BOSTON — As the quarterback of the legendary Boston Latin Academy, Jack Shapiro has long enjoyed playing some of his high school games in historic White Stadium.
But this season, the closest Shapiro will get to the 75-year-old stadium will be on a grassy practice field in the shadow of the 10,000-seat stadium. The stadium gates are padlocked most days pending the renovation of the dilapidated stadium. In its place will be a stunning $200 million sports facility for Boston’s new professional women’s soccer team. BOS Nation FC, from 2026.
“We’re all a little disappointed not to have our house this year,” said Shapiro, quarterback and safety for the high school team that had 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 one other school will play elsewhere.
The team said it is still hopeful of playing some games in the new stadium, but that is far from certain.
The city has said Latin and another high school team that relies on White Stadium for home games will have to play elsewhere because of possible damage to the playing surface from cleats. But they have promised that all city schools will be able to play end-of-season games there, including championship games.
“The biggest concern is that we will be blocked,” the team’s coach, Rocco Zizza, said as he stood outside the stadium. “In many ways, what lies behind us will be not only a monument to high school football, but perhaps a gravestone as well.”
Shapiro and his team are part of the growing opposition to the joint venture that includes conservationists, environmentalists and community activists.
Many opponents fear that the public would lose access to the stadium and the crucial green space in which it sits if the city were to partner with a corporate entity. Supporters argue their plan is the best hope of bringing professional women’s 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 haven for residents to take morning walks, play high school sports, attend concerts, attend gatherings or send their children to summer camps. The almost 214.48 hectare Franklin Park, where the Franklin Park Zoois 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 a party to the lawsuit to stop the project, said the project will cause “tremendous damage to the environment and the community.”
The lawsuit alleges that the process to approve the project was rushed without adequate community input and violates the state constitution by transferring public land for private use. Opponents also claim that the thousands of fans attending BOS Nation FC matches would overwhelm the park and cause widespread traffic and noise problems in nearby neighborhoods.
Instead, they are pushing to repair the student stadium at a cost of less than $20 million.
“The changes they want to make will destroy the antiquities of the park and change the character of the park,” said Elisa, president of the Garrison-Trotter Neighborhood Association.
Advocates, 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 the facilities. Repeated attempts over the decades to repair the stadium have failed due to lack of funding, design problems and neighborhood opposition.
The stadium will be controlled by the city’s schools, but the costs of operating and maintaining it will be the team’s responsibility.
“The stadium has been in urgent need of repair and renovation for a long time. You can see the track is crumbling, the facilities are not up to state standards. Our young people deserve better,” said Wu, adding that the project aligns with the purpose of the park, which has areas of urban wilderness intended for quiet enjoyment and other areas such as the stadium that were “intended to bring people in Pull.”
“This will reinvigorate the mission we have always had of White Stadium being a hub for our young people, for our student-athletes and the community around them,” she continued.
Jennifer Epstein, the controlling owner of the team that will play in the National Women’s Soccer League, said the stadium project will allow the team to “play in the heart of the city” and forge closer ties with the school system and community.
She estimated that the new stadium will offer tens of thousands of students three times more programming than they currently receive and double access for the community. It would also be one of the few stadiums built specifically for professional women’s football – the New England Revolutionthe men’s team, will move forward with a new facility of its own in Boston.
“This public-private community partnership is truly exciting and will make White Stadium a top-level professional stadium,” Epstein said. “It will be a real thrill for everyone to be there.”
The debate about the stadium has taken place during dozens of meetings and hundreds of conversations over the past seventeen months. So far, supporters have won every round of the permitting process, and the city hopes to sign a lease in the coming weeks and begin demolition soon after.
But lately, supporters have encountered unexpected challenges.
Wu acknowledged this week that the city’s price tag for the renovation — the cost will be split evenly between the team and the city — has nearly doubled to $91 million due to design changes and rising construction costs. Time is also an issue, with supporters warning in court documents that any delays in the March trial on the lawsuit will jeopardize the project. Advocates are optimistic the lawsuit will ultimately be dismissed.
The team is also looking for input the team name after the ‘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 “find, listen to and reflect on our team name.”
Opponents, who say they want a professional women’s team but not in Franklin Park, are nonetheless enjoying the latest bout of bad publicity.
“We are more confident than ever that Franklin Park will be protected from their plan to turn this historic park 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.