Land-takings drawing scrutiny
It was a political covenant: that the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel -- born of the anti-highway movement of the 1960s -- would not call for the taking of a single neighborhood, or a single home.
The disciples of this project have been true to that promise. But that doesn't mean that no property has been taken. An anticipated $430 million -- up from early estimates of $300 million -- of the project's $7.7 billion total cost is going toward the taking of land, commercial properties or payments for the negative impact of the massive public works project on local businesses.
The "right of way," or eminent domain, process is always controversial and litigious, and the Big Dig is no exception. Federal officials and former state transportation officials say the Massachusetts Highway Department has been pushing the use of tens of millions of federal taxpayer dollars for taking mostly large commericial properties for politically connected or powerful business interests.
These takings, the critics say, may have political value for the incumbent administration, but may not be fair to taxpayers, or, in some cases, necessary. The Federal Highway Administration was warned by the US Department of Transportation's Inspector General's office that it needed to more closely oversee the process of handing out hundreds of millions of dollars for everything from full settlements to moving expenses for businesses.
There are allegations of small-time political favoritism, such as the $600,000 taking offered to Department of Motor Vehicles boss Jerold Gnazzo and his wife, whose Maaco auto body shop sits in the shadows of the Central Artery. There are claims of big business cashing in, such as the taking of the Wang Building, where the company was given a low-cost lease on Turnpike Authority land in exchange for creating jobs in Chinatown, only to turn that into a $29 million settlement as it left downtown Boston.
One example of how this process works involves some of Boston's holiest ground: the Celtics' parquet floor in Boston Garden.
It illustrates that the complex process of taking land is still a subjective art. Even after "fair market value" is established, there can be protracted legal battles between both parties. One of the biggest of those battles played out over 150 Causeway St., the Anelex Building, in which the owners received $60 million.
But the Anelex is also where the Boston Garden holds a lease to store the Celtics' parquet.
And the process by which the Celtics were eventually given $15 million for the lease illustrates the intricacies, and occasional absurdities, of the process.
The Massachusetts Highway Department under Gov. Michael S. Dukakis had assessed the lease value at $3 million, which it figured would give the Garden sufficient funds to build a new facility to store the parquet while the department tore the building down to depress the Central Artery.
What happened later under Gov. Weld is confusing. The Celtics convinced the state that the lease was worth $15 million -- five times the original estimate. On top of that, the New Boston Garden Corp. got an additional $1.7 million for a "maintenance contract," records show.
The irony is that because of project delays, the new Garden will be open -- and the parquet will have a new home -- years before the Anelex building is condemned for construction.
Jeffrey Mullan, the state's former right of way lawyer who worked on the deal, said it is easy to criticize it "in hindsight." He said the state had to do what it did because "juries can do strange things" and award large sums of money over emotional issues, such as the parquet floor.
"A jury decision has nothing to do with land value, but everything to do with things people understand -- like how much the Celtics mean to this city or how much Larry Bird made this year," said Mullan.
Another hot political issue is the proposed taking of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Gerald Solomon, project director of land acquisitions, said the state is pushing for the Leverett Circle location to be taken because an offramp from the new Central Artery would cut directly through Spaulding's property. The estimated cost is $80 million, records show.
But some federal and state officials have said they believe the ramp was placed in a redesign to make it appear that the hospital needs to be taken. Critics say project officials are bowing to political pressure from the hospital. The officials, including Tom Hammond, chairman of the House Post Audit and Oversight Committee, claim the deal is a ploy to permit the hospital to relocate to Wellesley.
High-level federal officials have said they believe taking the Spaulding is unnecessary.
Former Secretary of Transportation Frederick Salvucci said, "What they did with Anelex and what they are planning to do with Spaulding is wrong. They should not be using federal highway funds for this. It hurts the integrity of the project."
