As a lawsuit makes its way through court against the proposed White Stadium renovation at Boston’s Franklin Park, the ambitious plan continues to receive the green light from key city boards.
The Boston Planning & Development Agency became the latest to sign off on the project, minutes after a city attorney told the board that the proposed endeavor would head to trial next spring.
For months, city officials and Boston Unity Soccer Partners – an all-female ownership group behind a push to bring the city its next professional women’s soccer team – have endured a battle from neighborhood advocates fighting the plan. The Globe’s Linda Henry is one of those owners.
A group of 21 residents, dubbed the “Franklin Park Defenders,” and the nonprofit advocacy group, Emerald Necklace Conservancy, filed a lawsuit against the plan in February, alleging the endeavor would “illegally transfer the public trust lands” to “a private party.”
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City Councilor Ed Flynn wrote a letter to Boston’s Chief of Planning Arthur Jemison and the BPDA ahead of the Thursday approval, urging the board to delay the vote to “allow for more public process and a thorough evaluation.”
“Neighbors have reached out in the past several months,” Flynn wrote in his letter, “and more in recent days, to express their deep concerns on how quickly this has proposal is going through this review process and now come to the BPDA Board.
“In addition, this $50 million cost, which may eventually have overruns and a higher price tag,” he added, “comes at a time of falling commercial property values in our city and an analysis showing that the City of Boston could potentially have a $500 million annual loss in revenue.”
Renovations at the dilapidated park and stadium — where half of the grandstands were burned out from a fire decades ago— 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, project proponents have said.
Boston Unity, which won an expansion bid last September to join the National Women’s Soccer League, is slated to contribute $50 million, with the city matching that investment. The city is responsible for rebuilding the east grandstand and the soccer group, the other.
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A Suffolk Superior Court justice sees the planned massive renovation at Franklin Park’s White Stadium as a win for all Boston residents.
Justice Sarah Ellis in March tossed out motions for a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and lis pendens — or notice of a lawsuit on the property, which complicates transfers or sales — measures the plaintiffs desired to prevent additional steps from being taken in the massive $100-million undertaking.
City attorney Sammy Nabulsi said the lawsuit has entered its discovery phase which he called a “fancy term for fact-finding.”
“The discovery phase was supposed to go on until February 2026,” he said, “but that was unacceptable to the city and it was unacceptable to the team.”
A judge has accepted an expedited schedule with discovery ending in December and the case going to trial in March 2025,” Nabulsi said. Boston Unity is expected to take the pitch at White Stadium for the 2026 season.
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“We are hoping that this case will be over and done with no later than the spring,” he said, “so I disagree with the comment that all public processes should stop pending the litigation, especially given the fact that a judge has already ruled on the merits.”
With the BPDA approval in hand, along with that of the city’s Landmarks and Civics Design commissions, the project is slated to be in front of the Parks Commission on July 29.
Boston Unity expects its endeavor will have a wide range of economic benefits for the greater community.
Construction, which could start by the end of the year, would generate more than 500 jobs, and the workers would be employed onsite for two years. About 300 permanent jobs would then be created once the stadium is renovated, according to the proposal.
“This is a major milestone for a project that is decades overdue,” Mayor Michelle Wu said of the BPDA approval in a statement, “finally giving BPS student-athletes and community a beautiful new home at White Stadium.”
Gemma Soldati, who grew up in New Hampshire and has performed all over the world, is back living near Portsmouth — and wants to bring clown to New England.
She’s performed at Edinburgh Fringe at Assembly, and has taught in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Toronto.
Last week, she launchedan eight-week clown class at the Rockwell in Somerville. The session ($400) still has available openings.
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She said the clown theater scene might not be as robust around Boston as it is in New York, but that sometimes the smaller the town, the more honest the clown.
Of a class she taught in Concord, N.H., Soldati said, “I did find that the people, they were just a little bit closer to their authentic self.”
Soldati also said that New Englanders interested in clown should look into Celebration Barn in Maine, where people visit from all over the world in the summer.
Find information on Soldati’s class at therockwell.org.
BOSTON — Tom McVie, who coached the Winnipeg Jets to the 1979 World Hockey Association championship over Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers in the final year before the franchises were absorbed into the NHL, has died. He was 89.
McVie was also the Jets’ first coach in the NHL and the New Jersey Devils’ second after they moved from Colorado in 1982. He also coached the Washington Capitals, compiling an overall NHL record of 126-263 with 73 ties in parts of eight seasons from 1975-92.
The Trail, British Columbia, native joined the Bruins as an assistant coach in 1992 and got his name on the Stanley Cup as a team ambassador when it won the 2011 championship.
“Tom was a huge part of our Bruins family, having served as coach, scout and ambassador for more than 30 years,” said Boston president Cam Neely, whose playing career overlapped with McVie’s coaching tenure. “His hockey mind, colorful personality, gruff voice, and unmatched sense of humor livened up every room he entered, and he will be dearly missed.”
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McVie made his NHL head coaching debut when he succeeded Hall of Famer Milt Schmidt in Washington on New Year’s Eve in 1975, but he never finished higher than fourth before heading to the WHA. He took over the Jets, whose roster included a 40-year-old Bobby Hull, and won the 1979 Avco World Trophy.
“Coach McVie was an historical figure in Winnipeg’s pro hockey history as the coach of the last team to ever win the Avco Cup in the World Hockey Association, as well as the first coach in the team’s National Hockey League history back in 1979,” the Jets posted on X on Monday.
“Tom’s personality, voice, and knowledge of the game transcended his title and time in our city as the team made the transition from the WHA to the NHL. His ability to tell a story only added to the legend of the hockey club’s arrival on the big stage. We’d like to extend our deepest condolences to the many friends and loved ones of Coach McVie.”
McVie told The Boston Globe after joining the Bruins organization in 1992 that he was proud to be a hockey lifer.
“If I wasn’t coaching hockey,” he said, “then I’d probably be driving the Zamboni.”
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McVie also coached in the AHL for New Jersey, working for the then-Utica Devils. They have since been renamed the Utica Comets, who honored him in a Monday social media post, calling McVie “a legend of the sport and our community,” and adding that “Tom was an outstanding leader, and an incredible human being.”
Fisher College is mourning the loss of a student who was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood over the weekend, the school confirmed Monday.
Two women were struck by a car on Washington Street at Lenox Street around 8:30 p.m. They were taken to the hospital where one woman, identified by the school as Taylor Wilkinson, died of her injuries.
“This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts go out to her family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing and loving her,” the statement from Steven Rich, president of Fisher College, reads.
Wilkinson, 20, graduated from the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers in Boston in 2023, and began classes at Fisher the same year, according to Rich’s statement. She was a sophomore at Fisher, majoring in management with a concentration in fashion merchandising. She leaves behind a twin sister, who is also a student at Fisher.
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Grief counseling services are available through the school’s Counseling Center and Health Services Department.
“In the days ahead, we will work closely with Taylor’s family to find meaningful ways to honor her memory. We will share further details as plans are finalized. For now, let us come together as a community to offer solace to those who are grieving and to reflect on the values of kindness, compassion, and unity that Taylor embodied,” Rich wrote.
Police continue to investigate the crash. The vehicle that struck Wilkinson is described as a dark-colored, compact Mercedes SUV, left the scene. The SUV is believed to have damage to its front grille and a front light, and missing the right side-view mirror. Anyone with information about the vehicle or its driver is asked to call police at 617-343-4470 or the anonymous tip line, 1-800-494-TIPS. Tips can also be texted to police anonymously by sending the word “TIP” to the number 27463 (CRIME).
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