Quincy Mayor Tom Koch continues to pimp his latest “Edifice complex”

Mayor Thomas Koch will give the annual State of the City address to residents at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 9.

— News about Quincy from Quincy Quarry News with commentary added.

$30-plus million dollar Kim Jong Koch Plaza’s tribute to the Dancing Waters at Las Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel
A Quincy Quarry file photo

Quincy Mayor Thomas P, Koch continues to pimp his latest Edifice Complex.

Mayor Koch’s State of the City address on Tuesday at 11 AM  will reprise mention of his proposal to build a new fifteenth City Hall tower and which he generally first publicly broached in his State of the City address last year even Quincy Quarry knew of the crux of this grandiose grift well beforehand its soft rollout tease last year.

That and so doing a solid for past benefactions sent the mayor’s way in the meanwhile by having the city buy a rundown building that should have been condemned long ago for all manner of valid reasons.

Mayor Koch seeks to have a better view than the Corner Office.
A Quincy Sun file photo image

So what if Mayor Koch’s plan to build the tallest building in Quincy for a new City Hall so that he can have the highest mayor office view in at least New England is at least as problematic as was his deservedly rejected plan to build a new Quincy District Courthouse over the Quincy Center MBTA Red Line Station.

For starters as well as was the case with his courthouse proposal, first and foremost among the problems with this late grandiose plan is its cost of his proposal. 

Up in smoke?
A CheatSheet.com image

At a minimum, figure on a total cost somewhere north of $100 million.

In fact, probably solidly well north of a hundred large as so far unexplained is where and how will parking be provided for the proposed new City Hall, much less at what cost.

Total costs undisclosed notwithstanding, the mayor is justifying this latest municipal Quincy Square extravagance by claiming that Quincy’s current and newer one of two City Halls needs renovation but it is not worth renovating.

So what for spending serious money recently to dress up City Hall’s entranceway
A Quincy Quarry News file photo

So what, apparently, for the fact that the building has received considerable remodeling and updating during Mayor Koch’s reign in City Hall.

Improvements to City Hall include the development of his massive and custom-made imported wool carpeted office suite as well as all other actually practical updates elsewhere in the building; however, Mayor Koch is now claiming that the roof and HVAC system need to be replaced as well as that the building’s glass exterior is energy inefficient.

So what also for the fact that all buildings’ roofs and HVAC systems are expected to be replaced over time.

“A City on the Move” moving towards Chapter 9?
An iconic Quincy Quarry News file photo

Additionally, as the exterior glass walls of New City Hall are not load-bearing walls, replacing its current glass exterior with a new and more energy exterior should be a relatively cost-effective easy peasy. 

Granted, while not quite vinyl home sliding easy, close enough for government work.

Even better, replacing the current glass exterior would provide an opportunity to go with a more harmonious new façade than the current dated 1970’s architectural cliché which for the most part only works for 200 Clarendon, a Boston office building formerly known as the John Hancock Tower.  

“My PowerPoint presentation explains how it all works out.”
A Facebook image

Further problematic is how Mayor Koch’s larger argument that most of the new City Hall would be to provide a city-owned venue for the city-owned Quincy College even if the college is supposed to function in ways fully independent of the City of Quincy, financially speaking.

Granted, the mayor’s Kochonomics scheme includes that the college would pay a fixed rate rent during the decades years it will take to pay off the bonds issues to raise the money to build the likely nine-figure building. 

So what, however, about factoring in building maintenance costs, no apparent plan to deal with inflation and the like, nor proper consideration of the fact that Quincy College has been struggling for years. 

“Adrift” at Quincy College
A Quincy College Facebook photo

Quincy College has been losing enrollment and so also losing money hand over fist since well before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the fan. 

In turn, the college is in the red to the tune of tens of millions if one properly looks at the books in an era when other mostly fourth and especially fifth tier peer schools to Quincy College have been doing in recent years and are expected to continue closing for years to come.

For but one of the myriad of problems facing the college, local taxpayers had to cover the nut to pay for Quincy College employees’ healthcare benefits when the college could not pay the $2.4 million it was supposed to pay to participate in the City of Quincy healthcare insurance program for Fiscal Year 2021.

Granted, a manner of IOU was posed, not there is even but merely a remotely plausible chance that this marker will be covered anytime soon, if ever.

Bon chance of a tax rebate
A file photo

Even so, in fairness, Quincy Quarry must note that for a change that last spring Koch Maladministration spokesmodel Pinocchio Walkbacker did obliquely acknowledge that the plan for the proposed fifteen-story combined mostly home for Quincy College and but fractionally used by Quincy City Hall building was proposed so as to help (perhaps, ed.) head off closing the college given its ongoing losses as well as currently negative net worth.

Unaddressed whatsoever, however, is that going forward with the plan could be readily seen as doing a solid in response to past benefactions sent the mayor’s way as the plan would require buying at a likely sweet price a rundown building that should have been condemned long ago for all manner of valid reasons.

Quincy Quarry follows the money!
A oxycom.com image

Also not duly acknowledged is that the underlying stealth relief plan for foundering Quincy College would put local taxpayers at the risk of covering upwards of as much as a hundred large in bond debt service should the foundering college not even be able to cover the nut of the expected to be sweetheart rental rate. 

Further, if the college folded, the proposed building would so become an even deeper financial black hole for local taxpayers. 

The reason: Quincy Quarry’s financial and other affairs desk’ has projected at least a $40 million hit to local taxpayers if the college were close at the end of this year’s spring semester given underfunded retirement benefits, accounts payable, severance pay, terminating leases, and the like.

Crapping out?
A file photo

In other words, Mayor Koch is proposing to essentially triple down on a weak hand with his proposal for a combined Quincy College and City Hall tower. 

A woefully weak hand.

Further not acknowledged by the Koch Maladmistration is the years of upheaval that would be imposed the Quincy Center MBTA station by the construction of the proposed tower hard upon the site of Quincy Center MBTA station, the busiest MBTA station south of Boston –  if not also the busiest MBTA station anywhere outside of Boston.

On the other hand, the plan for a new City Hall venue would likely help Mayor Koch press his also phenomenally expensive proposal to move the current Quincy Center MBTA bus station into an underground facility underneath Burgin Parkway on the other side of the tracks. 

Past renovation projects by the MBTA
A Boston Fire Department image

So what, however, for the fact that the T has no plans for redoing Quincy Center station, much less any has funds available to do so as well has announced that it will not be doing any more station renovation work on its Braintree Red LIne after allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to variously renovate its four Quincy and one Braintree stations.

That and how next to no one is riding the T these days as many people are currently working remotely given the COVID-19 pandemic as well as that many to most are expected to continue to do so even after the pandemic abates.

But what the hey, Mayor Koch needs a fifteenth-floor office view to develop his vision for the future of Quincy even if Chapter 9 is already looking to be a likely near-given future for the Q.

Source: Quincy’s State of the City address to touch on city hall demolition, new municipal building

QQ disclaimer