Gene McGuire, a member of the Franklin Park Defenders, announced Tuesday that he will continue his lawsuit to prevent professional soccer teams from using White Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)
Neighbors and park advocates who tried unsuccessfully to stall the city and a professional women's soccer team's plans to restore and use Franklin Park's White Stadium have vowed to continue fighting both parties in court.
Representatives from the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and a group of residents involved in the lawsuit against the city and Boston Unity Soccer Partners gathered at White Stadium for a news conference Tuesday, calling the reuse plan an “unconstitutional privatization” of the land. claimed to be the case. .
Last month, a Suffolk Superior Court judge ruled against a request for an injunction to halt the project, but the plaintiffs continued their lawsuit and said they wanted to “uncover many details of this soccer stadium.” ” announced plans to proceed with legal discovery. No plans have been made public,” said Eggleston Square resident Renee Welch.
“We're going to continue to challenge the city,” said plaintiff Luis Eliza, a former regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and president of Roxbury's Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association.
He said the plan would “take away the spaces and activities that are here for the community that were created for people to take a break from the challenges of urban communities.”
Welch said the group was “disappointed” by the judge's decision, but “it did not affect the underlying litigation.”
“In the weeks since the ruling, the city has been proactive, holding several public meetings about the project, but residents' concerns continue to be ignored,” Welch said. “Instead, city officials have dismissed residents' concerns as frivolous.”
On the night of the judge's ruling, Mayor Michelle Wu said, “This frivolous lawsuit by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy threatens our continued commitment to making a generational investment in White Stadium and Franklin Park. I was thrilled to see the court's clear ruling that they should not be hindered from interacting with society.” ”
The mayor says the renovation plan, which will cost Boston Unity $30 million and the city $50 million, will benefit both the new soccer team and the community, according to the complaint, but the plaintiffs say the renovation plan will benefit both the new soccer team and the community. Disagree and remain convinced. Boston public school student-athletes will be traveling to attend professional games and practices.
Plaintiffs also reiterated their skepticism that most people attending professional soccer games would choose public transportation, citing White Stadium's narrow parking lot and that the planned redevelopment would instead create a traffic jam. and public safety issues caused by excessive parking on nearby roads.
But their main issue revolves around the purported privatization of White Stadium, a claim the mayor has previously disputed as “either a misunderstanding or a lie.”
According to the complaint, the project involved the “illegal transfer of “public trust lands” held by White Fund Trust beneficiaries to private entities, and the private entities' extensive and extensive use of these lands for professional operations. “We guarantee exclusive use.” sports team.
“This idea of wanting to set up a private soccer league in White Stadium, which has been abandoned for 35 years, worries me, because if that soil is still there and they haven't done any cleaning or basic maintenance of the park… So how can we believe that now? “Are they going to find $50 million?'' ” said Elisa.
Boston Unity Soccer Partners, an all-female ownership group, was the only response to the city's request for proposals for White Stadium, winning an expansion bid in September and becoming the National Women's Soccer League's 15th team. became.
The team is scheduled to begin play in the renovated stadium in the spring of 2026. The group, whose investors include Boston Globe CEO Linda Pizzuti Henry, said construction, which includes adding 1,000 seats to the 10,000-seat stadium, would create 500 jobs, including 300 jobs. is created permanently.
“Many of us here love soccer,” said Karen Mauney Brodeck, president of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, a nonprofit park advocacy group. “We think it's good for Boston to have a football team here, but not in this park, which is so important to the health and well-being and needs of Boston Public Schools students. .”
Boston Unity Soccer Partners said in a statement Tuesday that the judge's ruling last month shows “there is no legal basis to challenge the public-private community partnership to revitalize White Stadium.” Ta.
The group also said the Emerald Necklace Conservancy's “sentiment” is inconsistent with the community feedback it has sought since it began the stadium redevelopment process a year and a half ago.
“We continue to invite the entire community to provide constructive feedback on the proposed plan and to participate in our many upcoming public meetings,” Boston Unity said in a statement. “We are proud to be part of a project that celebrates the legacy of White Stadium, ensuring it continues to serve as a cornerstone of our community for generations to come.”
The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment.
