City, State Officials Getting Serious About General Electric’s Free Helipad
Photo via Mayor’s Office/Don Harney
The taxpayer-funded helipad included in the $145 million deal that lured General Electric to Boston is inching closer to reality.
City and state officials announced a “Public Heliport Task Force,” tasked with finding a possible landing area and evaluating what infrastructure would be needed. The task force will seek input from “industry experts, transportation representatives, and key stakeholders.”
“Although there are private heliports located in Boston, there is currently not a publicly owned/public access heliport within the city center,” the task force said in a release Friday afternoon. “MassDOT’s research and outreach suggest an interest in a public helicopter landing area from medical entities, emergency services, law enforcement, and private companies.”
The task force will include: Sen. Senator Linda Dorcena-Forry, Rep. Nick Collins, City Councillors Bill Linehan and Michael Flaherty, transportation secretary Stephanie Pollack, state and city economic development czars Jay Ash and John Barros, Massport executive director Tom Glynn, and Boston Planning and Development Agency representative Sonal Gandhi.
The helipad task force will hold public meetings on January 30 at the Seaport World Trade Center’s Amphitheatre, and February 6 in Room 428 at the State House.
