Report Measures Economic Impact of S. Boston Convention Center

In the April 17 broadcast, we reported on the projects that began in 2007, on or near South Boston’s rapidly developing waterfront. At the turn of the year, the pace of these developments picked up, despite a general feeling that a recession is close. The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center has announced a study of expanding its existing 2 million square-foot facility at D and Summer Streets. The reason for the study is better-than-anticipated success in attracting major conventions. So far in Fiscal Year 2008, an estimated 800,000 attendees have generated a $500 million dollar economic impact in Boston and vicinity. In addition, several major conventions are scheduled before the end of June.

Developers Change Landscape on South Boston Waterfront

Exelon retired the second its two generating units at the L Street power plant in November. Cleanup and dismantling of the entire plant site is expected to begin this year. Future plans for the property have not been announced at this time. In January, MassPort announced that it wants to acquire the 30-acre oil terminal property on East First Street, owned by the Coastal subsidiary of the El Paso Corporation. Decades-long oil seepage from that site has led to significant controversy over its cleanup, which is now going on. If the deal goes through, MassPort intends to expand significantly the container operations of the Conley Terminal along the Reserve Channel. Late in January, Mayor Menino announced that the Boston Redevelopment Authority has given the go-ahead for an office building and up to four restaurants on the site once occupied by Jimmy’s Harborside Restaurant. The HarborWalk will be extended along the property; the $30 million project is expected to be complete in about a year. The Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel completed its “soft-opening” in January and has added the “606 Congress” Restaurant. The hotel itself has 450 rooms, with elegant harbor themes and state-of-the-art technology enhancements for the use of its guests. Gale International has completed its plans for what it calls Seaport Square. This will be built on the McCourt Properties, a 23-acre parking lot, which was acquired by Rupert Murdoch as part of Frank McCourt’s purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and later bought by Gale. Recently, John Hynes III, the President of Gale International, has held a series of neighborhood meetings to explain Seaport Square to local residents. It is indeed a mega-project, amounting to 6.5 million square feet. It will be a “city-within-a-city," having offices, residences, retail shops of all kinds, and even an international school with a cultural center. The project will cost many billions of dollars – reputedly the largest private mixed development ever seen in the entire Northeast. It will create 10,000 construction jobs and 20,000 permanent positions. Plans are to break ground in mid-2009. Two weeks ago, the Boston Herald reported that the sale of the South Station Postal Annex is near. A new postal facility to replace the annex is planned for South Boston near the convention center, even though there have been many objections to the truck traffic that will bring. All in all, that’s a lot of bricks and mortar.

South Boston Youth "Ambassadors" Help Rebuild After Katrina

South Boston’s Youth Ambassadors are back from the Gulf Coast, where they spent their spring vacations helping to rebuild, after the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina. It was quite an adventure. (Two-and-a-half years ago, Katrina hit the coast. The levees around New Orleans were breached. The eye of the hurricane passed to the East, over the region of Mississippi around Bay Saint Louis. The destruction was total; the word “flattened” is the only way to describe it. Thirty months later, most of the rebuilding has yet to occur; many folks are being evicted from trailers because of formaldehyde emissions. The whole series of events after Katrina is a sad commentary on the monumental incompetence of our governmental agencies. The Youth Ambassadors of South Boston, which is a group of teenagers sponsored by the South Boston Community Health Center, raised travel money and seventeen of them went to Bay Saint Louis last week, led by Youth Ambassador Director Mayra Rodriguez-Howard and local artist Dan McCole. They worked on digging out and heavy cleanup. They installed cyclone fencing and painted walls. They teamed up with hundreds of other volunteers from all across America. Most of all, they brought back great respect for the courageous residents of Southern Mississippi, who welcomed them with open arms, and a renewed sense of what is really important in life. The Youth Ambassadors were especially impressed with what every resident of Bay Saint Louis regretted losing most – their family photographs and keepsakes. “Not their other stuff," as one Youth Ambassador put it. Another Youth Ambassador was almost poetic, saying, “I never saw so many driveways that didn’t go anywhere.” They all swear they’re going back again next year. Doesn’t that make you feel good?

South Boston Community Calendar. . .

This Saturday, May 3, is a busy day. The Boston Civic Summit, organized by City Council President Maureen Feeney, kicks off at 8:15 a.m. at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Hundreds of officials, community activists, and concerned citizens are expected to attend, including Mayor Menino. Among the key topics are better voter turnout, crime and violence, community organizations, and control of development. The South Boston Community Health Center is offering free skin cancer screening on Saturday, from 9 a.m. till noon, at 409 West Broadway. Early detection is important; call them to arrange a time to get checked out. Saint Brigid Church celebrates its 100th anniversary this Saturday. The observances will begin with a Mass on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m., to be concelebrated by His Eminence, Seán Cardinal O’Malley. A dinner-dance follows at 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the UMass Boston Campus Center. The Tony Award-winning play Doubt debuts next weekend, Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10. It will be presented by South Boston’s Actors Playhouse in the Ironworkers Hall on Old Colony Avenue at 8 p.m.

Also: photos of 2008 St. Patrick's Day/Evacuation Day Parade