In the press conference held this week, the group said that an environmental nonprofit suing the city of Boston will continue to fight against the renovation of White Stadium after a judge denied the group’s request to halt its development in the previous month.
Previously in this year the Emerald Necklace Conservancy along with its 20 residents filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court against the local officials, the city, and the Boston Unity Soccer Partners over the planned revitalization of White Stadium to host professional women’s soccer games.
As in last month, a hedge denied the group’s request to halt the plan because while the public stadium will benefit both Boston Public Schools and a private company, the stadium was never directly mandated as a solely public place.
In the statement, judge wrote that “ No clear or unequivocal intent to use the Stadium Property as a public park, rather than for use as school property, has been established; in contrast, the intent associated with the land, to build a stadium for use by BPS, was explicitly recorded as such”.
According to the proposal, White Stadium would host about 20 NWSL games and 20 practice sessions annually from April to November. Further, the stadium would be available for BPS sporting events and other events like graduation ceremonies, fundraisers, summer camps, and concerts when it is not being used by the pro team.
Plaintiff Renee Stacey Welch, a resident of the Franklin Park area, said at the press conference “When the judge decided not to support us, I cried because, yet again, people are telling us that we don’t matter.” However, “We’re gonna keep fighting because that’s the right thing to do”.
The stadium is in major disrepair. Mayor Michelle Wu, who’s named as a defendant in the suit, turned to a public-private partnership to fund the project after a $45 million renovation plan lost steam in 2013.
Further, the Emerald Necklace said that they support a full renovation and redevelopment of White Stadium, but the current plans have alarmed the whole community.
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