The Boston 2024 Committee expects Nashoba Valley Ski Area to be a venue in its bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Just one problem: that fact is news to the operators of Nashoba Valley Ski Area.
Last week, Boston Magazine published the full bid book submitted by Boston 2024 to the United States Olympic Committee as part of a Freedom of Information Act Request.
In the full bid book, the Mountain Bike Cycling and Canoe Slalom events are set to be hosted at a location called “Westford Ski Area.”
A smaller bid book released to the public by Boston 2024 does not fully reference the Westford Ski Area location, although the venue is alluded to in a map indicating the events.
According to the documents obtained by Boston Magazine, the cycling event would take place at Nashoba Valley Ski Area’s property within Westford while the canoe event would take place at Nashoba Valley Ski Area’s tubing park in Littleton.
Nashoba Valley Ski Area Owner Al Fletcher informed WestfordCAT News he was completely unaware his property was included in the Boston 2024 proposal.
“I have not had any conversations with any credible people,” said Fletcher. “I was approached by a relative party about hosting kayaking, I believe, it could have been canoeing. However, this was a year ago and no details were discussed.”
The planned capacity of the cycling event would be 10,000 and the capacity of the canoe event would be 15,000 according to the full bid document.
According to a 2011 Northern Middlesex Council of Governments study, Powers Road saw 6,100 vehicles on an average day.
In a statement from Boston 2024 Chief Operating Officer Erin Murphy, the full bid book was meant only to be a first step, with a follow up phase expected to be released on June 30.
“The preliminary bid book filed in December was a proof of concept per the USOC’s initial bidding process. Many elements contained in those preliminary documents have already changed and some will continue to change as the bid evolves,” said Murphy. “Our ongoing community engagement process is helping shape the next phase of our plans and bringing us much closer to a preliminary Games concept that reflects the reforms of Olympic Agenda 2020 and (Boston’s) 2030 planning.”
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