Franklin Park Defenders Statement on the Massachusetts SJC Decision for White Stadium & Franklin Park

Envision a Public White Stadium

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Envision a FULLY PUBLIC White Stadium for students & the community!

The demolition of White Stadium and parts of Franklin Park has already begun, making it more urgent than ever to take action. The City of Boston and Boston Unity Soccer Partners LLC have pushed forward with their expansion and renovation plans for White Stadium without proper environmental review or meaningful community input. There is still time to hault the private-public plan and build a high quality facility for the students & the community.

A FULLY PUBLIC PLAN WOULD:

Cost less than a third of the current $172M+ estimate, leaving $ for other much-needed
school renovations

Allow BPS students to have FULL access every day of the year

Remove the negative impacts of traffic gridlocks, parking restrictions and air, light and noise

White Stadium & Franklin Park Legal Update: Decision Reached

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has reached a decision in our case regarding the future of White Stadium. Please review the Emerald Necklace Conservancy's statement on the decision below. We remain deeply grateful to the many organizations and individuals contributing to the advocacy and protection of Franklin Park.

Emerald Necklace Conservancy Statement on the Massachusetts SJC Decision for White Stadium & Franklin Park

38 local organizations have joined the Franklin Park Defenders by signing our Statement of Principles:

ArborwayMatters
Authentic Caribbean Foundation Inc.
Bay Staters for Creative Well-Being
The Black Lotus Cooperative Inc.
Boston Bengals Pop Warner program
The Boston Committee
Boston Jobs Coalition
Canadian Park Training
Coalition for Regionwide Services Beyond Franklin Park (CORES)
Community Health Partnerships
Contemporations, Inc.
D5 Advocates
Don Mitchell & Associates, LLC
The Enviro Show
FACTS Association/Xchange
Families for Justice as Healing
Friends of Melnea Cass Boulevard
Friends of the Notch Forest
Garden Club of the Back Bay

Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Council
Greater Mattapan Neighborhood Council
Greene & Greene Realty
Hancock Street Civic Association
Highland Park Neighborhood Coalition
Marcus Anthony Hall Educational Institute
Mattapan Food & Fitness Coalition
Methunion Manor Cooperative Corporation
NAACP Boston Branch
Neighborhood Schools, Inc.
Olmsted Network
The People's Academy
Polonia Auto Sales
Power of Skirts Collective
Quick Erruns
Roxbury Neighborhood Council
Trees as a Public Good Network
The Trustees Collaborative for Parks & Open Space
The Urban Biodiversity Project

They are joined by 1,007 individuals who have signed the Statement of Principles—view the list of public signers below:

List of Defenders

(updated regularly)

LATEST NEWS

The Boston Globe

May 24, 2026

When the city decided to run Boston’s two golf courses, some feared disaster. But the results were spectacular.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/24/metro/boston-golf-courses/

The Boston Globe

May 11, 2026

We will work against you.’ In Boston’s Black community, frustrations boil over against councilors of color.

City of Boston

May 8, 2026

Mayor Michelle Wu Announces Update on Transportation Acces Plan Agreement for White Stadium

The City is transforming White Stadium into a state-of-the-art athletic facility for Boston Public Schools (BPS) Athletics and a year-round, vibrant community hub in the heart of Franklin Park.

CBS News

May 8, 2026

Boston Legacy fans will have to disclose how they're getting to White Stadium - and driving isn't an option

Fans heading to White Stadium for a Boston Legacy match next year will have to share how they plan to get there when they buy tickets, under a new transportation plan announced Friday by Mayor Michelle Wu

MassLive

May 8, 2026

Boston’s new White Stadium transit plan bans parking on-site on matchdays

As Boston Mayor Michelle Wu set out to redevelop crumbling White Stadium into a modern facility shared by the city’s schools and a professional soccer team, some locals questioned whether thousands of fans arriving for a match would place an undue burden on the surrounding neighborhoods.

