Officials meet to discuss possibility of Summer 2024 Olympic Games

Members of the special commission established by Massachusetts law to study the feasibility of hosting the Summer Olympic Games in 2024 met for the first time in the State House on Thursday to raise preliminary concerns as the bidding process progresses.

“This is an enormous undertaking, one that is not done lightly and one that we need to very carefully look at from many angles,” said Mass. Sen. Eileen Donoghue, sponsor of the bill that created the commission. “2024 seems like quite a ways away, [but] time is of the essence.”

Seven of what will be an 11-person commission, made up of appointees from Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Mass. Sen. President Therese Murray, Mass. Sen. Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, Mass. House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Mass. House Minority Leader Bradley Jones Jr., said the main issue they must keep in mind is ensuring all plans would benefit the entire New England region for years after the games.

“[London] used the Olympics as a catalyst to make changes for the city that they desperately wanted,” said Mass. Rep. Cory Atkins, chairwoman for the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development. “If we get involved in that kind of planning, we’re less apt to make the mistakes other cities have made in the past, and you’re also more apt to make the social changes you want in a city.”

In light of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings and the 1996 bombings at the Atlanta Olympics — the last U.S. city to host a summer games — commission member and Suffolk County Sherriff Steve Tompkins said they should also develop a specific and comprehensive plan to make sure the city would be safe.

Ralph Cox, a commissioner appointed by Murray, also expressed that concern.

“When you put on Olympics like this, you have to have as bulletproof as you can [of] a security plan,” he said. “That’s one thing we’re blessed with: time to build a plan …should something terrible happen. That will be a part of the security plan. It will have to be well-vetted.”

Topics also included balancing private and state expenditures, what kind of volunteer service to expect during the games from local residents and the need for reliable data relating to the exact costs of hosting and logistics issues with public transportation.

“London has a better transit system than we do here,” Tompkins said, referring to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. “Will we be able to ramp up our transportation in time for this? Because that really plays a serious role in all this.”

Not all commissioners have been appointed yet, including the representative from Boston 2024, the organization that in 2012 began the push for a Boston games.

Donahue said Steve Freyer, a member of a similar group in the 1990s that sought for a 2008 games in Boston who was also present at the meeting, would likely fill that spot.

Plans are still at an early stage, but several commissioners said they want a speedy and accurate development of plans because while the games are a decade in the future, the law that created the commission demands it have a complete report finished by March of 2014.

The U.S. Olympic Committee also looks to have a short list of potential cities by the end of the year.

Donahue said the short time frame would pose a challenge, but it is still very possible to finish everything on schedule.

“We’re on the radar screen [for the short list,] but that said, we have a lot of work ahead of us,” she said. “Everybody realizes we need to look before we leap, but … the timetable is going to be an aggressive one once we get underway.”

The commission’s next meeting is tentatively scheduled for the first week of December.