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The Week Ahead On Beacon Hill

The demise of the Boston Olympics bid was taken in stride by top elected officials in Massachusetts. This week, Bay State residents will get a look at the costs and benefits of a 2024 summer Olympics that is now off the table. When the bid was still alive, Gov. Charlie Baker and Democratic legislative leaders hired The Brattle Group to scrub the proposal and Baker says that their review will be released next week.

Bid proponents had described the plan as the state’s largest economic development project, an opportunity to expedite development that might otherwise take decades.  Critics and skeptics of the Olympics bid, who ultimately prevailed, worried about taxpayers being left on the hook for potential cost overruns.  The Brattle Group report lacks the high-stakes tag once attached to it but will at a minimum reflect what Massachusetts passed on, at least through the eyes of one consultancy.

For Henry Epp’s conversation with State House News Service reporter Matt Murphy about the week ahead on Beacon Hill, click the audio player above.

A Closer Look At Deerfield River’s (Possible) Olympic Spotlight

Olympians on the Deerfield River. That’s the proposal from Boston 2024. The group hoping to bring the Summer Games to Massachusetts has picked the Deerfield to host Olympic whitewater slalom.

The Greenfield Recorder‘s Tom Relihan got to wondering how that would work. He says the course would be a rare natural setting for the competition.

Listen to Relihan’s interview with New England Public Radio’s Kari Njiiri by clicking the audio player above.

Neal Says He Might Vote Against Federal Olympic Funds If Western, Central Mass. Don’t Get Their Share Of Improvements

Springfield Congressman Richard Neal says he’d consider voting against federal money for the 2024 Olympics in Boston if the rest of the state is not included in infrastructure improvements sparked by the games. He tells WGBH he’s concerned the Olympics may affect the state the way another Boston-centric project did.

“I think that it would be irresponsible for elected officials in central and western Massachusetts to embrace another Big Dig at the expense of very little to show for it across the rest of the state,” Neal says.

Should Boston win the bid for the Olympics, it’s expected about one billion dollars would be needed from the federal government for security. As far as what projects he’d like to see completed, Neal continues to support expanded commuter rail service between Springfield and Boston.

Correction: The original headline on this story said Congressman Neal “would” vote against federal funds if western and central Massachusetts don’t get their share of infrastructure improvements. It should have said Neal would consider voting against the funds.

Deerfield River Remains Lone Boston 2024 W. Mass. Venue

The Deerfield River remains the only potential Olympic venue in Western Massachusetts… should the 2024 summer games come to Boston. That news came today as the group trying to bring the Olympics to Boston announced their revised bid to host the event. Boston 2024’s David Manfredi says the Deerfield River is an ideal site for canoeing and kayaking events.

“The beauty of the Deerfield is it has all of that elevation change that other olympics have had to build,” Manfredi says. “Through our lens of cost, our lens of durability, the opportunity (exists) to create a kayak and canoe center that would be permanent here.”

Venues for cycling and other preliminary events were not announced, but this spring, officials from western Massachusetts made a pitch for bringing some of those sports west. Team Handball games are also slated to be held at the D-C-U Center in Worcester.

Bigger Olympic Footprint, While Supported In Mass., Could Hurt Boston 2024’s Chances With IOC

Olympic volleyball in Holyoke? Golf in Salem? What about Olympic hoops in Springfield, the city where basketball was born?

A new WBUR poll shows that public support in Massachusetts rises if the games are spread across the commonwealth. But a bigger footprint may hurt Boston’s chances to win the bid on the international stage.

More Support For A Statewide Olympics

When the U.S. Olympic Committee chose Boston over Los Angeles and San Francisco to be the U.S. bid city, this was a big reason.

“We believe the Boston games can be the most walkable games in modern times,” Boston 2024’s David Manfredi, who made the pitch to the USOC, said in releasing the original bid documents to the public back in January.

He said with clusters of competitions on the waterfront and along the Charles River, Boston would have 28 of 33 venues within 6 miles of each other, making the 2024 Summer Olympics easy to experience by public transit and by foot.

“Because it will go to the character of the games, and it supports the idea that Boston, the city of Boston, is Olympic Park,” Manfredi said.

But now Olympic Park could be getting bigger. The WBUR poll shows that a majority of registered Massachusetts voters support the Olympics if the venues were to be spread across the state — 51 percent support compared with just 39 percent for games hosted in the Boston region.

Boston 2024’s Erin Murphy says her group has already started working on that. Last week, the group announced sailing events would be held in New Bedford rather than Boston Harbor. Other cities are asking to get into the picture too. Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse said in his State of the City address earlier this year that one venue in particular should move west.

“I believe that volleyball matches should be played here, where the sport was born,” Morse said. “And the economic opportunity from hosting those matches goes without saying.”

But others warn against moving venues statewide.

“That should be the exception rather than the rule,” said Marc Draisen, who heads the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, a public agency for urban planning around Greater Boston. He argues for a compact Olympic Games to maximize the chance to improve housing and public transportation in Boston.

“If it’s really going to be a walkable Olympics, then most everything needs to be in a pretty constrained physical space,” he said. “And we think that would make it more successful, and frankly more enjoyable and lower cost.”

And maybe more successful on the international stage, since Boston is up against Paris and Rome to host the games. After all, boosters here sold the U.S. Olympic Committee on a compact Olympics — the USOC liked the idea of visitors and athletes not having to roll down California highways to get to events.

A Tightrope For Boston 2024

Holding the Olympics along the Mass Pike was not the idea. But Pittsfield resident Tom Lewis thinks there’s room for Boston events to be joined by some in the Berkshires.

“Well, you have everything for mountain biking. You need elevation and hills and dirt, and we have plenty of those!” Lewis said. “We have lakes and reservoirs that can hold a number of the rowing and paddling events.”

Lewis has been commenting on WBUR’s Facebook page, where he says opponents seem to be against the Olympics no matter how much Boston 2024 responds to public feedback.

“Where it went from people saying, ‘There’s no way the city of Boston can handle this.’ Going from that to, ‘Well, wait a minute, we don’t want events outside of Boston because we were supposed to walk to them all!’ It’s just the irony,” Lewis said.

But it is somewhat of a tightrope for Boston 2024. The Olympics organizers are revising their bid to be released to the public later this month. They want to prepare a bid that would be compelling to members of the International Olympic Committee. But they also have to recognize the political reality of more support for a statewide Olympics, especially with a statewide referendum coming down the pike.

Boston 2024 CEO: Western Mass. Should Think Beyond Venues For Olympic Involvement

The head of Boston’s Olympic bid is offering no firm answers on whether some events could be held in western Massachusetts. Top state lawmakers have said some venues should be located outside the Boston area. Boston 2024 CEO Richard Davey says that’s a possibility, but he wants residents and local leaders to consider other ways to get involved.

A rendering of the proposed Olympic Stadium in Boston.
A rendering of the proposed Olympic Stadium in Boston.

“The national Olympic teams from many nations will come to Massachusetts early, prior to the games,” Davey says. “Some may want to practice and/or participate in events even before the Olympic games. I think that’s an area where the entire could welcome, even adopt, a national Olympic committee prior to the games.”

Facing a drop in poll numbers, Boston 2024 says it wants a statewide referendum next year to gauge support for the Olympic bid. The group is holding a public meeting on its proposal on Thursday night in Springfield.

I asked Richard Davey why anyone outside Boston should support the Olympic bid. To hear his answer and a full interview, click the audio player above.