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Plans for revamped White Stadium include a restaurant with a bar
By adamg on Fri, 12/01/2023 - 9:42am
The group working to bring a women's professional soccer team to Boston will soon file detailed renovation plans for turning the dilapidated White Stadium into a state-of-the-art soccer arena to be shared with Boston Public Schools and the general public - to be opened in time for the start of the 2026 National Women's Soccer League season.
In a "letter of intent" filed with the BPDA this week, Boston Unity Soccer Partners says part of its plans will include new 14,000-square-foot structures in the "Grove area" next to the stadium that will include a restaurant and bar, along with an area to sell souvenirs and related items and an area for "open space community activities."
The new Grove-area facilities will be open year round, the group says, in part for use in public events.
Under an agreement with the city, which owns the stadium, the group and the city will split renovations to the stadium itself. Boston Unity says it will extensively renovate and remodel the grandstand on the west side of the stadium to include not just seating areas but player locker rooms, food preparation and sales areas, a concourse and an area for the media.
In addition to the restaurant, the Grove area will also get a video scoreboard.
The city Public Facilities Department:
Will be providing the soccer playing field and the athletic track and field areas; re-constructing the East Grandstand (and its spectator viewing areas; concourse; lavatories; locker-rooms; office/administrative areas; storage and other related facilities); and rehabilitating certain other areas and facilities on the White Stadium Parcel on behalf of the City.
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Comments
No one asked me
But I think they would do better building a stadium ( or using one) in the suburbs.
Something Tells Me....
This plan will go away awfully fast if Everett gets approved for the Revs.
The plan for people from Hingham / Hanover / Norwell to park at Mass and Cass and then take shuttles to White Stadium is some of the funniest stuff I have read in years.
These people think a gas regulator in Weymouth was going to incinerate their kids five miles away. Do you really think Cassie's Mom is going to park the G Wagon off Southampton Street and then go to a game on a bus? Ha ha ha.
Sure, JP and Camberville will supply fans to the greater Grove Hall area, just like they say they will. Just like they did when the Breakers played at Harvard and Dilboy. Opps, that's right they didn't.
Good luck to this team but get real.
My Daughter loves soccer
And the last Breakers game we went to 4 or 5 years ago the attendance looked like a high school game, and if I remember they had two players who were on the National team so you would think that would be a draw.
pretty sure the state just killed that
by removing language from the budget plan that would remove the port or industrial designation on the land they wanted to use for the stadium.... Does not seem like the state wants a purpose built soccer stadium anywhere near the city where it will draw a crowd....
This Is Political Machinations
Somebody does not want a concert venue so close to theirs and might have the ear of some Reps and Senators.
Give this time for the money to go around.
Remember when a certain concert venue was built in Boston in the mid-90's, the State held things up to get a lot of concessions (yes this is a hint if you know what I mean) owing that the people who wanted to build the concert facility needed a small parcel of state land.
I was counting on ya JC to
I was counting on ya JC to deliver the way decisions are made where the buck stops. And you did not disappoint me. I know others may disagree or want to envision such dreams happen, but yeah. And that's THE WAYIT IZZZZ.....HRRRHHH!!
No.
I cannot wait to have a professional soccer team that I can take a long walk or a short bus ride to. I will absolutely buy season tickets.
If they put it in the suburbs, I'd go to maybe one game a year.
The biggest factor limiting the Revolution fan base growing is the stadium being in the middle of nowhere while their potential fan base, which skews younger and less white, is located in the city.
Make it affordable.
Make it affordable.
Revs Fan Base?
Is doing just fine.
Remember there are people who enjoy soccer from beyond the 3 mile radius from Inman or Hyde Squares.
I know it hard to understand but their attendance figures, despite not catering directly to you are doing just fine.
The Cambrerville / JP Egocentricity is amazing. It is not just you who likes the game.
There are 4.9 million people in the easterly part of the state. Some of us enjoy soccer too and go to more than one game a year.
Free parking / ease in and out is awesome. Not having to listen to the Nerd Reveres chant on the Orange Line like they think they are in Lens or St. Etienne for now, is priceless and I will treasure every second until they move.
I'm like you, a frequent
I'm like you, a frequent soccer viewer who would buy tickets if the Revs played in or near the city. I live in Newton and take transit to hockey games all over Boston(I took the 57 bus to Agganis Arena last night). That said, I've always been skeptical about the Revs ever leaving Foxborough. Business seems good down there. A stadium in, say, the Assembly Square area would be great, with I-93 and the Orange Line, but Everett?
