Franklin Park’s White Stadium planned renovation moves forward despite legal spat
The planned massive renovation at Franklin Park’s White Stadium will be in front of the Boston Planning & Development Agency this week, fresh off key approvals from other city boards.
“I feel confident because this process has been so thorough and extensive,” Boston Unity Soccer Partner’s controlling manager Jennifer Epstein told the Herald. “There has been so much community input that our plans continue to get better and better.”
Epstein is the leader of the all-female ownership group behind the push to bring the next professional women’s soccer team, which would take up residence at White Stadium, to the city.
Boston Unity won an expansion bid last September to become the 15th team of the National Women’s Soccer League.
In a public-private partnership with the city, Boston Unity received approval to renovate the long-neglected venue at Franklin Park from the Civic Design Commission last Tuesday after receiving a green light from the Landmarks Commission late last month.
The BPDA will take up the project on July 18, Epstein told the Herald at a community summer celebration at the stadium on Thursday.
Neighborhood advocates have alleged the city is violating the constitution in its pursuit of the renovation, suing the city and Boston Unity over what they say would “illegally transfer the public trust lands” to “a private party.”
Jon Ball lives on nearby Forest Hills Street in Jamaica Plain and is one of the 21 residents, dubbed the Franklin Park Defenders, who joined the nonprofit advocacy group Emerald Necklace Conservancy on the lawsuit. He stood next to a display sign during Thursday’s event that bore a message resonating with fellow plaintiffs: “Franklin Park is under siege.”
The sign highlighted his concerns over the White Stadium renovation, redevelopment of the Shattuck Hospital, an animal shelter relocation, and a redesign of Blue Hill Avenue. The proposals bring residents concern about potential gentrification and displacement, Ball told the Herald.
The neighborhood resident also said he believes there has been a lack of public participation throughout the process.
“Here’s the bottom line: They wouldn’t do this to the Common. They wouldn’t do this to the Back Bay Fens,” Ball said. “They’re just doing it because people who live here don’t have political clout.”
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.
Boston Unity is slated to contribute $50 million, with the city matching that investment.
Undeterred by Ellis’ decision to throw out their push for an injunction, the plaintiffs announced in April their plans to continue the lawsuit and proceed to legal discovery, “to reveal the many details of this soccer stadium plan that have not been made public.”
For the renovated stadium to be ready for the 2026 season, when Boston Unity is slated to take the pitch, the city will have to “keep proceeding pretty quickly,” Mayor Michelle Wu told reporters.
Construction could “potentially” start as soon as later this summer, the mayor said, adding how the lawsuit did not present a barrier for the project to move forward.
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.
The endeavor is “exhilarating” and “inspires hope,” said Hatim Jean-Louis, the citywide cross-country coach for BPS. He is set to bring 28 student athletes who practice at the stadium to New York on Friday to compete in the Junior Olympics.
“This is long overdue,” Jean-Louis said. “I believe this is going to rejuvenate and put a lot of energy into our city.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/NK9sAGi
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