Although ITT has yet to make a "financial commitment," the
company confirmed this weekend that it is reviewing plans to get
involved in a combined convention center and sports stadium in
Boston. According to Lisa Dickason, a spokesperson for ITT
subsidiary Sheraton, the company has "been asked to conduct a
preliminary review of some of the megaplex proposals" (Meg
Vaillancourt, BOSTON GLOBE, 5/21). Dickason's statement follows
a report in Saturday's GLOBE that ITT Corp. is "considering
investing $100M or more in a proposed Boston megaplex." Sources
say that the company is talking to the Weld Administration about
"taking a leading role in developing the convention-sports
complex." The source said that ITT is "at a minimum" interested
in naming rights to the domed stadium portion of the complex, as
well as the rights to build a hotel on the property. According
to Stephen Tocco, Gov. William Weld's representative on the
megaplex panel, corporate involvement "is probably going to be
unprecedented both in terms of visibility and dollars." Tocco:
"There's a significant naming rights opportunity no matter how
the deal comes together" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/20).
PANEL WANTS MORE FROM PATS: Sources close to negotiations
say that the megaplex commission is pushing the Patriots to
contribute close to $10M a year to help pay for the facility --
"a sizable increase" over the team's original offer, put by the
same sources at between $5M and $7M a year (Richard Kindleberger,
BOSTON GLOBE, 5/19).