Everett is right next to Somerville and the Orange Line
And a bridge will be built, starting next year, across the Mystic River to connect the two cities. People would be able to walk from Assembly station to the new stadium if it's ever built.
Yes!
Happy to see white stadium get some love. My wife and I will happily walk over to watch women's soccer. It will bring some needed activity and life to the stadium.
Or did someone just do a land
Or did someone just do a land grab? Looks like someone just willed a piece of commercial real estate out of thin air. Hard to believe anyone would build on land they don’t own without at least a long term lease.
Plus where are they getting a
Plus where are they getting a liquor license?
Liquor license
I'm sure they've considered an approach there. There are already concessions in the law for temporary event licenses, I imagine stadiums and such probably have their own carve out as well
pay no attention to that man behind the curtain
it's just like the Olympics. they know what's best for them, er, the City.
Parking? Traffic?
Where will the city allow parking for these games? What is the plan for traffic management?
I know it has been suggested that fans will walk from Green St Station or take shuttle buses from remote locations, but there is no indication that people want to walk 23 minutes (according to Google) or take a shuttle bus from Milton or Quincy or wherever.
Once again, the city and the NWSL are pretending that people don't have cars and will just accept the inconvenience of a long walk or shuttle buses. Even most of the parking on Circuit Drive currently used for events at Franklin Park will be a long walk to the stadium.
Unless there is a realistic plan for parking and traffic, this team will be out of business in, or at the end of, the first season.
Its not a 23 minute walk.
Its not a 23 minute walk. Look at the route on Google Maps. It makes no sense. I'd say its closer to 15.
I think this will be a disaster in one of two ways: Either no one shows up for these games and the team goes out of business, or people do show up and there literally is not enough room for all the cars and a once quiet park and neighborhood is now flooded with suburbanites and their SUVs.
The walk from Green Street station
The length of the walk is not a problem, but it is a substantial hill climb. Google Maps says it's 105 feet. It tires me out if I bike it.
Walking from Stony Brook via
Walking from Stony Brook via Montebello or Iffley or from Green Street via Glen Road is short but steep. Walking from Jackson is a little longer but flatter. Between those three stops and whatever shuttles they run from Forest Hills, I think it's doable.
The Olympics 2024 bid speculated they could move a hell of a lot more people than this, and do it almost daily for weeks. That was absurd. The scale of this seems possible, though. No problem free, but possible.
Never trust Google walking times
I think they are based on the slowest of walkers.
In general, people should find out how fast/slow they walk. It helps in figuring out how far things really are.
That said, I can't wait to start driving over to Franklin Park to watch some women's soccer.
What about Gillette?
Stony Brook station is only 0.8 miles from White Stadium, so a reasonable 20 minute walk after factoring in the elevation change. Much of the parking at Gillette is on the other side of Route 1 and is a mile or more walking distance from the stadium. That doesn't seem to deter people from attending the game.
Put up the Resident Parking signs already
JP is overrun with commuters and out of state fraudsters.
The linked filing gives the
The linked filing gives the area as "0 sq ft." How are they going to fit a 14,000-square-foot structure into that?
At what point can we expect them to file plans with any connection to either the laws of physics, or what they want to do with the site?
Magoo sez
Magoo luvs futbol. Magoo also luvs futbol americano, except for the Patriots which stink worse than Magoo’s grundel. Magoo.
The Mayor . . . . .
will surely object over the lack of public hearings, public oversight, and public benefits like she did on the Everett proposal.
Right!
Right?
That was not the Mayor's objection
She objected to there being an MoA between Everett and the Krafts, which totally ignored that part of the stadium would be in Boston, and all of the infrastructure upgrades would be in Boston, while not including or even giving lip service to an MoA with Boston itself. She was right to object on that basis.
Did you miss that whole "meeting schedule" link above?
This is like, step 1 of a plan like this. There will be a lot of (some might say too many) public hearings, public oversight, etc before this moves forward.
Maybe they make Boston Common
Maybe they make Boston Common safe next
Can't wait for this to happen!
As a resident of JP abutting Franklin Park, I'd much rather have the park get love and funding for sporting and community events rather than having an 800+ person drug treatment facility rammed through on park land. Its a park, where people recreate, play sports, attend community events, and relax. Having a professional sports team call White Stadium their home actually makes a lot of sense! Plus, this means the stadium gets renovated for BPS students, who will have professional athletes to look up to. I can't wait to attend some games once this comes in.
