"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.
"We're now at the smaller end of convention centers," notes Hennigan. "If we cut back much further we're going to start losing markets." Hennigan would like to explore the possibility of cost insurance, which might allow the center to retain its original size.
The city council voted three years ago to approve the convention center project. "I support the center going forward," emphasizes Hennigan. "I just want to see that we are doing everything that we can and that we get what we voted on."
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