01.15.2025

Bad government regs - not insurance companies - to blame as L.A. burns | Boston soda tax proposal sparks backlash | Questions mount over Wu’s soccer palace plans | Mass House chief last of the big spenders | Chat alert: Contrarian Boston to host a live chat from 7 to 8 p.m. tonight/Wednesday on the L.A. fires | Quick hits |

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White elephant? Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hit with growing questions over her $200 million - and counting - pro soccer stadium plan

It’s too soon to say if plans to plop a pro soccer stadium into one of Boston’s most historic parks will go the way of other, half-baked Wu initiatives.

Just think of the mayor’s quixotic rent control proposal and her continuing attempts to hike tax rates on half-empty downtown office buildings.

But opponents are turning up the heat on Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s proposal to bulldoze decrepit White Stadium and replace it with a $200 million soccer palace and school athletic complex in the middle of Franklin Park, a key link in the Frederick Olmsted-designed Emerald Necklace.

Wu last month announced that the city had inked a ten-year stadium lease deal with the team of local investors behind plans to bring a National Women’s Soccer League franchise to Boston.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s proposed pro soccer stadium

Now the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, one of the plan’s leading foes, is out this morning with a report calling upon Wu to jettison her soccer stadium dreams.

The mayor should instead focus on transforming the old high school stadium into a state-of-the-art athletic complex for city schools, which could be done for just under $29 million, the nonprofit parks organization contends in its report.

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s alternative proposal for revamping White Stadium

“Complete with beer gardens, luxury boxes, merchandise stores, and a jumbotron, this stadium proposal is designed around the needs of a professional soccer team first and foremost, not the needs of BPS students,” notes the report, A Public Park Concept for White Stadium.

Meanwhile, the City Council is starting to ask questions, with a big public hearing set for next week.

And one of the first questions councilors should ask is just exactly how Wu plans to pay for the project now that the city’s share of the project has nearly doubled to more than $90 million.

Will City Hall have to siphon money off from other capital projects in order to pay for the ballooning cost of the project, with warnings that further price increases could push that city’s costs to the $120 million range?

And, if so, can the Wu administration take money from other projects, or, failing that, raise more money, without another vote by the City Council?

Given that the mayor just gave birth to a baby girl, it seems unlikely she will be making a personal appearance at the hearing.

But that shouldn’t top councilors from raising questions about the cozy political ties - which Contrarian Boston has extensively reported on - between Wu and the investors behind the new franchise, BOS Nation, and its stadium plans.

Headed by Jennifer Epstein, a member of one of Boston’s most prominent real estate families, it is group that includes Linda Henry, CEO of the Globe, wife of the paper’s billionaire owner John Henry, and a limited investor in the project.

Jennifer Epstein, president of Boston Unity Soccer Partners and her developer husband Bill Keravuori have pumped more than $15,000 in campaign cash over the past two years into the coffers of key power players, as Contrarian Boston has previously reported.

The Beehive, a South End restaurant co-owned by Jennifer Epstein, also hosted a political fundraiser for Wu last month as well.

And that’s just two of many examples.

Bring your opinions and quick takes: Contrarian Boston to host a live chat from 7 to 8 p.m. tonight/Wednesday on the L.A. fires

Stunned by the unfolding disaster in Los Angeles? Wondering what to make of it all?

Contrarian Boston will host a live chat from 7 to 8 p.m. tonight for paid subscribers.

(Please note the time change - we had previously scheduled the chat for noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday.)

Join us at Substack Chat and we look forward to seeing you there.

Party central: Capping a year of legislative sloth and procrastination, Massachusetts House boss spent big on holiday bashes