City Councilor Wants Assurance Before Giving Land to Convention Center

BOSTON-City Councilor Maura Hennigan is asking the city council to consider holding onto the land for the proposed convention center here in South Boston until the project’s managers can provide some assurances for the financial future of the center. Hennigan will hold a series of hearings to explore the risks of handing over the land to the center. It is unclear though whether the city council will have the power to prevent the transfer of land to the center.

“We have to be sure prior to turning it over that all the safeguards are there,” Hennigan, who heads the council’s Economic Development Committee, tells GlobeSt.com. “If in the future there are additional cost overruns, what recourse does the city have if it turned over the land already? This is the city’s investment.”

The city and state will reportedly spend nearly $200 million on acquiring the 60-acre parcel for the center. Hennigan’s concerns come at a time when the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority is implementing a series of cutbacks and scaling down the size of the center. Hennigan is concerned that cutting down the center’s size will affect its financial viability.