The Hynes will need to close in the coming years whether it’s sold or not due to a combination of scheduling woes and unavoidable maintenance.

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State lawmakers are delaying the question of whether to sell the Hynes Convention Center until the next administration, but officials at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) say it will be shutting down for a period regardless.

Conventions are scheduled years out, and the uncertainty of the sale has halted that process. The pause will give workers time to conduct vital repairs that have been put off for years, but for surrounding businesses it means they’ll face a dry spell even if the Hynes stays in its current hands.

Nate Little, director of communications for the MCCA, confirmed that they’ve stopped booking conventions beyond 2024. Typically, they book clients three to five years in advance.

Without the ball rolling on those events, there’s guaranteed to be a period without conventions happening even if lawmakers eventually call off the sale as requested by some community stakeholders.

Even if conventions were being booked, Little says they would need to shut down to make crucial repairs anyway. Up until now routine maintenance has allowed them to put off more substantial improvements.

“We have a bunch of shows in 2023, a few less in 2024, but if you look out at 2025, 2026, 2027 the number drops off, which is the window that would normally be filling up,” he said. “The Hynes is going to have to close regardless. If you want to keep it open in the future, you need to fix it now to do a lot of the projects mandated just by the age of the building. The can’s been kicked for a long time, but the reality is that there are massive buildingwide projects that need to be completed.”

A report from 2015 indicated that $500 million in repairs and upgrades needed to be considered, funding a wide variety of fixes to excessive occupancy on the third floor, extensive accessibility shortcomings, structural issues, plumbing, fire systems and internal walls. Current estimates from the MCCA put the price of needed upgrades at $290 million over a period of 24 to 30 months.

“Of the nearly $300 million in required updates, $157 million has been identified as essential capital improvements which are needed to maintain the facility in its current functionality and must be performed over the next few years. These replacements are disruptive and cannot occur in an occupied space,” reads a 2022 capital expenses overview.

That means the businesses that rely on it to bring in revenue are in for another hit right as they’re getting back on their feet after the pandemic. Martha Sheridan, president of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the impact of conventions at the Hynes goes well beyond its walls.

“The Hynes is incredibly valuable to the Back Bay area. It fills hotels, it fills restaurants, both with large conventions and smaller groups making use of its meeting space. Our tours and attractions rely heavily on traffic from the Hynes, the Duck Tours, trolley tours, all our walking tours. And of course, places like the Prudential Center and Copley Place, who benefit significantly from Hynes foot traffic,” she said.

A more comprehensive plan and schedule for the shutdown will be developed by the MCCA in the coming years.