Capuano Wins Big As Chelsea Snares New FBI Fortress
Congressman Michael Capuano may have fallen short in his bid for a Senate seat.
But Rep. Capuano has just hauled home a whole side of bacon for his district with the FBI’s decision to build its new regional headquarters in industrial Chelsea.
Faithful readers will recall Capuano recently making the case in my weekly B&T column, not necessarily for Chelsea to win, but for the FBI to make up its mind after years of dithering on a key construction project amid a savage downturn.
After all, construction of the 250,000 square foot fortress is expected to create hundreds of badly needed jobs for local hard hats.
Of course, Capuano and Chelsea faced fierce competition from Boston and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, with the FBI spending years poking around various sites near South Boston’s steadily development waterfront.
But a move down to Southie’s ever pricier and ever more densely packed waterfront always struck me as odd.
It costs a lot more to build there than it does in Chelsea – after all taxpayers will be footing the bill.
And with the FBI seeking to establish what amounts to a security zone around its new fortress, why in the world would it make sense to build in the middle of a steadily developing waterfront district, one that is already home to the region’s largest convention complex?