Defending Public Land

• Franklin Park Defenders support renovation of White Stadium for the exclusive use of Boston Public Schools (BPS) school children and the public.

• Franklin Park Defenders oppose private development at Franklin Park’s White Stadium.

• Franklin Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, is one of the preeminent parks in America, the jewel of Boston’s Emerald Necklace, and a national registered landmark.

• White Stadium is a historic, beloved facility that has been neglected by the City for decades.

• The Franklin Park Action Plan, approved in 2023, addressed numerous investment priorities, including improvements to White Stadium.

• The City of Boston is advocating for the expenditure of at least $91M of taxpayer money to demolish White Stadium and erect a much larger stadium.

• Franklin Park Defenders believe that the proposed new stadium would have a harmful effect on abutting neighborhoods and Franklin Park itself.

The City of Boston recently signed a 30-year lease on White Stadium, and adjourning parkland, to Boston Unity Soccer Partners LLC, a for-profit private company. This would permit BUSP to build private facilities/uses including offices, luxury private boxes, restaurants, and shops. It would displace Boston Public School (BPS) students and the general public for 20 games and 20 practices on Fridays and Saturdays from April-November and eliminate BPS regular season football games. 

This proposal has dismissed necessary legal and regulatory processes for projects in protected open space and environmental justice* communities, including The Public Land and Protection Act (Article 97), Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), and others. It does not follow the Franklin Park Action Plan, developed in collaboration with the community. This project has raised objection and deep concern with many community leaders, advocates and members of the public.

*Franklin Park is a geographic, recreational and environmental justice HUB of Boston's oldest, largest and most vulnerable minority and low-wealth census-tracks. Reeling from decades of deep municipal neglect and disinvestment, residents today continue to be harmed and displaced through individual, cumulative, and disproportionately adverse projects, which often include unfair community engagement practices and do not follow existing state and municipal legal protections.