Boston Herald

May 8, 2026

Boston Mayor Wu forbids fans from driving to White Stadium for pro soccer matches

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has agreed to a new transportation access plan with the city’s new pro soccer team that forbids people planning to attend matches from driving directly to White Stadium or parking on surrounding streets.

Read the NEW report on an alternate concept to foster conversation on White Stadium!

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📢 FRANKLIN PARK DEFENDERS — WE NEED YOU TO SHOW UP!

The conversation around the future of White Stadium and its impact on Franklin Park and our surrounding neighborhoods continues. The City of Boston is hosting three upcoming White Stadium neighborhood transportation meetings, and we need Franklin Park Defenders to be in the room.

These meetings are an important opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns, demand transparency, and make sure the voices of the communities surrounding Franklin Park are heard.

📍 WHITE STADIUM DORCHESTER NEIGHBORHOOD TRANSPORTATION MEETING
📅 September 17
⏰ 6:00–7:30 PM
🏛️ Perkins Community Center Auditorium
📍 155 Talbot Avenue, Boston, MA 02124

📍 WHITE STADIUM MATTAPAN NEIGHBORHOOD TRANSPORTATION MEETING
📅 September 23
⏰ 6:00–7:30 PM
🏛️ Mattahunt BCYF Community Center
📍 100 Hebron Street, Mattapan, MA 02126

📍 WHITE STADIUM JAMAICA PLAIN NEIGHBORHOOD TRANSPORTATION MEETING
📅 September 24
⏰ 6:00–7:30 PM
🏛️ English High School Auditorium
📍 144 McBride Street, Boston, MA 02130

We are asking Franklin Park Defenders to show up at each of these meetings.

Transportation, traffic, parking, pedestrian safety, park access, and the impact of large events at White Stadium are not minor details. They directly affect the future of Franklin Park and the quality of life of the communities that surround it.

Our public park belongs to all of us, and our communities deserve a meaningful voice in decisions that will shape its future.

Bring your questions. Bring your concerns. Bring a neighbor.

Let’s continue to show up, speak up, and stand together for Franklin Park.

To learn more about the project, visit boston.gov/white-stadium or email whitestadium@boston.gov with questions.

#FranklinParkDefenders #SaveFranklinPark #WhiteStadium #FranklinPark #Roxbury #Dorchester #Mattapan #JamaicaPlain #Boston

The courts have spoken, but our concerns have not been addressed.

The future of White Stadium and Franklin Park is too important for the community to stop asking questions. From environmental impacts and transportation to neighborhood access, local businesses, public safety, and the proposed sale of alcohol inside a BPS school facility, residents deserve answers and a meaningful voice in what happens next.

Join the Franklin Park Defenders, the Boston Branch of the NAACP, Roxbury Neighborhood Council, Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association, and community members from across Boston for an important Community Meeting.

📅 Tuesday, September 8
⏰ 6:00–8:00 PM
📍 William E. Carter American Legion Post #16
1531 Blue Hill Ave., Mattapan

The fight is not over. Now is the time for YOUR voice to be heard.

Come learn more, ask questions, share your concerns, and stand with your neighbors in demanding transparency, accountability, and a process that puts the public first.

Franklin Park belongs to all of us. Its future should be shaped with all of us.

Please share and help spread the word.

#FranklinPark #WhiteStadium #FranklinParkDefenders #Mattapan #Roxbury #Boston #CommunityVoice #PublicLand #OurParkOurVoice

The Franklin Park Defenders proudly stand with the NAACP Boston Branch in support of its statement on White Stadium.

Franklin Park has served generations of Boston residents as a treasured public space, a place for recreation, connection, culture, and community. Decisions that will shape its future must be guided by transparency, public accountability, equitable access, and the voices of the communities that have long relied on and cared for this park.

We thank the NAACP Boston Branch for continuing to raise critical questions about equity, community impact, public investment, and the stewardship of our shared public land.

Franklin Park belongs to the people of Boston. Its future should reflect that.

