The area near a drydock in the Seaport District of Boston is being considered for a downtown helipad, city and state officials told a public meeting last week. Officials promised to provide General Electric with a downtown helipad as part of the $120 million incentive package that lured the company headquarters to Boston, but had not decided to move ahead until now. Initial estimates project as many as 24 operations a day.
While fees for using the helipad would cover operating costs, building it would still require a capital investment from the state’s transportation department. Officials are proposing a task force that will evaluate the area over the next few months, holding several public hearings, before making final recommendations on January 15. Most residents at the meeting last Wednesday were wary of bringing helicopters to the neighborhood.
Officials are also looking at eventually transforming the helipad into a larger heliport to serve multiple helicopters. But no timeline has been proposed for this process.