Let’s take a moment to review:
- The City was in the airport business losing about a million dollars per year, sometimes more, but we were bailed out by MassPort. Finally MassPort took title to the airport and we got out of the airport business.
- Union Station, which is run by the WRA, costs the taxpayers of Worcester approximately 500,000 per year. A lot of office and retail space remains not only not rented, but unfinished.
- Recently Major Taylor Boulevard garage just costs us over a million dollars to rent the space. That garage loses another.
- Then we have the South Worcester Industrial Park that we have invested between 10 to 15 million dollars the past 15 years. To date we do not have one tenant.
- The Auditorium at Lincoln Square remains empty.
Now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts deeds us the old courthouse with a 3 million dollar check. Can’t pass on this deal, right?
If you think we can turn this around and make money, the deal requires us to share profits with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If we start losing money, however, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts does not have to give us anymore money. The Commonwealth dumps this liability in our laps with a 3 million check.
This was a bad deal for the City of Worcester and one that we should have passed on.
