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AG Campbell says she has ‘absolutely no role’ in White Stadium debate
Opponents of the plans to renovate White Stadium asked Attorney General Andrea Campbell to champion their cause.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell announced this week that she would not be getting involved in the battle over White Stadium, dealing a blow to the group of residents and advocates hoping to derail the $200 million project.
The Emerald Necklace Conservancy (ENC), a nonprofit which serves as a steward of Franklin Park, and 20 residents sued the City of Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu, and others last year. They sought to halt the city’s plan to redevelop the dilapidated stadium through a partnership with a professional women’s soccer team, arguing that it would illegally transfer public land to private use.
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The ENC, along with groups like the Franklin Park Defenders, have been publicly fighting the city, saying the stadium renovation was pushed too quickly without enough public input. The groups also voice concerns about the project potentially making traffic worse, altering the historic nature of Franklin Park, and eliminating green space.
Group members rallied Wednesday outside Campbell’s office, urging her to take up their cause. Later that afternoon, Campbell’s office issued a statement that surely left them disappointed.
“We understand that there is a robust political debate about White Stadium and appreciate the many diverse perspectives involved, but our office has absolutely no role in that debate,” a Campbell spokesperson said. “We have informed those challenging the project in court that, while we respect their advocacy, we do not share their legal position because the state laws on which they rely do not prevent the City of Boston’s plans, as the Superior Court already has indicated.”
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White Stadium, constructed in 1945, has been used for decades by Boston students. But it is now in disrepair, and multiple efforts to renovate it over the years have stalled. In 2023, Wu announced an ambitious endeavor to team up with the soccer team, now known as BOS Nation FC, to remake the stadium. The team agreed to fund half of the construction costs, and will pay rent to the city in the future. Many Boston students will continue to have access to the new stadium, but the pro soccer team will also conduct practices and play home games there.
Last March, Suffolk Superior Court judge Sarah Weyland Ellis denied a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction filed by the project’s opponents. Ellis affirmed that the plaintiffs “are not likely to be successful based on the merits” of their various claims.
She said that the project appears consistent with the will of philanthropist George Robert White and would not violate the state constitution. Ellis was also not convinced that the project would decrease public access and harm the nearby neighborhoods.
“Plaintiffs assert irreparable harm will ensue absent a preliminary injunction because the demolition and renovation of White Stadium, and any lease and/or license agreements contracted between the City and [Boston Unity Soccer Partners], will negatively change the nature of White Stadium, limit the public’s enjoyment, and have an immediate detrimental impact on the neighborhoods abutting Franklin Park. I am not persuaded,” she wrote.
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The project has been moving forward. In December, Wu announced a 10-year lease with BOS Nation FC, and construction began earlier this year. The mayor thanked Campbell for her “clarity on the law” in a Bluesky post Thursday.
Although Campbell will not intervene, the case is still scheduled to go to trial next month.
Civil rights leader Jean McGuire, who is a member of the Franklin Park Defenders and a plaintiff in the case, told The Boston Globe that she was still confident.
“We respectfully disagree, and look forward to our day in court next month,” she told the Globe. “Last year’s ruling on a preliminary injunction occurred before a single page of evidence was presented in this case. Since then, our case has only gotten stronger. We’re confident that after all the facts and evidence are reviewed at trial, the court will find that the proposed pro soccer stadium and entertainment complex at White Stadium in Franklin Park clearly violates Massachusetts’ constitutional protections against the privatization of public land. We live here — this is our park.”
On the other side, a group of the project’s proponents praised Campbell for not bowing to a “pressure campaign” orchestrated by the ENC. They said the ENC “shredded a decades-long productive relationship” with the city and engaged in other “questionable” behavior while fighting the project.
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“It’s disheartening that the legacy of a once reputable 30-year-old organization is very much at stake. As supporters of the White Stadium renovation, as believers in all the benefits the project will bring for BPS students, coaches, community-based organizations and Franklin Park, and in the spirit of collaboration, we hope ENC can return to its roots as a good and honest partner in civic life. We urge the ENC Board of Directors to call an emergency meeting to reconsider its increasingly untenable position and begin the work to restore the good name of this long-standing organization,” the group, known as the Grassroots White Stadium Supporters, said in a statement to Boston.com.
A key issue in the mayoral race
Wu is running for reelection this year, and the White Stadium debate could factor heavily into her race against Josh Kraft. The mayor is staking enormous political capital on the project, defending it in the face of litigation and concerns about ballooning costs.
Kraft is hoping to tie Wu’s support of the project to a larger criticism: that she does not listen to the public enough and acts “as if she alone has all the answers.” Earlier this month, Kraft called on Wu to immediately halt demolition work and met with some of the project’s opponents at a rally outside the stadium.
This week, Kraft seized on reporting in The Boston Herald that raised transparency concerns about how early talks began between the Wu administration and the investors behind the soccer team. He called the project’s request for proposal (RFP) process “secretive and rigged,” saying that Wu should be subject to an independent investigation “to determine if procurement policies or any laws may have been violated.”
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Wu said that accusations of rigging the RFP process were “inaccurate,” telling The Boston Globe that it “followed all of the standard timelines as established by state and city law.”
New polling results released this week from Emerson College show Wu to be in a strong position. If the election were held right now, 43% of respondents said they would vote for Wu, as opposed to 29% who said they favored Kraft. Another 24% were undecided. The polling found that 57% of voters think the city is heading in the right direction, and that the same percentage of voters have a favorable view of the mayor.
When asked about White Stadium specifically, 53% of respondents said they support Wu’s redevelopment plan, while 22% oppose it and 26% are unsure.
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