By Rebecca Doran
As the United States gears up to host the FIFA World Cup next year, soccer venues have become a hot topic here in the Hub, amidst new stadiums for the local men’s and women’s club teams. Proposals for White Stadium in Jamaica Plain and a new Everett Stadium on the bank of the Mystic River, located just 10 miles apart, are both underway.
While drastically different proposals – one a public-private partnership to replace a stadium in need of desperate repair, and the other a private push to create a new sports venue on an unused industrial site space – both have been shrouded with controversy. And as with any major project, local elected officials, developers, and community advocates have varying perspectives on the most cost-efficient and appropriate ways to bring these facilities to the region. Let’s look at where things stand.
White Stadium
The public-private partnership proposal to develop a new White Stadium would bring an improved 11,000-seat arena to Franklin Park to serve as the new home field for Boston Legacy FC, a new National Women’s Soccer League team owned by Boston Unity Soccer Partners.
The deal struck between the City of Boston and Boston Unity Soccer Partners is currently projected to cost around $200 million – about double what original projections suggested – with the city on the hook for $91 million. As dictated by the agreement, the field would remain City-owned and be used for Boston Public Schools (BPS) athletic programs and as a hub for community activities.
The City has pointed to updates made to address community feedback, combined with rising construction costs, as the reason for the increased projections. But community advocates say that the changes don’t go far enough. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy, a nonprofit that focuses on more than 1,000 acres of parkland in the city of Boston, has launched legal action against the project alleging that it will privatize public land. The group helped form the Franklin Park Defenders to bring residents together to fight the project under a unified front, and just recently, unveiled an alternative plan for the stadium. Other groups, such as the Franklin Park Coalition, whose mission is to “serve as a voice for Franklin Park,” remain firmly in support of existing plans, indicating there is no consensus on either side.
The stadium project has also been a topic of conversation in the current mayoral election. Josh Kraft, Mayor Michelle Wu’s primary challenger, has used the proposed stadium project as an opportunity to criticize the Mayor for her approach, echoing the sentiments of Emerald Necklace Conservancy.
What’s next? The project is currently moving forward as planned, with the pre-existing stadium demolished earlier this year and completion slated for late 2026, just in time for use by Boston Legacy FC for the 2027 season. While this plays out, we will continue to see the stadium positioned as a key issue in the City of Boston’s mayoral race between now and November.
Everett Stadium
Across the Charles and the Mystic is the proposed site of a new waterfront stadium that would be home for the New England Revolution soccer team, located on a 43-acre site of a former power plant. With its proximity to Boston and available land, Everett has been ripe with development over the last several years, including Greystar’s contribution of 1,900 new housing units in the Commercial Triangle, and Davis’s proposed 100-acre multi-use development on the former Exxon Mobile site.
To make way for the stadium, lawmakers had to lift the designated port area status, which would allow for construction of the stadium with the stipulation that a strong community benefit agreement is reached.
The Kraft Group, which owns the Revolution and is led by Robert Kraft (father of mayoral candidate Josh Kraft), are the force behind the stadium and plan to privately fund the project. While they’ve partnered closely with Everett officials to this point, they are struggling to find common ground with their neighbor in the City of Boston.
Negotiations are currently underway between the City of Boston administration and the Kraft Group to reach community impact agreements, as mandated by a section of an economic development bill passed by the legislature last year. One of the biggest concerns raised is about transportation infrastructure, a long-time sore subject. The proposed stadium plans, which include only 75 parking spaces, would rely heavily on the existing public infrastructure in Everett and the City of Boston. Community members and public officials worry that the current system won’t be able to bear the weight of the increased traffic.
The biggest discrepancy is the mitigation proposal currently offered to the City of Boston that would guarantee $750,000 to enhance fields in the nearby Boston neighborhood of Charlestown. This pales in comparison to the $68 million community impact agreement reached around the nearby Encore casino. Recent communication between the City and the Kraft Group to work towards middle ground has not proven productive.
What’s next? Former Massport head Tom Glynn has been brought in to help mediate between the groups. If they can’t come to terms on a community impact agreement, the decision will go to arbitration. Regardless, as noted in a past IMG blog post, the project has miles to go before fans could ever see the inside of a stadium.
In Greater Boston’s political environment, it is a surprise to no one that such enormous proposals – both in scope and in price tag – would result in the controversy we’ve seen occur to date. While local soccer fans have much to look forward to, one thing is for sure – the path to completion for these projects has not been and will not be straightforward. We’ll be on the edge of our seats until resolutions are reached.