The threat of "millions in taxpayer subsidies looms over yet another planned sporting spectacle in Boston," the IndyCar road race set for next Labor Day weekend, according to Battenfeld & Stout of the BOSTON HERALD. Organizers for the '16 Verizon IndyCar Series Boston Grand Prix, "represented by the same political insiders who had a major role in the Boston 2024 Olympics bid, have been quietly meeting with state and quasi-public agencies to hammer out contracts to tap public resources for the event." The race through the city’s "expensive waterfront district was initially billed by race officials and Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s administration as 'privately-funded,' but now some state agencies and the event organizers are not ruling out public assistance." Boston Grand Prix spokesperson Kate Norton: "We’re still negotiating. Some of these roads are under state jurisdiction." Norton is "a former Walsh aide, whose consulting firm, CK Strategies, was a key player for the disastrous Olympic bid." Battenfeld & Stout note the contracts under negotiation "are separate from one signed by the Walsh administration in May." That initial agreement "provided for no financial commitment by the city but also no specific payments by organizers for public costs incurred to host the race." Walsh yesterday said, "Anything we use we expect to get reimbursed." He added that he "expects the event to generate tens of millions in revenue." Battenfeld & Stout note costs for the race "could include millions of dollars in police details and other security, as well as extra road paving to handle the noisy Indy-style cars" (BOSTON HERALD, 9/29).
