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Cost of Boston's part of proposed new White Stadium jumps 80%
By adamg on Sat, 12/07/2024 - 10:15am
Rendering of proposed city-funded grandstand, as seen from Playstead Road.
The Globe reports the city is now expecting to have to pay $91 million for its part of the proposed White Stadium reconstruction, up from its initial estimate of $50 million.
And the overall cost of turning the current antiquated stadium, half of which was ruined in a fire in the 1990s is now closer to $200 million, the Globe reports. The Boston women's soccer team, which is currently reevaluating its proposed name, would pay the rest.
The city says the extra costs are due in part to changes made in response to community demands. The city's part of the project will include rebuilding the seating area on one side of the stadium, along with new athletic training and learning spaces underneath the seats and an eight-lane tracks.
Opponents, who are fighting what they call the privatization of part of Franklin Park are, of course, aghast. Wu administration officials say the deal would fix a vexing, decades-old problem of rebuilding a half-unusable stadium that would better serve the BPS athletes who would use it.
Watch the Public Improvement Commission meeting last month at which the revised cost was first raised. Brian Melia, who asked for an increase in the contract with the project's designer, is a city project manager:
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Comments
We don’t need two soccer
We don’t need two soccer stadiums. Especially since both have their hands out, though this one is particularly egregiously greedy. The two soccer ownership groups need to work on sharing one, ideally one that isn’t stealing land from Boston student athletes and the community and doesn’t need government welfare. The billionaires from both groups should pay all costs without needing handouts or giving away the naming rights to the Boston Convention center, which is a handout.
Scrap it
why wouldn’t the women’s team make you kick in an extra 41 million? They have the option to go to a brand new stadium in Everett soon after this…the city is giving them way too much control.
It really turns my stomach that we rushed to give these extremely wealthy white women a $91 million gift when we could rehab the stadium and maintain it for years and years and years and years for $91 million . But because it’s for poor Black kids it just cannot be done on it owns merit.
You’re running around telling us about an 8% budget increase..and the city has nowhere to cut back but in the meanwhile, in the background, you’re doing this!
Tania Fernandes Anderson just got chandcuffee for $7000 and stolen funds. And as wrong as she was—Everyone at these community meetings and everyone in the public has been told $50 million figure and now it feels to me like you’re stealing $41 million.
I hate hate HATE that Mayor Wu tried to sneak this by us all and asked Everett to slow down on their soccer stadium while trying to absolute whisk thiis paat us. Trying to build and open that stadium in what feels like less than 2 years was always hasty on its surface— but to know we are this open to being stuck up for funds by the group is extremely concerning.
I don't like how they all tried to blame the increase in community concern either. Really? To the tune of +80%? Get outta town. Embarrassing.
Well said.
I am a long time supporter and believer in Mayor Wu. But this is a stain on her leadership. Big mistake. Needs to be stopped now even more than ever.
What concrete rules has Wu delivered?
Her entire tenure has been defined by disorganization and inexperienced people making blunders. She has very few accomplishments to her name.
Less concrete.
More green.
Very unresponsive...
@Jiggles - Yes, I've noticed the 311/constituent service line to be a joke. It's like calling the RMV. Same goes for email/calls to numerous other city agencies and departments.
When Someone Is In A Hole - Take Away Their Shovel
Would somebody please advise the Mayor that in order for this thing not to spiral into an even larger mess, that it is time to admit that this plan needs to be killed?
Suck it up. Admit defeat. It is the right thing to do. It will actually make her re-election prospects better.
After construction starts, there will be change orders, unforeseen problems, concrete that needs to be replaced, "supply chain" issues, that will keep pushing the costs higher.
The City will then be on the hook for even more. I'd rather some more books and the HS kids having decent equipment and unis.
It is not fair to the taxpayers of the city (and state), both residential and commercial. It is not fair to the people of Seaver Street and Walnut Avenue who will have Hingham Mommy Tanks driving around looking confused for parking spaces for the games. (Hingham people don't take buses, trust me). It is not fair to the people who worked hard to get Franklin Park back from the 70's and 80's mess which it was.
Back when the Kraft threatened to move the Pats to Hartford a group of prominent local people got together and asked Kraft to cut it out. At the same time, the local unions were told to stick their "Megaplex" idea for South Bay up their hole. A deal was worked out, no public monies were spent on the new Foxboro stadium outside of needed road improvements.
