Plans for White Stadium Pro Soccer Complex Delayed; Franklin Park Defenders Respond

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

Local residents call for shift to fully public renovation of White Stadium for Boston Public Schools students & public use

BOSTON — The proposed $200 million+ for-profit professional sports and entertainment complex at White Stadium in Franklin Park will not be finished in time for the start of next year’s National Women’s Soccer League season, and the new Boston NWSL team, Boston Legacy FC, will play its entire first season at Gillette Stadium instead.

Members of the Franklin Park Defenders, a group of hundreds of individual neighbors and park advocates and 29 different neighborhood associations, park groups, and other organizations who support a significantly more affordable, fully-public stadium renovation rather than the soccer team’s plan, responded to the news.

“This news comes as a relief for the communities around Franklin Park who have been alarmed by the profit-driven rush to convert White Stadium into a professional sports complex,” said Jamaica Plain resident Melissa Hamel. “We hope that more time will allow for a reevaluation of the flawed plan to build an 11,000-seat sports and entertainment complex in the middle of a park, with no parking and limited transit access.”

“Just this month, city officials confirmed that the transportation plans for game days are 'still a work in progress,' and it's become clear that soccer games in Franklin Park would lead to massive traffic gridlock throughout Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and Mattapan,” Hamel continued. “Residents also remain concerned about the privatization of public land, unreasonable parking bans that will prevent residents from hosting friends and family, the displacement of Boston Public Schools football teams, and the loss of our ability to enjoy Franklin Park on game days.”

“Boston Legacy's decision to play their first season at Gillette points to a much better way forward for everyone in Boston: a different permanent home for the soccer team, and a fully-public White Stadium for the exclusive benefit of Boston Public Schools students and the public,” said Egleston Square resident Renee Stacey Welsh. “There is still time to pursue that win-win.”

Background on the White Stadium Redevelopment Project

Residents of the 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.

The full cost of the project’s construction will not be clear until at least July 15, when construction bids for the City’s share of the project are due. 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 “a brand new high school soccer and football stadium should cost between $5 million and $20 million, depending on the specifications.”