Boston’s Planning and Development Agency has approved a controversial project to renovate a dilapidated high school sports stadium into a estimated $100 million project for a new professional women’s soccer team still facing a lawsuit filed by an environmental nonprofit and residents.
Designed by Stantec, the renovation approved by the BPDA on June 18 refreshes a nearly 80-year-old stadium located in Franklin Park, the centerpiece of famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The National Women’s Soccer League expansion team would play up to 20 games per year in the roughly 11,000-seat stadium that would continue to host Boston Public Schools athletic events.
Boston Unity Soccer Partners LLC is splitting the tab for the public-private partnership project evenly with the city, which will borrow its $50 million share of the funds.
Critics, including the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and other groups, argue the project encroaches on protected open space by limiting access and creating noise and traffic. They also argue that the project first proposed in 2022 and presented to the BPDA in December 2023 did not provide time for the community to digest and comment on the plan.
On its website, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy said the project moved forward “without a proper environmental review or community process. However, this proposal has alarmed many members of the community, around the park and throughout the city, and it is not in the best interest of this important and historic park, the environment or the communities it serves”.
Proponents, including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, respond by saying more than 50 public and small group meetings elicited thousands of public comments over a two-year period. The city says those comments were incorporated into the updated design.
“The project will maintain a high level of commitment going forward to ensure that the renovation provides more open public space, improved amenities for community events,” the mayor’s office said in a press release, “and closely aligns with the recommendations of the Franklin Park Action Plan.”
Proponents also argue that the plan activates an underutilized part of the city that otherwise lacks other redevelopment options. Some of the bleachers in what would otherwise be a 10,000-seat stadium are unusable after a fire damaged them decades ago.
“This is a major milestone for a project that has been decades in the making, finally giving the BPS athletes and student community a beautiful new home at White Stadium,” Wu said in a statement. “This approval provides greatly expanded BPS and community use hours, world-class community and athletic facilities, over an acre of additional green space open to the public, and guaranteed annual funding to invest in Franklin Park.”
The city says the project will seek LEED Gold certification and would be one of three net-zero carbon stadiums in the country. It would include a professional turf field and upgrading the existing six-lane track to eight lanes. Other amenities include professional grade locker rooms and press room, corporate suites and commercial kitchens. The proposal also calls for more than 60,000 square meters of land around the stadium to be turned into an event space called “The Grove,” which would include an entrance plaza and a possible beer garden.
Although the new NWSL team hopes to begin play in the renovated stadium in the spring of 2026, the project requires approval from the Parks Commission and other permits before demolition and construction can begin this fall. The city must also finalize the lease agreement with Boston Unity Soccer Partners, as well as the transportation plan for the project.