As for parking, let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Resident parking restrictions would go a long way towards alleviating the problem. Even on the other side of Franklin Park, we get non-residents parking on our street to go golfing. Resident parking restrictions would be lovely. However, I'm not gonna deprive BPS students of a state-of-the-art athletics facility just because of parking.
Give the park love and funding….
…. for peace and quiet and nature. What is left of it in Franklin Park.
None of which a sports stadium provides.
A food hall, souvenir shops in the Grove? May Dog smote them with canine lightening.
Resident only parking is the height of stupid selfish elitism.
Quite a narrow definition of "park"
A park can be many things, not just quiet nature. As someone who dons a backpack and retreats to the White Mountains occasionally, The Wilderness in Franklin Park is, by far, my favorite part! But, as a community asset, Franklin Park can't just be what I want it to be; it needs to serve all of Boston's needs. Having a sports stadium revamped for BPS students is awesome, and having it be utilized more often is good land use.
Resident-only parking will help lead to more people using public transit to get to games. In order to disincentivize driving, we need to restrict parking. We need to make it so that the most convenient way of getting places in the city is to take a bus, train, or shuttle. Resident-only parking is just one way we can start to break ourselves free from relying on auto transportation, along with bike lanes, better and more bus service, a more reliable T, and walkable neighborhood development.
There are already restaurants in the park. Both the Golf Course and the Zoo offer food. The Zoo sells souvenirs. Maybe Franklin Park could take a page from Central Park's book and be more than just quiet nature. As it's very accessible by public transit, Franklin Park has the opportunity to be more things to more people!
“ Resident-only parking is
“ Resident-only parking is just one way we can start to break ourselves free from relying on auto transportation”
Hahahahahahaha! You’re spoofing, right!
I heard the White Mountains just went resident only parking. That’s good because people from the Franklin Park Golf Course have been taking up spots there too. But just a few more steps for you, city feller. Nothing you can’t handle.
Eliminate all on street parking for all drivers except the mobility compromised. Build yourself a driveway or rent off street parking.Take some responsibility.
Problem solved.
Responsibility taken
I park off-street on my private property.
Comparing the White Mountains to a park in the middle of the city is asinine. Please show me the limited amount of land around the White Mountains where hundreds of thousands of people live within a couple square-miles radius.
As much as I’d love to completely ban on-street parking, that just isn’t practical right now. Baby steps…
Baby steps.
Are delay tactics, they are not taking responsibility. Be an adult.
LOLOLOL
Enabling people who don't live here to park here indefinitely is the height of stupidity. Fitting that you endorse it.
Are you saying
That White Stadium as it is now shouldn't be a part of Franklin Park?
question about the grove
I think this has potential. I hope BPS teams who still use the stadium feel some love-- they've dealt with broken toilets and dangerous bleachers far too long. And the potential for concerts or other events is fun. Parking will be a bitch, just as it is for Fenway, but not an insurmountable one. So much of what used to be a joy in Boston is moving out of the city or shutting down, I'd like to see something open up for a change. As always, I'm concerned about real estate vultures swooping in and displacing people from our dwindling affordable rental reserves. At least this is staying within the park footprint and not a big overreach in expanding the existing stadium, unlike the Olympic bid's proposed equestrian ring
Adam (& anyone else familiar), looking at the letter of intent, I'm trying to figure out how the restaurant, press area, etc fit into what they're calling the "grove." I assume the grove is the semicircle of field adjacent to the stadium, where the portajohns and flag staff are now, basically from the stadium to the overlook. It seems too small for what they're describing, but I don't have the best memory for spaces (even though I jogged through this area 8 hours ago).
White stadium in Mattapan?
BPDA link indicates project is in Mattapan and zero square feet. Seems off.
Is this some kind of benefits land grab?
Adam why didn't you research this?
I think it's doable
And I was at the "back" entrance to the zoo a few hours before you- unless you were the woman I tried to warn about the ice on schoolmaster hill, in which case we were there at the same time.
From the perspective of the BAA Half, this is the space where they give out medals and free food. I think it can be built out without affecting the other athletic fields in the area.
Just goes to show you
no business is profitable unless they’re selling alcohol.
"The Grove"
"The Grove" sounds like what is now known as the Franklin Park Overlook Ruins and was formerly the home of the Elma Lewis Playhouse in the Park. The Elma Lewis Playhouse in the Park still exists but it has been moved to flatter land and you bring your own chairs now.