Boston Magazine has published the complete bid book that Boston 2024 gave to the United States Olympic Committee in December, and it includes a bunch of details on the proposed Olympic stadium that were not in the previous public document. In particular, the cost for a temporary stadium that would be torn down after the 2024 Summer Games is estimated at about $521.3 million ($436.3 million for construction, $85 million for land); designing a stadium that could be converted for later soccer use by the New England Revolution would add another $134.5 million in construction costs, plus $59 million for the actual conversion.
That’s $193.5 million total, plus land costs, which could get you a pretty decent standalone soccer stadium to begin with. Why the Boston Olympic committee would want to roll that into its own budget — or even whether it really intends to, since this is still just an options document — is unclear, but the situation remains worth keeping an eye on.
Related story: http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/05/28/lost-olympic-bid-how-bob-kraft-might-get-soccer-stadium-boston/gVw7bo8YvMsTyF3ZMi5CYJ/story.html#
Kraft wants the city to build him a stadium, but claims the city will not be liable for the costs. Makes sense.
The Olympics idea sounds great but the Craft and Revs fans want their stadium a whole lot sooner than the mid-2020s. Kraft wants public funding for it, which won’t happen. He’s got the capital to build it himself, but like any good billionaire, he wants to see how much free money he can squeeze. The Olympics have turned this saga into a giant clusterf***. It’s possible Suffolk Downs could drift back into the mix if Boston 2024 proves to be too much of a headache, but I hope they can get the Frontage Road deal done. But there’s no way Kraft gets his stadium without forking over most of the cash for it out of his own pockets.