We remain committed to protecting this historic public resource and ensuring that decisions about White Stadium put the public interest first, for today’s residents and generations to come.

#FranklinPark #WhiteStadium #Boston #PublicLand #PublicParks #CommunityVoice #FranklinParkDefenders

The Supreme Judicial Court has spoken, but the fight for accountability, environmental justice, and meaningful community voice is far from over.
The Franklin Park Defenders stand with the NAACP Boston Branch in affirming a simple truth: investment in our young people should never require sacrificing the health, public spaces, and voices of the communities they call home.

Franklin Park belongs to the people. Decisions about its future must begin with the people.
We encourage our neighbors to read and share the NAACP Boston Branch’s full statement. Our advocacy continues. Our voices matter. And we are not going anywhere.
#FranklinParkDefenders #FranklinPark #WhiteStadium #EnvironmentalJustice #CommunityVoice Roxbury Dorchester Mattapan BostonNAACP

The SJC has issued its ruling on White Stadium, but a court decision does not erase the concerns that families, neighbors, park users, and community advocates have raised throughout this fight.

For generations, Franklin Park has been our backyard. It is where our children play, where families gather, where we walk, run, cook out, celebrate, and find space to breathe.

That is why this fight has always been about more than a stadium.

It is about who gets a say in the future of our public spaces.
It is about putting BPS students and families first.
It is about protecting public access to Franklin Park.
It is about how our taxpayer dollars are spent.
And it is about making sure the communities surrounding Franklin Park are not asked, once again, to carry the burden of decisions made without enough regard for the people who live here.

We respect the court's ruling. But our advocacy does not end here.

We will continue fighting for a fully public White Stadium that serves our students, our neighborhoods, and the generations of Bostonians who will inherit Franklin Park after us.

To everyone who has stood with us, spoken up, attended meetings, held signs, asked hard questions, and refused to give up: thank you.

We are still here.

We still love this park.

And we will continue defending it.

Franklin Park belongs to all of us.

Read the Franklin Park Defenders’ full statement on the SJC ruling - franklinparkdefenders.org

#FranklinParkDefenders #FranklinPark #WhiteStadium #KeepItPublic #OurParkOurCommunity #Boston #Roxbury #Dorchester #JamaicaPlain #Mattapan

Meet Rodney Singleton, a proud Roxbury resident, Highland Park community leader, and passionate Franklin Park Defender committed to ensuring our neighborhoods have a voice in the decisions that shape them.

As Co-Chair of the Project Review Committee, Rodney helps shape important community initiatives, including Bartlett Yard, and serves on the District 7 Advisory Council.

His leadership reflects what the Franklin Park Defenders are all about: community voice, public accountability, and protecting the spaces that belong to all of us.

Thank you, Rodney, for standing up for Franklin Park and our community! 💚✊🏾

Our park. Our community. Our voice.

#FranklinParkDefenders #FranklinPark #Roxbury #EnvironmentalJustice #CommunityVoice #PublicLand #Boston

For decades, Dr. Jean McGuire has been a trailblazer in Boston’s fight for education, civil rights, and stronger communities. Today, she continues that legacy by standing up for environmental justice and the protection of Franklin Park.

Dr. McGuire knows that our public spaces belong to the people. She stands with the Franklin Park Defenders in opposing the privatization of our park and fighting to ensure Franklin Park remains public, accessible, and accountable to the communities that have cared for it for generations.

Thank you, Dr. McGuire, for continuing to lead, speak out, and stand with our community. 💚✊🏾

Environmental justice IS social justice.

#FranklinParkDefenders #FranklinPark #EnvironmentalJustice #Boston #Roxbury #Dorchester #Mattapan #PublicLand

Our lawsuit may have concluded, but our advocacy for Franklin Park continues.

We recently released a statement following the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision regarding White Stadium.

While we are disappointed with the ruling, the fundamental concerns surrounding the proposed professional soccer stadium remain unresolved — including the rising cost to taxpayers, displacement of BPS football, restrictions on public access, traffic and parking impacts, and the need for a fair and transparent public process.

