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.”
BOSTON (WHDH) – The maker of the online learning platform Canvas has reportedly reached a deal wit the hackers who took down the site last week to get their data back.
The company did not reveal what was given to the hackers in exchange for the return of more than 275 million users’ data, but said they confirmed the data was detroyed.
Canvas was down for several hours last week because of the cyberattack.
The hacking group said nearly 9,000 schools worldwide were impacted, including Harvard University.
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They said they accessed billions of private messages and personal information.
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Investigators identified Tyler Brown of Boston as the man who allegedly opened fire on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, leaving two victims with life-threatening injuries.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said Brown fired 50 to 60 shots on the busy road shortly after 1 p.m. Monday.
Two male victims were hit in vehicles, Ryan said. They are in critical condition and fighting for their lives.
A Massachusetts State Police trooper and a civilian with a license to carry a firearm went toward the gunman and fired their weapons at him. Officers treated Brown at the scene, and he was brought to a Boston hospital, where he is in intensive care, according to the district attorney.
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This video shared with NBC10 Boston appears to show a man opening fire at cars on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Monday, May 11, 2026.
Authorities have, so far, shared limited information about the suspect.
“Mr. Brown is from Boston, and apparently was in the process of moving here. We understand that Mr. Brown was under the supervision of either the Massachusetts Probation Department or Department of Parole,” Ryan said.
She did not elaborate on why Brown may have been on probation or parole.
“We will address Mr. Brown’s criminal record, if any, at the arraignment,” she said.
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Ryan added that she did not know enough about Brown’s condition to say whether he would be arraigned in court or in a hospital bed. The timing was also not clear.
He will face two counts of armed assault with intent to murder and firearms charges, and “a variety of other charges as we unfold what took place, exactly, and we have a chance to speak to the many, many people who were out there,” Ryan said.
An inbound stretch of Storrow Drive and Soldiers Field Road will be closed each night through August for tunnel repairs, officials announced.
Starting Monday, the closures will begin at 8 p.m. and last until 5 a.m., state officials said.
Road closures begin at North Harvard Street in Allston and stretch along the Charles River Esplanade to Mugar Way in Boston, near the Hatch Memorial Shell, officials said.
Traffic will be detoured into Cambridge over the Anderson Bridge, along Memorial Drive, and then be routed into Boston over the Longfellow Bridge.
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The closures will allow ongoing repairs to the Storrow Drive Tunnel in the Back Bay.The work is the first phase of a two-stage project to extend the lifespan of the tunnel, which carries roughly 50,000 drivers to and from downtown Boston daily.
The outbound portion of the tunnel and accompanying roadways will not be affected.
State transportation officials said changes to the work schedule will be made when necessary to minimize impacts during major local events at TD Garden, Fenway Park, or during the FIFA World Cup and 250th anniversary celebrations scheduled for this summer.
Additional changes may be made without notice due to weather.
Transportation officials have not specified when the closures will end.
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Bryan Hecht can be reached at bryan.hecht@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism.
