Boston '24 Chair Steve Pagliuca on Friday in his first extended interview since taking on the role said that the group "is prepared to make a numbers-based argument that the Games are worth pursuing," according to Mark Arsenault of the BOSTON GLOBE. Pagliuca: "We’re going to lay all that out there." Pagliuca said that the new plan -- called version 2.0 -- "will define potential risks and show how they can be minimized." He added, "You have to look at it through the prism of what are the benefits, what are the risks, and what are the probabilities of those risks. If you take the perspective that you won’t take one cent of risk for the benefit of the project, I think the project will not fulfill that requirement. But if you take it from this perspective: Can you develop a project that has very low risk and a lot of benefits? I think it can." Arsenault noted Pagliuca "presents a low-key contrast in styles from that of his predecessor, John Fish." Pagliuca "comes off as more of a numbers-driven, green-eyeshades guy, whose rhetoric is much more Ford than Ferrari." Pagliuca "has focused the organization on publishing the new Olympic venue plan by the end of the month," when the group will face probably its "last chance to win over public support." Boston '24 "has been studying prior Olympic ticket sales, promotional licensing, and contributions" from the IOC. Pagliuca said that those and other private sources "should provide" about $4.7B in revenue. He added that on the cost side, Boston '24 "is building 'a significant cushion' into each venue for contingencies." He said that a new operating budget "will project a surplus." Pagliuca: "On top of that, we’re looking at insurances" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/13).
POISON IVY? In Boston, Jon Chesto reported while Harvard's campus "featured prominently" in initial plans, its "prominence in Boston’s Olympics effort has been shrinking since those early specifics of the bid became public in January." Harvard Exec VP Katie Lapp "has quietly stepped down from the Boston 2024 leadership roster." Critics said that the university "is diminishing its role in the Olympics effort" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/13).
MASTER BUILDERS: The BOSTON GLOBE's Arsenault profiled Boston '24 Master Planning Committee co-Chair and Elkus Manfredi Architects Principal David Manfredi as an "essential member -- and a public face -- of a planning team racing against a June 30 deadline to deliver a new venue plan." He "was among the first professionals recruited to the Olympic effort," and his "easygoing manner made him one of Boston 2024’s better public speakers." In addition to Elkus Manfredi, the '24 design team includes Boston-based architectural firm CBT and the transportation/civil engineering company Vanasse Hangen Brustlin. Populous also "is consulting on the plan" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/13).
RECYCLE THAT: In DC, Jonathan O'Connell wrote even though DC lost its bid for the '24 Games, its plan "presents a strong case for still executing that vision." Now, "for the first time, we get to see the details: the closely held architectural renderings and transportation schemes for how the city would have rapidly transformed over the course of the next 10 years." The plan "is a master road map for the city’s future" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/13).
