MA House Speaker Charles Flaherty indicated yesterday that
unless private financing for a full megaplex materializes soon,
the Legislature may decide to consider a convention center only,
according to Phil Primack & Robert Connolly in the BOSTON HERALD.
Flaherty did not set a deadline, but other State House sources
said the Weld administration and other megaplex supporters have
two weeks to prove that private financial support is in place.
Gov. William Weld, who talked with ITT Corp. again yesterday,
said he hopes to have financing news this week (BOSTON HERALD,
6/20). Weld, to the BOSTON GLOBE: "ITT had called last week to
talk with me about its decision to leave Boston. When I returned
the call, I said you just help us build the megaplex and [the ITT
exec] said, 'I may well take you up on that'" (Meg Vaillancourt,
BOSTON GLOBE, 6/20).
RED SOX INVESTIGATE PRIVATE FINANCING: Red Sox VP John
Buckley is visiting Cleveland this week to research the
Jacobs Field project, and specifically Gateway, Inc., the
"fiscal arm" of the project, and how it pulled off one of
the most "cost-effective" ballparks in baseball. While
Jacobs Field was paid for through a 50-50 public/private
split, the Red Sox are hoping to eliminate the public role.
Buckley is looking into "silver seat" licensing as a way to
raise revenue and several hotel chains are reportedly
interested in becoming equity partners. Most prominently
mentioned is ITT Sheraton, but Hilton, Guest Quarters and
Doubletree are all interested in discussing a role with the
Red Sox, who are looking to have a hotel in center or right
field like Toronto's SkyDome. Buckley: "We're still in the
exploratory stages on many issues. We're taking things one
step at a time" (Nick Cafardo, BOSTON GLOBE, 6/19).
