Franklin Park Defenders Respond to Delayed Schedule for White Stadium Cost Estimate, Call on City to Make Received Construction Bids Public

Contact: Carlen Singmaster, 617-960-6537, csingmaster@emeraldnecklace.org

Shifting Timeline for Full Cost of Project Highlights Need for More Affordable, Fully Public Alternative

BOSTON —When asked about the taxpayer cost of the White Stadium professional soccer stadium in early July, Mayor Wu said “we should know in a few weeks.” Bids for more than a dozen prequalified trade subcontractors on the city’s side of the public-private project were due on July 15, according to city presentations to potential vendors.

But today, only a few weeks later, the Mayor said something different. In her comments on WBUR’s Morning Edition, the Mayor said that a full cost estimate won’t be available until “later this calendar year.” As the timeline for the White Stadium project continues to shift, members of the Franklin Park Defenders community group responded.

“The city’s timeline doesn’t add up. City officials were scheduled to receive millions of dollars in construction bids for the White Stadium project by this month; they should be able to tell us exactly how much the project will cost,” said Jessica Spruill, a Dorchester resident and member of the Franklin Park Defenders. “Boston residents deserve to know how much of the Boston Public Schools budget will be spent to build a massive professional sports complex for the benefit of private investors — before steel and concrete are in the ground. City officials need to make all the construction bids they’ve received public, so that residents can know just how far over-budget the White Stadium project is.”

“The old White Stadium has been demolished, but construction of its replacement hasn’t started, and it’s clear that the professional soccer stadium plans are on shaky ground,” said Dr. Jean McGuire, a Roxbury resident, former Boston School Committee member, and member of the Franklin Park Defenders. “Our children deserve their own high school stadium, not one where they’re forced to play second fiddle to a professional sports team. With Boston Legacy playing their first season at Gillette, there’s still plenty of time to pursue a better solution: a more affordable, fully-public White Stadium in Franklin Park that prioritizes BPS and community uses, and a different, better location for the soccer team.”

“The problems with this plan keep adding up. City and team officials still haven’t figured out a workable transportation plan, and state officials are now raising concerns that the project’s reliance on MBTA infrastructure triggers the requirement for state environmental reviews that haven’t occurred,” said Carla-Lisa Caliga, a Jamaica Plain resident and member of the Franklin Park Defenders. “Planned utility and road work that is necessary for the project clearly violates the state constitution, and is subject to an ongoing legal challenge. And public opposition to the project continues to grow, with the NAACP Boston Branch now joining dozens of local community groups and organizations to speak out against the privatization of Franklin Park. Enough is enough — we need a public White Stadium, not a professional sports palace.”

Refresher: The Latest on the White Stadium Redevelopment Project

With Boston Legacy Football Club now planning to play their inaugural season at Gillette Stadium, more and more people are calling for reconsideration of the proposal to build a professional sports stadium in Franklin Park. In June, the NAACP Boston Branch called for an immediate halt to the professional soccer stadium plans, and expressed support for a significantly more affordable, fully-public stadium renovation that would meet the needs of BPS students and the community, without the many flaws of the new private soccer stadium. And multiple elected officials, including City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune and several of her Council colleagues, as well as State Representative Chynah Tyler, who represents neighborhoods on the north side of Franklin Park, have spoken out against the private redevelopment proposal.

While the existing high school stadium on the site has been mostly demolished, construction of the new stadium has still not been fully bid or begun, and residents and advocates say there is still plenty of time to reconsider plans to build a massive new professional sports stadium in Franklin Park. Last month, leaked city documents revealed that the cost of the city’s half of the project could reach $172 million under ‘worst-case’ contingencies. Mayor Wu admitted that the project’s taxpayer cost would increase again once elements of the project are fully bid this summer, after already tripling from a $30 million estimate when first announced to $91 million as of last December.

White Stadium sits in the middle of a park, with no parking, surrounded by residential neighborhoods, almost a mile from the nearest train station. Since the proposal by Boston’s new NWSL team Boston Legacy Football Club was announced, questions about game-day transportation planning have gone unanswered, and proponents have released a changing set of transportation plans that fail to address local residents’ concerns about traffic gridlock and disruption. In May, the city official overseeing the White Stadium project admitted that transportation plans are “still a work in progress,” even as the existing high school stadium was being torn down.

Last week, more than a dozen Boston residents, State Senator Nick Collins and State Representative Chynah Tyler, and the author of a report predicting severe traffic gridlock in the neighborhoods surrounding Franklin Park on professional soccer game days all spoke up at the monthly meeting of the MBTA Board of Directors to warn that the required state review of the White Stadium project’s impact has not occurred, and that traffic gridlock from up to twenty annual professional soccer games in Franklin Park will negatively impact regular MBTA bus service for thousands of passengers.

Background on the White Stadium Redevelopment Project

Residents of Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and Mattapan have significant concerns about the plan to lease White Stadium to a professional sports team — rather than renovating it as a public stadium for the sole benefit of BPS students and the local community. The City of Boston and Boston Unity Soccer Partners (BUSP) are in the process of demolishing the existing White Stadium in order to build a new, significantly larger for-profit professional sports stadium, entertainment venue, and multiple restaurants and retail shops in its place.

In addition to the legal concerns expressed in an ongoing lawsuit against the project, neighboring residents and park advocates have expressed opposition to the project over issues ranging from increased air, noise and light pollution, increased litter, the removal of 145 mature trees, increased traffic and parking restrictions, and decreased student and community access.

Pro soccer games and other private events would displace BPS students and the community from White Stadium and surrounding parts of Franklin Park on 20 annual game days, 20 practice days, and additional concert and event days - more than half of all weekends during the summer, when residents use the park the most. BPS football teams would be displaced from the stadium entirely during the bulk of their regular season, because the soccer league doesn't want their cleats on the field.

Construction bids for the City’s share of the project were due July 15, but the full cost of the project’s construction is still unclear. While it was initially described by city and team officials as costing as little as $30 million, the project’s cost has since ballooned to over $200 million, with the City and Boston Public Schools responsible for at least $100 million.

Background on the Alternative: a Fully-Public Renovation of White Stadium

Neighbors and parks advocates support an alternative plan to renovate White Stadium as a public high school facility for BPS student-athletes, at a much lower cost to taxpayers and the environment.

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy has proposed such an alternative concept: a high-quality, fully public renovation of White Stadium that would avoid the many negative impacts of building a professional sports venue in the middle of historic Franklin Park. A detailed cost estimate conducted by Vermeulens, Inc. included in the report found that Boston could renovate White Stadium as a high-quality, fully public high school stadium for $28.9 million.

There are numerous examples of high school and even college sports stadiums being built or renovated for similar amounts. Stadium expert Andrew Zimbalist states that “it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Boston taxpayers are subsidizing a professional sports stadium on public recreation land in Franklin Park.”