BCEC expansion | Seaport

stellarfun said:
No.

http://www.mass.gov/dor/businesses/...n/convention-center-financing-surcharges.html

Plus Lodging surcharge 2.75%

http://www.mass.gov/dor/businesses/...equiring-registration/room-occupancy-tax.html

Parking garage surcharge.

$2.00
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These are State surcharges. The City of Boston also financed a fraction of BCEC. This week Boston City Councilors confirmed during the Uber discussion that revenue from taxi medallion sales are/were used in the financing of BCEC. I suspect that at least some hand-wringing over Uber regulation has to do with Uber not contributing to BCEC (translation: I think we can count on Uber fees in months ahead).
 
AmericanFolkLegend said:
Isn't that new outdoor space where the expansion is occurring?
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The park appears in recent renderings.

Innovating-Boston-Public-Spaces-The-BCEC-D-Street-Lot-Project-3.jpg
 
^^^^
Absolutely a disgrace---This development. A complete waste of space should be used for Housing.

Waste of Taxpayers money
 
A future white elephant in the making? The final buildout will be as long as an airport runway.
 
The BCEC is actually not big enough for some conferences. For example, a friend of mine is a GI doctor, and there are only a few cities in the US with convention centers big enough for the DDW conference every year. They'd love to have it in Boston, but they can't.

However, do I think this project will be cost efficient and executed in a timely manner? In this state? No friggin way.
 
Can someone explain to me why the BCEC can't accommodate several hotel and residential towers within its footprint? Is there something that prevents convention centers from serving as the "retail base" for much denser development? Sure, it would be complex and expensive to build, but surely would pay for itself many times over...
 
More loser conventions massive waste of space we can only support so many comic con and craft fairs. Need a fabric of a vibrant neighborhood this building will be so large it will take 20 minutes to walk around to see you're friends living 5 minutes away. AFFORDABLE HOUSING and there's no reason this can't be the place to do it.
 
jpdibenedetto said:
More loser conventions massive waste of space we can only support so many comic con and craft fairs. Need a fabric of a vibrant neighborhood this building will be so large it will take 20 minutes to walk around to see you're friends living 5 minutes away. AFFORDABLE HOUSING and there's no reason this can't be the place to do it.
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It's best not to post while intoxicated.
 
datadyne007 said:
It's best to post while intoxicated.
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Fixed that for ya ;-)



Seriously though, my only issue with this thing is that there aren't any retail spaces to activate D street. Once everything's built out that's going to be the main thoroughfare from Southie to the Seaport, and it's going to be one dreary .4 mile walk.



It's not like our other convention center just dumped a bunch of money to convert storage and mechanical rooms into commercial space after years of depressing an otherwise vibrant retail corridor or anything.

Oh... wait.....
 
too bad something this big and expensive couldn't aim at being a bit more iconic/reflective of a distinctly Boston/New England vibe (be it colonial, whaling, high-tech, whatever).
 
Let's not forget what was here...a bunch of nothing. If we're going to have a convention center it ought to be the optimum size. The location's not that bad, a short walk down Summer St. and you're in downtown and at least it's not taking up valuable space in the city proper. I've been inside and find it a very user-friendly space with pretty good acoustics. I've been wanting the full build-out since it was proposed in order to silence the critics who say the present building is not large enough. Go whole hog! With the money the BRA has been wasting for decades we probably could have built this a long time ago. And who knows what might spring up around its perimeter. In the meantime convention goers will be wanting to go downtown and to the seaport shore to spend their money.
 
They should put solar on the roof on a building this size it would be a pretty sizable solar farm and generate a ton of energy.
 
Padre Mike said:
Let's not forget what was here...a bunch of nothing. If we're going to have a convention center it ought to be the optimum size. The location's not that bad, a short walk down Summer St. and you're in downtown and at least it's not taking up valuable space in the city proper. I've been inside and find it a very user-friendly space with pretty good acoustics. I've been wanting the full build-out since it was proposed in order to silence the critics who say the present building is not large enough. Go whole hog! With the money the BRA has been wasting for decades we probably could have built this a long time ago. And who knows what might spring up around its perimeter. In the meantime convention goers will be wanting to go downtown and to the seaport shore to spend their money.
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Something I've noticed while attending conferences at the BCEC is that the natural light in the exhibition halls (especially) and circulation corridors is really fantastic. The BCEC is designed really well.
 
Why can't Convention Centers have the hotels built on top of them? The BCEC is the most disgusting, anti-urban, blank-wall places in Boston. I support convention centers and the benefit they provide, but why the horrid architecture?
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
Why can't Convention Centers have the hotels built on top of them? The BCEC is the most disgusting, anti-urban, blank-wall places in Boston. I support convention centers and the benefit they provide, but why the horrid architecture?
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I think smaller columns with greater spacing is highly desirable for huge, wide open spaces. If you start building up, you need more supports throughout the structure. That said, I don't see why there can't be towers at the corners and along the edges.
 
^ Exactly. It's those floors with hundreds of feet between columns that differentiates a convention center from other building types, and to support a hotel or anything on top you would need to devise one hell of a truss structure ($$$) to bridge the spans. But like fattony said, it'd be much easier to build up on the ancillary spaces that usually ring the main hall.
 
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