BOSTON— Fearing the loss of conventioneers to Back Bay, business leaders here have launched a campaign to make state lawmakers keep their promise not to close the Hynes Convention Center after the opening of the city’s new facility in 2004. The John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center— which will soon become the smaller and older of the citys two convention centers when the new one opens in South Boston— has come under attack by key lawmakers and Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney as an unnecessary and expensive burden on the state. Girding for a fight on Beacon Hill, owners of Back Bay hotels, restaurants, and shops are blitzing elected officials, saying theyll be crippled by the loss of potential Hynes customers— totaling 352,000 last year. So far, theyve won the support of Mayor Thomas Menino and two city councilors and are mounting a hunt for allies on Beacon Hill. The Legislature pledged in 1997 to keep the Hynes open when it approved construction of the behemoth Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in South Boston. But since then, the economy stumbled, the state suffered a budget crunch, and the flood of bookings officials thought would come never materialized. The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority recently appointed a task force to explore the idea of selling the Hynes, which would require the approval of the 13-member authority board and new legislation. SOURCE: The Boston Globe
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