Boston’s Olympics director will lead city’s master planning effort
At least one part of Boston’s doomed Olympic bid will play a role in the city’s future.
Sara Myerson, the city’s point person on the 2024 bid, will now be leading Boston’s master planning initiative.
Myerson was hired by the city in April to study and plan for a possible Olympics. On Thursday, the city announced she has been named executive director of Imagine Boston 2030. The initiative was announced earlier this year to coordinate city planning ahead of Boston’s 400th birthday.
Mayor Marty Walsh, who helped Boston land the nomination as the U.S. bidding city in January, has said he hopes parts of the Olympic bid will be incorporated into the master plan. In particular, he has said the city should still look to redevelop Widett Circle, which would have been the site of a temporary Olympic stadium.
As executive director of the Office of Olympic Planning, Myerson had been working as a member of the city’s development arm, the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Her salary was covered by the private bidding group Boston 2024. According to city spokeswoman Bonnie McGilpin, she will continue to work within the BRA, with her $115,000 salary covered by the agency.
Imagine Boston 2030 is expected to produce a final citywide plan by the summer of 2017. It is expected to include initiatives ranging from housing to transportation to arts and more.
The U.S. Olympic Committee dropped Boston as its bid city in July. It said this week that it hopes to name Los Angeles as a replacement before a September deadline.
What a Boston Olympics would have looked like:
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