December 18, 2024
Despite new criticism over costs and impacts, Mayor Wu last week vowed to press forward with the city’s plan to fund its share of a partnership agreement that would transform the currently decrepit White Stadium in Franklin Park into a modern sports facility that would be shared by city schoolkids and a for-profit women’s soccer team.
The city and Boston Unity Soccer Partners LLC, a for-profit company, say the new stadium and complex would host the new BOS Nation FC, provide a state-of-the-art facility for Boston Public School (BPS) students to use as their home turf and still be available for community use. BPS, which is responsible for the existing stadium, cannot afford to renovate it alone, the city has said.
The Boston Globe and The Dorchester Reporter noted last week that the total cost of the project had about doubled from its initial number to nearly $200 million, with the city’s estimated share of the construction costs rising from $50 million to $91 million. And while the soccer team expects to start play in 2026, a trial scheduled for March in a lawsuit lodged by local opponents in now threatening that timeline.
In a Dec. 11 radio interview on WGBH, the mayor acknowledged the jump in estimated project costs and said that both the city and the soccer team share the responsibility for cost overruns. And she defended the project as co-host Jim Braude prodded her about considering alternatives, particularly as the Legislature has now opened the door to a professional soccer stadium in Everett.
“The costs of renovating something that has been falling apart for 40 years are significant ... Each side is responsible for what happens with costs on either side, and I will share that the increase in costs has happened on both sides, on the city and the team,” said Wu. “And we’re working toward the final lease details and I think that will become clear,” she added.
Braude took note of Wu’s concerns as a city councillor about the failed Boston 2024 Olympics plan and the potential for cost overruns to ultimately come at the expense of other city spending. He asked the mayor if she would guarantee that city taxpayers will not be on the hook for any more of the project costs if the city’s share rises again to more than the $91 million, similar to a question he said he asked leading Olympics booster John Fish years ago.
“We are going to pay for our half of the stadium, no matter what it costs,” Wu said. “But we’re about to begin construction, and we feel that the estimates that we have are going to be in the ballpark of what is needed, and that this overall is going to be a deal that is worth it for generations to come for our city.”
Residents and parks advocates who oppose the plan for the new stadium have banded together as the Franklin Park Defenders citizens group to sue the city and team in Superior Court, and a judge recently set a March 18, 2025 date for a trial.
“Boston taxpayers are being asked to write a blank check for the benefit of BOS Nation’s millionaire investors, with no limit to how much this bloated project could ultimately cost us,” Dorchester resident Jessica Spruill said in a statement. “The rush to complete this massive project on the soccer team’s forced timeline will certainly lead to additional cost overruns. There is still time for Mayor Wu to rethink this mistake and reconsider the many reasonable alternatives.”
Without addressing the group specifically, Wu responded to the argument from some that the city should instead spend about $20 million to renovate the existing stadium as a modest high school facility.
“This was built in 1949. So at $8 [million] to $20 million, sure we could repaint some things, sure we could make some cosmetic changes,” the mayor said. “But it would not allow us to really take things to the next level.”
On Tuesday, City Councillor Ed Flynn called on Wu to abandon the plan based on the rising cost to taxpayers. “We should cancel this proposal immediately,” he said, “and work together with residents and stakeholders across the city to provide the best option not only for our city and supporting a professional women’s soccer team, but one that incorporates the voice of our residents and student athletes as well.”
Staff from The Reporter contributed to this article.