By Adam Swift
The development team working with the city in the public-private partnership to renovate White Stadium in Franklin Park continues to look at adjustments to its plans in response to community concerns.
Boston Unity Soccer Partners have a public-private partnership with the city of Boston and Boston Public Schools to renovate White Stadium to bring a professional women’s soccer team to Boston in 2026.
Under the agreement with the city, Boston Unity will redevelop the west grandstands and create a public area called the Grove just outside the entrance of the stadium. The city would be responsible for the redevelopment of the east grandstands as well as the field itself.
Boston Unity would have full use of the stadium for about 20 game days from May through November, while the updated stadium would be open for use by the city, school sports and other activities, and possible community events the rest of the year.
An online informational meeting was held last week as part of the city’s Article 80 online review process. If the permitting and review process goes according to schedule, demolition for the project could begin in the spring.
The development team from Boston Unity provided updates to a previous version of the plan, including the removal of two smaller buildings and changes to the transportation plan.
Morgan McDaniel, the city’s Deputy Chief of Operations, addressed some concerns she has heard about the upgrades to the 10,000 seat stadium, which originally opened in the 1940s.
“I’ve been hearing some concerns from community groups that the Boston Public Schools students will not be able to use the stadium, and that is absolutely untrue,” said McDaniel. “This is an investment so students and community members can have a beautiful facility they can take advantage of.”
McDaniel said the city is working closely with the Boston Unity development team to coordinate the design of the two portions of the project.
McDaniel also noted that the city has heard a lot of concerns and requests for restrictions on parking in the nearby neighborhoods on game days and the need for game day parking restrictions and enforcement. McDaniel added that there has also been a lot of people advocating for a residential parking program in the Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and Dorchester neighborhoods, and that there would be a continuing public process to study that issue.
Jennifer Epstein, one of the principals of Boston Unity Soccer, said her team envisions a partnership with the city, the Boston Public Schools, Franklin Park, and the neighborhoods that provides increased amenities in the park, new jobs focused on the local community, and significant improvements for students.
Tamara Roy of Stantech Architects said there have been several changes to the design plans since they were last presented in November.
The East Pavilion building was removed to save some trees near the tennis courts, and a smaller North Crescent building was also removed from the plans.
The Boston Unity portion of the project also calls for new locker rooms and athletic training facilities, a new scoreboard, and improved lighting and fencing.
The Grove area at the south of the building will provide a 62,500-square-foot outside area for pre- and post-game activities, as well as community celebrations and events, according to Roy.
Roy said the goal is to make the project as sustainable and resilient as possible, with no greenhouse gasses produced.
Brian Beisel, the transportation consultant for the project said the main takeaways from the transportation plan are that there will be no parking onsite, and that there will be satellite parking areas with shuttle service for people who do want to drive to the games and not use public transportation.
The latest update to the transportation plan also includes a specified area outside of Franklin Park for rideshare vehicles such as Ubers and Lyfts, Beisel said.
In addition, the Seaver Street exit will remain closed as part of the plan, addressing concerns that have been raised by residents during the planning process, he added.
Even with the updates to the transportation plan, there were still some residents at last week’s meeting who raised concerns about traffic and parking in the area.
“In general, I am in agreement with everyone saying this is going to be a wonderful stadium, but not in Franklin Park,” said Marti Glynn, the president of the Dorchester Civic Association.
Even with the shuttle services offsite, Glynn said there will still be a heavy influx of vehicle traffic into the neighborhoods around the stadium on game days.
Glynn also questioned the feasibility of expanding the residential parking programs into Dorchester and the surrounding neighborhoods.
“As I understand it, there is not enough staff to enforce the districts that currently have it, much less to expand it to areas such as Dorchester,” said Glynn.
Annie Weatherwax also raised concerns about increased traffic.
“Traffic in the neighborhood is terrible, and it is dangerous for pedestrians,” Weatherwax said.
Louis Elison, who is on the Impact Advisory Group for the project, thanked the development team for making some of the changes to address concerns that have been raised during the process.
“I feel like everyone wants this to work, and we love the thoughtful, holistic approach to this,” said District 7 City Councilor Tania Anderson.
Anderson said she would push for the city and its transportation plan to keep looking at a full-time residential parking plan for the neighborhoods in her district and near the stadium.