MassDevelopment has filled a $2 million gap in the finances of Boston’s Greenway Conservancy after state funding earmarked for the nonprofit evaporated, the group’s Executive Director Nancy Brennan said at a Conservancy board meeting today.
 
A state law signed last August directed the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to lease the Rose Kennedy Greenway in downtown Boston, upon which the elevated Central Artery once stood, to the Conservancy, which would assume day-to-day responsibilities for the park’s management, funding, and upkeep. The legislation also included $2 million in public seed money for the Conservancy. Those funds were supposed to be drawn from a projected state surplus.
 
However, deteriorating income and sales tax receipts, and especially plummeting capital gains receipts, have blown what could become a multi-billion dollar hole in the state budget. When it became clear the surplus would not materialize, Brennan said, MassDevelopment gave the Conservancy the $2 million grant. She said the funds will be used for park maintenance over the next two years.
 
Peter Meade, the Greenway’s chairman, also said negotiations with the Turnpike on a lease for the parkland remain active. He said he expected to have a lease for execution by the Conservancy’s next board meeting, scheduled for February. The legislation authorizing the lease had anticipated such a lease being completed by Dec. 1.
 
City and state officials hope the 10-acre Greenway, which stretches from North Station to Chinatown, will spur new investment and development along the corridor. The Intercontinental Hotel will soon be joined by Boston Properties’ $500 million Russia Wharf development. Last week, the Chiofaro Cos. announced plans to construct a $900 million mixed-use project along the Greenway. The developers feel that one of the main draws of the project, which will encompass two towers and 1.5 million square feet, will be the towers’ proximity to the new park.
 
A Boston Redevelopment Authority effort to rezone the corridor surrounding the Greenway is ongoing.