The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center will be renamed next month as the Thomas Michael Menino Convention and Exhibition Center in honor of Thomas Menino, Boston’s longest serving mayor.
“Mayor Menino loved Boston deeply, and he made our city into the global hub for business, commerce and tourism that we know it to be today,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement from the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority. “I was honored to sign this law renaming the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center after Mayor Menino because it is a wonderful way to pay tribute to his amazing legacy and send a strong message that Boston is a place to be for people and businesses from around the world.”
The Massachusetts Legislature in 2024 passed “An Act Relative to Strengthening Massachusetts’ Economic Leadership,” which included language to rename the BCEC in recognition of Menino’s advocation for the development of the convention center.
“While there are many places and ways we can honor Tom Menino’s legacy of leadership and love for the city of Boston, I can think of none better than to lend his name to the convention and exhibition center,” State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz said in a statement. “A true expression of his vision to always drive Boston to be a more vibrant, healthy and welcoming city.”
The BCEC hosted 136 events in 2024, welcoming over 500,000 attendees to Boston. It was used as a field hospital in 2020, during the height of the covid pandemic. It has been the subject of expansion plans almost since it opened in 2024. Most recently a report from Pinnacle Advisory Group found “it would not be wise” to pursue a planned expansion of 1.7 million square feet, now estimated to cost $1.9 billion, until more hotels are built in the area, The Boston Globe reported in March.
“Our entire family is grateful for this incredible honor,” Menino’s widow Angela Menino said in a statement. “Tommy believed in the potential of every neighborhood in our city, and in the power of development to improve people’s lives. We thank our legislative leadership for acknowledging his legacy and his vision for how this convention center would lead to the transformation of Boston’s Seaport.”
Menino was mayor of Boston from 1993 to 2014. He died in October 2014. An event to officially mark the name change will be held on Saturday, July 12.
The BCEC celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, “which would not have been possible without the leadership of Mayor Menino,” MCCA CEO Marcel Vernon Sr. said in a statement. “It is a fitting tribute that the convention and exhibition center he championed will now carry his name and we look forward to hosting the commemoration event in July.”