Billy Bulger held up the TD Garden being built because they had leverage over a sliver of land that Jeremy Jacobs needed. A deal was worked out. Everyone is happy and no money or very little government money went to build a place where a beer is now $18 or so and the Jacobs family is worth $4.6B.
The same thing needs to happen now.
Linda and Co. need to break bread with the Krafts even though they loathe each other. The gung ho women's sports enthusiasts of JP and Cambridge needs to be involved. The Mayor of Everett needs to be involved the Governor needs to be involved and the beyond everything, Mayor of Boston needs to be involved.
Build in Everett (build bigger actually) and get it done.
Put this silly notion of plans for Franklin Park aside as a professional venue and get the stadium back to being a decent high school stadium.
It has been done before, do it again.
When I find myself
in complete agreement with John, it means something has gone deeply, profoundly wrong in the world around us. Like this stadium renovation, which is now even more preposterous than the Olympic bid that wanted to use it for equestrian events in the '24 games.
Big Dig Stadium
Don't like the way this is shaping up. The city's cost has nearly doubled before they've even started and I would expect it to continue to increase throughout the course of construction.
More like White Elephant Stadium, amirite?
Between this and the tax rate fiasco, hasn't been a good week for Her Honor.
Question
Why is it the team's contribution is fixed and the city's is variable? Why isn't the contract written such that the team picks up any cost overruns?
Or rather, why did the city agree to a deal in which they'd be on the hook? If the team wouldn't make that commitment, it was never worth considering.
It's not. There are really
It's not. There are really two separate construction projects here. This is the cost for the BPS facility (offices, strength training, locker rooms, etc. plus the cost of the new track) being fit into the east grandstand. It's right to ask whether BPS is trying to cram too many of their big dreams into their portion that they either don't need or should be built somewhere else. If find it hard to believe BPS couldn't reduce the scope of their plans, but its a bit of a misnomer to think of this cost as the "stadium." Whatever BPS spends or doesn't spend has no impact on the soccer team.
The majority of the stadium is being paid for by the soccer team and if the cost to renovate all the rest of the stadium goes up (and it will), their contribution will go up with it. I'd be very surprised if the soccer team spends less than BPS when its all said and done. There are also additional costs that the team is picking up going forward (maintanence/repair for the stadium and area around it and for year-round security and personnel to keep the stadium open to the public for 15 hours a day, among other things).
This project will be the downfall of Wu
The security provided will be for ensuring that the stadium is closed and not available to local high school kids. As it is now, the stadium is essentially open 24hrs a day (the way... you know a park for city residents should be).
Shame on mayor Wu for selling away White stadium, for what is essentially a vanity project for the owner of the Boston Globe's wife.
The stadium is not open 24
The stadium is not open 24 hours a day. It is officially open 9 hours a day on weekdays only now (often less in practice) vs 15 hours a day 7 days a week after the renovation. The gates are locked most of the time, there are no public amenities. Also BPS field time will triple.
Source (And I'm in the park daily)
PLEASE!!
Do you genuinely understand the implications of what’s happening here? I can’t help but wonder if you’re one of the supporters of this development—perhaps a contractor who stands to profit from it, or maybe someone who doesn’t even live in this community at all. It’s also possible that you do live here, but on the more affluent side of the stadium, conveniently overlooking the concerns and voices of those in the marginalized communities on the other side.
It’s disheartening to see how some individuals are attempting to sell their misleading narratives, hoping to persuade others to change their minds about a development that, at its core, is deeply problematic. This project is not just questionable; it’s fundamentally deceptive, prioritizing profit over the needs of the community. The way it dismisses the voices of those who will be most affected is not only troubling but downright disgusting.
We need to recognize the impact this development has on the community as a whole, rather than allowing ourselves to be swayed by slick arguments and promises that ultimately serve only a select few. It’s time to stand up for what’s right and ensure that the interests of all community members are taken into account, rather than allowing the powerful to dictate terms that benefit them at the expense of the broader population.
If John truly loves and supports Linda
he will sell the yacht and put some real cash into the deal. Isn't that what wealthy philanthropists do? I thought this project was all about the children.
