Boston, MA
Boston’s White Stadium renovation to be focus of trial next March, city attorney says
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: