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Lawmakers hear bill to create advisory board, address funding gap at Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center
Summary
Representative China Tyler and Roxbury Community College President described a bill to establish an advisory group for the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center and urged increased state operating appropriations after the college subsidized the center for years.
Representative China Tyler and Dr. Jeffrey (Jeff) Jefferson, president of Roxbury Community College, told the Joint Committee on Higher Education that H.1464 would create an advisory group to guide use and scheduling of the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center (RGGI) and underscored a persistent funding shortfall.
Tyler said the Reggie Lewis Center “must be all things to all people” and said the bill would formalize an advisory board to support accessibility and programming. Dr. Jefferson said the center serves statewide constituencies — from high‑school track meets to cultural events — and stressed it needs reliable operating funds in addition to capital repairs.
Jefferson described recent capital assistance and an unresolved operating deficit: he said the administration and legislature allocated $22,000,000 for deferred maintenance and an additional $3,000,000 in a supplemental appropriation, for $25,000,000 total for repairs; design work with the Division of Capital Asset Management is complete. He said the RGGI generated about $1,000,000 in outside revenue last year, that an increased retained‑revenue cap allows up to $2,500,000, but operating shortfalls remain. “We have completed the design phase with DCAM…and we are in a process of prioritizing what will be done when,” Jefferson said. He told the committee that Roxbury Community College subsidized the facility to the tune of roughly $16.5 million over a decade and that the RGGI operated at about a $1,840,000 deficit in recent years.
Committee members asked whether the $25,000,000 is immediately available; Jefferson said $22,000,000 of that total was currently available for deferred maintenance and that construction timing must account for the indoor track season. The RGGI's extensive statewide event calendar — Jefferson said roughly 700 events annually and about 100 indoor track meets between December and March — complicates scheduling for repairs.
Testimony requested that future budgets restore a higher base appropriation for the center so the college is not compelled to subsidize operations from funds intended for students. The committee did not take a formal vote at the hearing.
