion is to keep it simple and close to the current football facilities. In my master plan, the Beacon St. Garages are expanded and the practice facility is placed on the top level. As you can see from the image, this would encroach on Shea and the current baseball fields. In this plan the new baseball complex on Brighton would have to open first.

Obviously my end goal is the facility, but the added benefit of this plan is that it expands the number of parking spots. Let me know your thoughts. Where would you put the indoor practice facility? It is bound to be a political hot potato, but it doesn't have to be. BC could do it, with some smart planning and good uses of space.