BOSTON (AP) — As the quarterback for the storied Boston Latin Academy, Jack Shapiro has long relished playing some of his high school games at historic White Stadium.
But this season, the closest Shapiro will get to the 75-year-old stadium is a grassy practice field in the shadows of the 10,000-seat facility. The stadium gates are padlocked most days in anticipation of the dilapidated stadium being renovated. In its place will be a glistening, $200 million sports facility for Boston’s new professional women’s soccer team, BOS Nation FC, starting in 2026.
No home for high school football?
“We’re all a little disappointed not to have our home this year,” said Shapiro, quarterback and safety for the high school team which was forced to play its home games in West Roxbury, a 45-minute bus ride from school. The city’s school system will have access to the new facility, but Boston Latin and another school will play elsewhere.
The team said it is still hopeful of playing some games at the new stadium but that remains far from certain.
The city has said that Latin and another high school team, which rely on White Stadium for home games, will have to play elsewhere due to potential damage to the playing surface from cleats. But they have promised that all city schools could play end-of-season games, including championship games, there.
“The biggest worry is that we will be blocked out,” the team’s coach, Rocco Zizza, said as he stood outside the stadium. “In many ways, what is behind us will not only be a monument for high school football but also maybe a tombstone.”
Will Boston lose critical green space?
Shapiro and his team are part of the growing opposition to the joint venture that includes preservationists, environmentalists and neighborhood activists.
Many opponents fear the public would lose access to the stadium, and the critical green space where it sits, if the city teams up with a corporate entity. Supporters argue their plan is the best hope to bringing women’s professional soccer to Boston and providing new equipment and facilities for the city’s cash-strapped school system.
Surrounded by some of the most diverse and impoverished neighborhoods, White Stadium has long been a refuge for residents to take morning walks, play high school sports, see concerts, attend rallies or send their children to summer camps. The nearly 530-acre (214.48-hectare) Franklin Park, which is also home to the Franklin Park Zoo, is part of the Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace system of parks in the city.
Louis Elisa, who lives across the street from the park and is party to the lawsuit attempting to halt the project, said the project will cause “enormous harm to the environment and the community.”
The lawsuit argues the process to approve the project was rushed without adequate community input and violates the state constitution by transferring public land for a private use. Opponents also argue the thousands of fans attending BOS Nation FC games would overwhelm the park and cause widespread traffic and noise problems to nearby neighborhoods.
Instead, they are pushing for repairing the stadium for students at a cost of less than $20 million.
“The changes that they want to make is going to destroy the antiquities of the park, going to change the character of the park,” said Elisa, president of the Garrison-Trotter Neighborhood Association.
Women’s soccer in the heart of the city
Supporters, led by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, argue the partnership is the only way to fund much-needed renovations and would bring positive change to the neighborhood and the students who rely on facility. Repeated efforts in recent decades to repair the stadium have faltered over a lack of funds, design concerns and neighborhood opposition.
The stadium will be controlled by the city’s schools but the cost of operating and maintaining it will be the team’s responsibility.
“The stadium has been in bad need of repairs and renovation for a very long time. You can see the track is crumbling, the facilities aren’t up to state standards. Our young people deserve better,” Wu said, adding that the project aligns with the purpose of the park which has areas of urban wilds meant for quiet enjoyment and other parts like the stadium that “were meant to draw people in.”
“This will revitalize the mission that we’ve always had for White Stadium to be a hub for our young people, for our student athletes and the community around them,” she continued.
A state-of-the-art stadium for students
Jennifer Epstein, the controlling owner of the team which will play in the National Women’s Soccer League, said the stadium project allows for the team to “play in the heart of the city” and forge a closer ties to the school system and the community.
She estimated the new stadium will offer tens of thousands of students three times more programming than they get now, and double the access for the community. It would also be one of the few stadiums built specifically for professional women’s soccer — the New England Revolution, the men’s team, is moving forward on a new Boston-based facility of their own.
“This public-private-community partnership is really exciting and it’s going to turn White Stadium into a top tier professional stadium,” Epstein said. “It will be a real thrill for everyone to be there.”
The debate over the stadium has played out at scores of meeting and hundreds of conversations over the past 17 months. So far, supporters have won every round of the permitting process and the city is hoping to sign a lease in the coming weeks and for demolition to start soon after.
As stadium costs grow, lawsuit looms
But lately, supporters have run into unexpected challenges.
Wu acknowledged this week that the city’s price tag for the renovation — the cost are being split evenly between the team and the city — has nearly doubled to $91 million due to design changes and rising construction costs.
On Tuesday, Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn came out against the proposal, citing the growing costs. Another council member, Erin Murphy, plans to request a hearing on the stadium proposal.
“We should cancel this proposal immediately and work together with residents and stakeholders across the city to provide the best option not only for our city and supporting a professional women’s soccer team, but one that incorporates the voice of our residents and student athletes as well,” Flynn said in a statement.
Time is also an issue, with supporters warning in court documents that any delays to the March trial on the lawsuit puts the project at risk. Supporters are optimistic the lawsuit will eventually be dismissed.
The team is also seeking input on the team name after its “Too Many Balls” marketing campaign launched in October was criticized as transphobic. In a blog post, the team said it has launched a process to “seek out, listen to, and reflect on input about our team name.”
Opponents, who say they want a professional women’s team but not in Franklin Park, nevertheless are relishing the latest bout of bad publicity.
“We are more confident than ever that Franklin Park will be protected from their scheme to turn this historic parkland into a colossal sports and entertainment complex.” Renee Stacy Welsh, a member of the Franklin Park Defenders, which opposes the project, said in a statement.
