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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.”
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.
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.
“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.”
Originally Published:
It may actually begin to look a lot like Christmas, at least for a moment to kick off the weekend before the busy holiday week.
We’ve mentioned an offshore system developing Friday a few times this week, but a separate system to our west will dive just south of New England as the coastal storm develops. Why does this matter? Well, that incoming storm may tug or influence the coastal low, forcing the system to drift closer to the Southern New England coast. This could bring some rain and accumulating snow for Boston and other parts of coastal New England Friday into Saturday morning.
There’s still uncertainty as to how much the two storms will interact and that will determine the final storm track. But should the coastal low push west enough to clip the coast, we should only see relatively weak impacts and perhaps just some festive light snow showers as you’re out in the city Friday evening or shopping Saturday morning.
It’s looking like some light rain and snow showers will begin working into Southern New England and the Boston area mid-afternoon on Friday and bring light to steady precipitation throughout the evening. Like a similar storm last week, wet weather will enter the picture from the south and be supported by additional moisture blowing onshore from the east. At some point Friday night, the wind direction will shift to the northeast as the core of the storm passes offshore, making this storm technically a nor’easter.
Just like a similar system last week, the storm will strengthen as it passes and therefore race out of the region. By Saturday morning, between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., this storm will be near Nova Scotia and clouds will be thinning for a dry weekend.
Temperatures will be in the mid-30s from Worcester to Boston Friday afternoon with Southeastern Mass. and the Cape closer to 40 degrees. With some added warmth blowing on shore, that’ll make it even trickier to set the rain-snow line and those areas could start off with rain.
I’d say that I-495 and east to Boston, south to the Cape, will start with cold rain before quickly switching to light snow showers as the temperatures drop heading into Friday evening. Western New England won’t see much action with this storm outside of a few flurries at times.
A switch to snow from the Boston area to south coastal areas should happen fairly quickly and really only the outer Cape will stick to rain.
All in all, it’s looking like light accumulations from a coating to 2 inches, with the higher totals happening around the I-95 and I-495 belts. There could be a heavier pocket of snow that pushes an isolated 3 inches in a couple of spots.
Outside of Southern New England, Downeast Maine will be clipped by the outer edge of this storm, where Bangor to Millinocket might snag about 4 to 6 inches.
This storm will strengthen as the evening progresses and wind gusts will reach anywhere from 20 to 30 miles per hour for folks along the coast. The blustery conditions will likely stay in place Saturday after the storm passes.
The main question is: If it does snow more than an inch in Boston, will it be enough to stick around to count as a white Christmas come Wednesday morning? We’ll keep you posted.
Ken Mahan can be reached at ken.mahan@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @kenmahantheweatherman.
A man is facing charges for stabbing someone five times outside a Boston music venue this month, prosecutors said.
Witnesses told investigators the fight that led to the stabbing early Dec. 1 near the Roadrunner in Brighton began when Collin Hullum’s sister was confronted for cutting a line at the bar, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday. A TikTok video showing part of the ensuing incident depicts Hullum with a knife, they said.
On Tuesday, Hullum, 36, was ordered held without bail on charges of assault to kill and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, prosecutors said. He’s due back in court Thursday.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Hullum had an attorney who could speak to his arrest.
The incident was reported about 2:34 a.m., where a 26-year-old man was being treated after being stabbed five times in the back, prosecutors said. Surveillance footage showed him and his friends arguing with three people inside the entrance to the neighboring Warrior Ice Arena.
One of the three people, later identified as Hullum, can be seen striking the man who was wounded in the back, prosecutors said. He was tracked down through eyewitness accounts and surveillance video showing him walking to his car and driving away.
Prosecutors said the man who was stabbed appeared to have been trying to break the fight up.
“What was supposed to be an evening out enjoying a show quickly turned into a violent altercation that resulted in one man facing serious injuries and another man facing serious charges. The victim here seemed to be attempting to stop the violence. I thank him for that and I wish him a full recovery,” District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement.
Another person seen with a knife in the fight tried stabbing two people inside the Warrior Ice Arena’s foyer as well, and will face charges later, according to prosecutors.
Neighborhoods
Missed the viral Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest in New York? Couldn’t make it to the Tom Holland lookalike contest on Boston Common? GBH Kids and Boston Children’s Museum has the event for you.
The two groups are joining forces to host an Arthur the Aardvark lookalike contest on Dec. 20 in honor of the longtime PBS Kids show produced by GBH. The contest is set to take place at noon, rain or shine, in front of the Hood Milk Bottle, a representative from GBH said.
The representative said fans of “all ages” are encouraged to dress up as Arthur to compete in the contest. Participants may win prizes like Boston Children’s Museum tickets and the opportunity to have a photo of them dressed as the aardvark featured as Arthur’s official TikTok and Instagram profile picture.
GBH said attendees will have the chance to pick up some Arthur-themed swag at the event, and Arthur himself may even be around to snap some selfies.
The show, aptly named Arthur, was created in Boston for GBH in 1996 based on books by author Mike Brown. The anthropomorphic aardvark is known for his “signature look,” GBH said, which consists of a yellow sweater, blue jeans, and big, round glasses.
The Boston’s Children’s Museum even has an exhibit dedicated to the cartoon called “Arthur and Friends,” intended to encourage skills like “reading, understanding feelings, creative problem solving, and connecting with friends and family,” the museum’s website said. According to the GBH spokesperson, their “longstanding partnership” with the museum, and the exhibit, made the perfect recipe for a lookalike contest.
Doppelganger face-offs have had their share of viral moments lately, starting off with the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest in November. Since then, multiple similar contests have sprung up around the country, including a Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest in Chicago, and yes, even a JFK lookalike contest here in Boston.
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