At the center of every Olympics is the Olympic Stadium. It’s the focal point, where the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies take place, and the venue for major athletic events. So when Boston’s mayor and congressman disagree on building a $200 million temporary Olympic stadium at Widett Circle, there’s trouble ahead.
"They’re saying they’re going to dismantle it after they’re done," said U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch of South Boston. "So there's $200 million in sunk costs that we have no way to pay for because get this — we’re putting up a 60,000-seat stadium for three weeks, four weeks at most."
Lynch has always been skeptical of the stadium plans. But Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has supported the Boston 2024 bid all along. Walsh and Lynch are both big labor union boosters who generally work well together. They rarely disagree vocally in public, but right now, they’re at odds.
"Everyone’s entitled to their opinion," Walsh said. "And I haven’t had a chance to talk to either Congressman yet about it. But I think Congressman Lynch’s concern is that it couldn't be a temporary stadium, which it is going to be — a temporary stadium."
Walsh is more excited about what could happen to the 83-acre parcel after the Olympics.
"The conversation of building a deck over Widett Circle is something I didn’t think about until the Olympic conversation happened," he said.
That deck would be development above the railroad tracks and warehouse-style buildings.
“It would be a unique opportunity for us to develop that area as well as not to displace the trains and displace a lot of the city property there," Walsh said. "You could actually put it under the platform."
But there’s an interesting twist: Widett Circle is actually in U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano’s district, just blocks from Lynch's. Capuano is not siding with Walsh or Lynch.
"This is not unusual to me and that’s regardless of the Olympics," Capuano said. "They both live within reason, they’re very close to the Widett Circle area and I think they both care about the city."
Capuano says it's not his place to push for redevelopment of Widett Circle.
"As a member of Congress I would never impose my vision on something like that on a community," he said. "That will be worked out by the people of the city of Boston. Whatever they come up with I will support."
So while Boston 2024’s Bid 2.0 brought more of the details that critics have demanded, it hasn’t brought certainty — even on a central question like where, and how, to build the Olympic Stadium.
