Address Newsletter
Our weekly digest on buying, selling, and design, with expert advice and insider neighborhood knowledge.
Neighbors and park advocates have filed a lawsuit against the city and a professional women’s soccer team planning to restore and use Franklin Park’s White Stadium, stating that such a use would unconstitutionally privatize the land.
Mayor Michelle Wu pushed back on that claim, however, stating that any attempts to paint the redevelopment project as a privatization of White Stadium was “either a misunderstanding or a misrepresentation.”
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court, the plaintiffs also allege that redevelopment plans would largely displace Boston Public School student-athletes and community members who regularly use the park and stadium, and were made hastily by the city and Boston Unity Soccer Partners without public input.
“We have heard from many members of the community who are deeply concerned about the proposal by Boston Unity Soccer Partners to redevelop and privatize White Stadium and 1.5 acres of surrounding public parkland in order to support the unique needs of a profit-driven professional sports team,” Karen Mauney-Brodek, president of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, said on a Wednesday press call.
Mauney-Brodek said the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, a nonprofit park advocacy group joined by 15 city residents in filing the lawsuit, “shares their concerns over the unconstitutional privatization of public land.”
“We support the renovation of White Stadium and Franklin Park, but we do not support the required involvement of a professional sports team that would displace the local community for the next 30 years while privatizing and profiting from this public resource,” she said. “This major redevelopment is being fast-tracked without adequate community input or proper environmental review.”
In filing the lawsuit, Mauney-Brodek said, the plaintiffs are “asking the city to slow down and respect the public process.”
The 22-page court filing lays out a number of grievances with the plan, which, according to the plaintiffs, calls for White Stadium to be reserved exclusively for use by the new professional women’s soccer team for 20 weekend days from April to November, roughly 77% of Saturdays during the warmer months.
The lawsuit also states that the pitch will be reserved as pro soccer practice sessions for 20 Friday evenings, and that Boston Public School football games traditionally held at the stadium will be displaced.
It also alleges several legal violations on the city and state level.
The project, according to the lawsuit, would “illegally transfer the public trust lands” held by the beneficiaries of the White Fund Trust “to private parties, ensuring extensive, exclusive use” of those lands by a private party for the operation of a professional sports team.
The city has “failed to consider any alternatives to the project,” the lawsuit states, “all while rapidly ignoring the terms of the White Fund Trust and the requirements of Article 97,” which requires two-thirds approval from the state Legislature for other uses for land or easements taken or acquired for conservation purposes.
It also lists concerns with how the project was handled in city zoning review.
Mayor Wu pushed back on those claims, which included making a point to dispute assertions of privatization, stating, “To say that this would be privatizing White Stadium is either a misunderstanding or a misrepresentation.”
“It’s true that if this were any other park we couldn’t just build a stadium out of nowhere without any special process for that,” Wu told reporters at an unrelated event on Wednesday. “But this is an existing stadium. It’s been used by and dedicated to Boston Public School student-athletes. It will continue to be used that way so these legal claims are without merit.”
Renovations at the dilapidated park and stadium — where half of the grandstands are burned out from a recent fire — would triple the number of hours the stadium could be used, 90% of which would be dedicated to Boston Public School student-athletes and the community, the mayor said.
According to the lawsuit, Boston Unity will contribute $30 million and the city will put in roughly $50 million.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity this represents, bringing in a pro team, to help invest in and renovate an existing stadium,” Wu said.
Boston Unity Soccer Partners, an all-female ownership group, was the only respondent to the city’s request for proposals for White Stadium and won an expansion bid in September to become the National Women’s Soccer League’s 15th team.
It plans to start playing at the renovated stadium in the spring of 2026. Boston Unity pointed to its efforts to include the community in the restoration process, and emphasized its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
About 95% of the team will be invested by women and 40% by people of color, Boston Globe CEO Linda Pizzuti Henry is one of the investors. Boston Unity has said that construction, which includes adding 1,000 seats to the 10,000-seat stadium, would generate 500 jobs and that 300 jobs will be created permanently.
“Community collaboration is a core value of Boston Unity Soccer Partners because sports teams and stadiums by their very nature are community assets,” Boston Unity said in a statement, adding that it plans to continue that comprehensive engagement process to listen, address concerns and ensure input is reflected.
“Together we will continue this process to realize our shared vision to develop a beautiful facility that positively impacts the neighborhoods around Franklin Park, provides opportunities for Boston Public School student-athletes and greater access for surrounding communities,” the statement said.
Surprise: Another weekend and there’s more rain on the way. It’s bad enough we’ve had to post a First Alert.
For now, we’ll watch as clouds thicken today. We’ll squeeze out some drops later this afternoon and evening.
A weather maker is winding up in Canada, wrapping in cold air. All of that is going to dive down to New England.