We continue to believe Boston deserves a better alternative: a smaller, less expensive, fully public White Stadium that puts Boston Public Schools students and the surrounding community first.

Thank you to the more than 1,000 individuals and 38 community organizations who have stood with us throughout this fight. Your voices have made a difference, and they will continue to matter as decisions about the future of Franklin Park are made.

This fight is not over. Franklin Park belongs to the people.

Read our latest statement and stay involved at FranklinParkDefenders.com.

#FranklinParkDefenders #FranklinPark #WhiteStadium #KeepItPublic #BostonPublicSchools #EnvironmentalJustice #PublicLand #CommunityVoice #Roxbury #Dorchester #JamaicaPlain #Mattapan

WHY DID THE COURT RULE AGAINST THE WHITE STADIUM CHALLENGE?

The decision comes down to a legal timeline spanning nearly 80 years.

1883 - Boston acquired the White Stadium parcel as public parkland.
1947 & 1950 - The Court found that laws passed during this period changed the parcel’s legal status before Article 97 was adopted in 1972.
Today - Because of that history, the SJC determined that the White Stadium parcel is not protected by Article 97.

Importantly, the ruling is specific to the White Stadium parcel. Franklin Park as a whole remains protected under Article 97.

The ruling is in. Our work continues.

Learn more at franklinparkdefenders.com

#FranklinPark #FranklinParkDefenders #WhiteStadium #Article97 #ProtectFranklinPark #Boston

Our fight to protect Franklin Park continues.

While the lawsuit before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has concluded, the concerns of our community have not.

We remain clear: a professional soccer stadium does not belong in Franklin Park.

This ruling does not erase the environmental justice concerns, restricted public access, increased congestion, or the impact this project will have on the communities surrounding the park. We continue to believe that a smaller, less expensive, fully public stadium would better serve Boston’s student-athletes while protecting Franklin Park and neighboring communities.

With more than 1,000 individuals and 38 community organizations standing together, the Franklin Park Defenders will continue fighting for environmental justice, transparency, accountability, and a truly public Franklin Park.

This fight is not over. Franklin Park belongs to the people.

See our full statement from the Franklin Park Defenders attached or go to https://franklinparkdefenders.com/ for more information.

#FranklinParkDefenders #FranklinPark #SaveFranklinPark #EnvironmentalJustice #PublicLand #Boston #Roxbury #Dorchester #Mattapan

THE RULING IS IN. OUR WORK CONTINUES.

Following today’s Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision on White Stadium, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and citizen plaintiffs have released a statement responding to the ruling.

While we are disappointed in the outcome, our commitment remains clear. We believe there is still time to pursue a smaller, more affordable, fully public White Stadium that puts Boston’s students, park users, and surrounding communities first.

What started with 20 citizen plaintiffs has grown into the Franklin Park Defenders, more than 1,000 residents and 38 neighborhood and community organizations united around protecting Franklin Park and fighting for a truly public White Stadium.

The court case may be over, but the community’s questions about BPS access, rising costs, traffic, parking, park access, and the future of Franklin Park remain.

Our work continues.

Read the full statement at https://www.franklinparkdefenders.com/

#FranklinPark #FranklinParkDefenders #WhiteStadium #ProtectFranklinPark #Boston

IMPORTANT UPDATE - TODAY’S STANDOUT IS CANCELLED

Franklin Park Defenders, please note that today’s Standout at Blue Hill Avenue and Franklin Park Road has been cancelled.

Thank you to everyone who has continued to show up, speak out, and stand with us in defense of Franklin Park.

Following today’s SJC ruling, our work continues. Stay connected for updates on upcoming actions and next steps.

Franklin Park belongs to the people.

#FranklinPark #FranklinParkDefenders #ProtectFranklinPark #WhiteStadium

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FRANKLIN PARK

DEFENDERS

Envision a Public White Stadium

Envision a FULLY PUBLIC White Stadium for students & the community!