What About the Hynes?

Vanessa VanderZanden -- Tradeshow Week, 6/7/2004

There has been much debate over the fate of the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. It seems impossible to bring up the new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center without it leading to some discussion over whether the city can sustain the smaller Hynes as well.

The new, larger center cost $800 million to build, and in an April 27 panel discussion at the Hynes, James Rooney, executive director of the BCEC, said the new building would need a $12-million operating subsidy its first year, along with another $3 million for its debut.

This comes in addition to expenses already incurred at the 193,000 sq. ft. Hynes. The facility's 2005 operating budget of $11.1 million is $2.6 million more than its projected 2004 revenue of $8.5 million.

An amendment approved in late April as part of state budget deliberations calls for formation of a commission to study the use, lease or sale of the Hynes, according to Rooney. However, the state budget is still working its way through the legislature.

Meanwhile, Milton Herbert, executive director of the Boston Marketing Center, said the Hynes is still open for conventions and exhibitions, and has a loyal customer base to keep it running. For example, the Assn. of Pediatricians has used the facility for years and has booked the structure years in advance. "There are no plans to close the Hynes despite the many rumors," Herbert said.

Stephen Schuldenfrei, tradeshow director of Access Intelligence, said one center is enough for Boston. "They need to just bite the bullet and get just one convention center," he said, adding that while the Hynes has five attached hotels, the new BCEC is near only one, and has no subway stop connecting passengers from downtown hotels to the new center. He didn't think show managers would begin seriously booking shows in the new center until they had no other choice.

David Korse, president of IDG World Expo, said he would continue to hold his group's Bio-IT World Conference & Expo show at the Hynes, its home for the past three years. "The Hynes still has the best hotel infrastructure," Korse said. Also, Bio-IT is better suited for the smaller facility, which is closer to the Cambridge area that draws many of the show's exhibitors and attendees.

In addition, he's booked LinuxWorld Conference & Expo there next Feb. 14–17. "We didn't want the show to look too small by putting it in a large building," Korse said. He added that for the winter show, the Hynes is ideal because it has weatherproof, indoor walkways leading from the facility to nearby hotels.

Korse said he's "curious but not concerned" about the facility's fate. If it is sold to a party wanting to change its use, Korse said the change wouldn't happen overnight and his group would move shows held there in due course.

Meanwhile, Charlie Greco, chairman and CEO of Boston-based Universal Event Management, said if the city decides to sell, his company might put in a bid and keep the building a convention center. "There has been much political and entrepreneurial discussion," he said.