As with the plan for the O'Bryant...
Scrap this "bold" idea NOW
Logistics at White won't go away
The remoteness of the stadium from places to park and from a subway station made it a strange choice out of the gate as a location for a professional team. It was a head-scratcher when they announced it and the more details they gave on how it was going to work the less sense it made.
Rebuilding the stadium at Moakley or building a brand new one at Bayside's site makes more sense. It's on the red line, a stone's throw from 93 and on the ever improving bike path along the harbor. Those make either site easier to get to and from than White. With a new stadium there the team could also give rights to the city's teams for using it for some games which would buy more good will than the current plan which seems to take away from BPS sports.
Then add in the approved long term plan for that whole Bayside area. The stadium going in now can be designed into that development with placement of new parking garages as well as restaurants & bars for before and after events.
I wish that Kraft had been able to get in there, but the women's team could work too.
Actually not a bad idea
Just make sure that the professional team investors actually pay for transit and road upgrades. Kosciuszko Circle is a massive gridlock during 2 rush hours. The JFK/UMASS Station should be completely rebuilt with a South Station style bus terminal, directly connecting to Mt. Vernon Street, Bayside/Bay City, and UMASS. At the same time the Moakley Park is a major piece of planning for flood resilience, because it could be the flow path for flooding all the way to Mass and Cass. White Stadium should still be stabilized and improved for the benefit of HS athletes and the community.
Bayside?
I live in JP, and worked on Columbia Point for 10 years. The White Stadium isn't harder to get to than Bayside.
Most importantly, it's closer and more accessible to more Boston Public high schools than Bayside is.
From JFK-UMass to Bayside, you'd either have a half-mile or longer walk that crosses a truly noxious intersection, or you can take the 8, 16, or Crystal Transport bus. The 8 and 16 only run every half hour or so. UMass contracts Crystal and they don't stop at Bayside, so that would need to be addressed if they want to add it, and also it stops by 8PM. Bayside does have parking, at least in the current configuration.
White Stadium in Franklin Park is about a mile from Green Street, very slightly further from Stonybrook and Jackson. No bad crossings. It's on 5 different bus lines that run much more often than the 8 & 16. And it has parking on Pierpont, and overrun could go to the Zoo lot.
But really, the most important feature of the current White Stadium location is proximity to the schools that would use it. Madison Park, Jeremiah Burke, English, Latin Academy, and Fenway High are all close.
You do realize
People live outside of Boston would be attending these events. This is located in a neighborhood, bayside is adjacent to a major highway.
JFK/UMass to Bayside is easy
There’s one real intersection, and 2 traffic cops can make crossing it easy. I walked from B.C. High to the station for 4 years, 2 of them avoiding the footbridge. That’s twice the distance dealing with the same intersection.
As for BPS using the stadium, if they are kicking out football, they are denying BPS use, which is why I’ll be happy when this fails.
Proof that Nimbyism is still needed!
"Then add in the approved long term plan for that whole Bayside area. The stadium going in now can be designed into that development with placement of new parking garages as well as restaurants & bars for before and after events."
Or develop Moakley as a private soccer stadium. èeeEeeYup!
How bout volleyball at the Granary Burial Grounds?
I'm shocked....
Shocked I tell ya
God help us
This is one way we can reduce real estate taxes in Boston, cut back on this type of wasteful spending.
91 million for a high school stadium.
What benefit is the city getting in this deal? It could rebuild White Stadium and put enough money in endowed fund for maintenance for less than $91m, then it wouldn’t have to exclude its teams from the field for most of the fall season.
Staring down a $1B revenue shortfall in the next four years, and we are plowing forward with a plan to benefit a private entity.
Wu is so wasteful.
Mayor’s Office
https://www.boston.gov/departments/mayors-office#mobile-sidebar
Call or email the Mayor’s Office and let her know what you think of this turd of a project.
Her assistants read or just hit delete
Don't waste time " contacting" the mayor. Unless you have written her campaign a large check she isn't likely to listen to you. She will be friendly in public to potential voters but has a clear agenda.
I really hope someone challenges her that has a shot at beating her.
Yup
Exactly
Just handing over another huge swath of the city....
to out-of-state gentry. Who didn't see that coming?