We’re in the thick of it tomorrow. Rain will be coming at us in bursts with some dry time in between. Winds will likely push past 50 mph in Boston.

Those winds will eat away at temperatures; with wind chills barely above freezing. And no – not just in the morning – but the afternoon, too!
It’s so cold there’s the threat of snow as that rain bumps into colder air over the Berkshires, Worcester Hills and southern New Hampshire right up to Mount Washington.
The snow isn’t going to pile up but just know there could be some flakes flying over our highest hills.
The blue on our Futurecast map marks the spots where snow could mix with rain.
Rain spins out by Saturday evening but not before dumping about half an inch over Boston.
We’ll try to salvage the rest of the weekend with temperatures in the upper 60s by Sunday. Still, there’s the threat of bits and pieces of rain.
By the way, this isn’t any weekend, it’s the last weekend of spring. Meteorological summer starts on June 1.
The first day of summer remains drab and dreary with more rain chances and temperatures in the low 60 on Monday.
Federal immigration demands are once again centered on Massachusetts.
The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday sent three letters to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden demanding, among other things, information on how many ICE detainers BPD has received and declined to honor from 2022 to 2026 and any communication between the three departments related to immigration.
House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said in a statement that “releasing repeat criminals back to the streets solely because of their immigration status is crazy, and that’s exactly what Boston is doing.”
But Democrats push back on that framing.
“You’re familiar with Jim Jordan and his antics,” said Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. “This is more circus, it’s more theater and it’s not making our community safe.”
A spokesperson for the City of Boston wrote, “the city has provided this information many times…” going on to say “…these policies are part of keeping Boston the safest major city in America.”
The letters call for the documents to be sent to the House Judiciary Committee by June 10th at 5:00 pm. District Attorney Hayden’s office told NBC 10 they are reviewing the letter, neither Commissioner Cox or Sheriff Tompkins responded to requests for comment.
On the Market
At first glance, Joan Bennett Kennedy’s Back Bay home may not appear all that unusual, but the endless stories held within its walls illustrate how a sacred space became one woman’s shelter from the storm.
After divorcing Ted Kennedy in 1982, Bennett Kennedy returned to Boston and moved into 250 Beacon St. #10, and remained there for more than four decades until her death at age 89 in October. Now, her three-bedroom, three-bathroom home, which measures 2,075 square feet, is on the market at $2.59 million.
“Her home really played an important part in the transformation of her life,” her son, Ted Kennedy Jr., told the Globe. “She was a newly divorced woman coming back, trying to reestablish her roots in Boston, and she had her music, which was part of her unique identity, apart from being married to my father. She was seeking to reinvent herself and live on her own terms.”
It was there at 250 Beacon where Bennett Kennedy restarted her life. She earned a master’s degree in music education at 44, and became a staple on the Boston classical music scene, thanks to her lifelong dedication to the piano. But it was also where she faced significant struggles, ranging from depression to alcoholism. She didn’t hide her battles at a time when they weren’t commonly discussed.
“She paved the way for many other women who were suffering in silence,” said Kennedy Jr. “The Boston community just took her in and provided her with friendship and support.”
The circa-1925 building features an elegant lobby that leads to the elevators. Inside the fifth-floor unit, a foyer flows into a hallway and into the spacious living room, where hardwood floors run throughout and a wood-burning fireplace sits under a unique carved mantel surrounded by marble. But it’s the windows that capture the eyes, with views of the treetops and the Charles River in the distance.
“She would sit at her piano in the condo every afternoon for hours,” said Kennedy, who noted that the home later served as the spot where his mother penned “The Joy of Classical Music,” a guide for introducing classical music to families. Prominent musical figures, including John Williams, Seiji Ozawa, and Arthur Fiedler, were frequent guests.
The open floor plan continues in the dining area and library, filled with built-in bookcases and oversized windows.
The living room fireplace is two-sided; on its opposite side is the primary bedroom suite, with built-in bookshelves and a massive bay window with beautiful views. The primary suite features an en-suite bathroom with a pink vanity.
“These front rooms, all three of them, the amount of glass and the size of these windows are just magnificent,” said Linda Barrett of Douglas Elliman, who has the listing and knew Kennedy for years. “Being on the fifth floor, she sat right at the tree line, looking at the Charles River.”
A second of three full bathrooms has elegant marble tiles and a step-in shower. Across the hallway are two closets for storage and the galley kitchen with green/blue cabinetry and stainless steel appliances.


There are three bedrooms, one with teal carpeting and ample built-in storage.
The home has central air, and the building has a live-in superintendent. The fee is $1,725.39 per month. The piano is not included as part of the sale.
Our weekly digest on buying, selling, and design, with expert advice and insider neighborhood knowledge.
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