Amid buzz about a possible bid for Boston to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, No Boston Olympics, a group of volunteer Bostonians, put together a report explaining why hosting the games would be a mistake.
No Boston Olympics analyzed what the Olympics have cost the host cities of the past eight Olympic Games, focusing on the last four Summer Games, and found hosting the Olympics would cost Boston approximately $10 billion, taking money away from other necessary projects, according to a report released Wednesday.
The report concluded the games would cost a maximum of $20 billion to host, comparable to Boston’s Big Dig, the most expensive metropolitan highway project in the history of the United States.
“We are big sports fans,” said Chris Dempsey, cofounder of No Boston Olympics. “We think Boston is an incredible city and we want to see Boston grow, but we don’t think an Olympics is the way to do that.”
Dempsey said the group believes the money could be better spent elsewhere, such as on education, transportation and healthcare.
“We have serious concerns about the cost of an Olympics in terms of the hard dollars and what it has cost other cities,” he said. “We also think there’s a big opportunity cost with the Olympics, which is that if we spend a lot of time focusing on essentially throwing a three-week party, we’re not going to be focused on a lot of core priorities that are really important for making Boston a good place to live.”
The group, which formed in November, aims to ensure residents are aware of the costs as well as the benefits, Dempsey said.
“We want to make sure that the costs are part of the conversation and get people to realize that the benefits might not actually be as large as people might think, given what they think of when they think of the Olympics,” Dempsey said.
A commission created by the state legislature to evaluate whether Boston meets the United States Olympic Committee host city requirements released its own report on Thursday. It concluded that it would be possible to host the Olympic Games, but would be a huge undertaking.
“It would be feasible to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games,” the commission’s report stated. “However, should the region move forward with a bid, it must be noted that it is a monumental task that is not to be taken lightly.”
The 11-member commission and its three subcommittees examined how Boston stacked up against Olympic infrastructure, transportation and safety and security requirements. They determined Massachusetts has many suitable sites for Olympic events and meets the hotel accommodation requirement, but lacks four main venues: an Olympic Stadium, Olympic Village, Velodrome and Aquatics Center.
The report, which did not examine the costs of hosting the Olympics, stated any infrastructure improvements and new construction should contribute to the state’s long-term planning needs.
“If new facilities need to be constructed, the Commission recommends that this is accomplished only with a clear legacy benefit defined,” the report stated.
The commission also wrote that many already planned transportation projects, including the MBTA Green and Silver Line extensions and South Station expansion, would decrease the amount of investment needed to meet Olympic transportation requirements.
The USOC will determine if Boston or another American city will bid on the 2024 Olympics by 2015 and the International Olympic Committee will choose a host city in 2017.
Some residents said they thought Boston would be a good host city for the Olympics, while others were concerned about the logistics concerning money and space.
“I just feel like the city and the state can’t get their act together on a lot of things,” said Dan Pollard, 34, of Charlestown. “To take on something as big as the Olympics, when you look at projects like the Big Dig, at how long they took and how over budget they were, the Olympics are going to be 10 times worse.”
Julie Whipple, 44, of Back Bay, said the Olympics would attract people from around the world to the city and she believed costs would be offset by revenue taken in during the Games.
“I went to the Summer Olympics in London two years ago and it was a fantastic thing for the city and the country, so I’d be a big fan,” she said.
Sam Ellison, 30, of Jamaica Plain, said she was concerned about the practicality of finding space for the Olympics in the already crowded city.
“They’re going to have to find some space to actually put some things.” He said. “Given how much space is at a premium already, it’s really tough to imagine it actually having a heart in Boston.”
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