March 11, 2025
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has the proposed Everett soccer stadium on her mind, and will be at a Knights of Columbus hall in Charlestown Tuesday night to hear from community members about the project.
The gathering marks the mayor's first public meeting about the stadium -- which could become the home for the New England Revolution -- after one was canceled on Feb. 19.
"For me right now the focus is going to be on transportation, access, pedestrian safety to and from, and also other impacts that the city will feel," the mayor said Tuesday during a GBH "Ask the Mayor" segment.
"We've also been talking to climate groups, with transportation and other officials around the types of mitigation that will be needed to offset the impacts," Wu said. Though the site is technically in Everett, Wu said the "frontage" will spill out onto Boston streets and through Charlestown's Sullivan Square, which is expected to be the main hub of transportation to and from the area on game days.
The meeting Tuesday serves as a way for the mayor and other officials to hear what residents are feeling about the project before the city comes up with "a package or an offer," Wu said. Local electeds Rep. Dan Ryan, Sen. Sal DiDomenico and City Councilor Gigi Coletta Zapata, will be there with the mayor.
Asked about what she wants for Boston from the project, and about the $750,000 the Kraft Group offered Boston in a 2023 agreement, Wu clarified that the sum is not a new figure.
"The $750,000 they mention isn't even a contribution to the city of Boston that is part of a new discussion. This was actually in the MOU negotiated with the city of Everett, where they had tossed something for Boston into there, and they're just reiterating that they had already committed to that," Wu said.
The project is expected to be funded by the Kraft Group. A 2024 economic development law enables development on the unused parcel of land on the Mystic River in Everett, where the stadium would be built -- if a community mitigation deal is not struck between parties by May 1, a mediator would need to get involved.
Josh Kraft, the son of Robert Kraft, the billionaire Kraft Group, New England Patriots and New England Revolution owner, is in the midst of a mayoral campaign against Wu. Kraft said during an interview on WCVB that aired Sunday that he would "recuse" himself from any stadium-related negotiations as mayor.
Wu said on a previous GBH segment that she believes "you can't recuse yourself from being mayor" and that the Everett stadium negotiations present Kraft with "a gigantic conflict of interest."
Asked on Tuesday what she would do if her father was about to build a stadium, Wu responded: "I would stay working for my father… Just kidding."
