01.27.2025
Eagles owner swoops in on Celtics sale | Biz leaders not thrilled with being stuck with bill for state government’s $2 billion jobless benefits goof | Wu and a tale of two big projects | Boston mayor amasses one of the state’s largest political war chests | Mass. eyes carrot and stick approach to AI sector |
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Big projects, big political stakes: As Boston’s mayor girds for a reelection battle, her decisions on a pair of major construction projects could prove consequential
Just call it a tale of two mega - and politically charged - construction projects in Boston’s minority neighborhoods.
As she gears up for a reelection battle, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s contrasting decisions to punt on the Madison Park rebuild while forging ahead with her White Stadium plan could become an issue down the line, for better or worse.
In a move that received little media attention last week, the Wu administration announced that it will seek state funding for the revamp of the city’s long-struggling vocational school, Madison Park, potentially pushing off a ground breaking for a year or more. (Kudos to the Boston Policy Institute for flagging the issue.)
Meanwhile, Wu plunged ahead with the $200 million plan to build an 11,000 seat soccer stadium and school athletic complex in historic Franklin Park, beginning pre-demolition work last week even as the City Council held a hearing on the project.
That project, a joint partnership and cost sharing deal between the city and BOS Nation, has spurred pushback from park advocates and activists in surrounding neighborhoods like Roxbury, Dorchester and Jamaica Plain, who see it as a takeover of public space by a professional sports team.
City and team officials counter that the project will result in a state of the art stadium complex for a women’s pro soccer franchise where decrepit, 1940s-era White Stadium now stands, providing jobs for city residents and modern athletic facilities for BPS students.
By contrast, the reaction has been muted so far to the city’s decision to seek funding for the Madison Park revamp from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, a process that can take a year or more to play out.
Previously, the Wu administration had planned to pay for it out of city’s coffers.
In fact, things appeared to be gearing up. Earlier this month, LeftField, an owner’s project management firm working with BPS on the project, added contractor JPM to its team.
However, the big shift in how the project will be paid for is likely to result in a significant delay.
Funding for the new project will hardly be automatic, with other planned city school construction projects already in the queue, contends City Councilor Erin Murphy.
And delays could prove costly, given what’s happening with construction prices.
It’s not hard to imagine what the Dorchester Democrat describes as the project’s current, “low ball” $800 million estimate, making another jump and breaking the $1 billion mark.
The budget for the revamp of Madison Park was initially pegged at $45 million, she noted.
“The significant cost escalation for Madison Park Technical Vocational High School … raises serious questions about how the original budget was so drastically underestimated,” Murphy told Contrarian Boston. “We need clear answers on what went wrong.”
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Carrot and stick: Key state lawmaker pushing bill to lure AI developers to Mass. while also rolling out some regulatory safeguards
Can Massachusetts tap into the Wild West of AI development while also preventing the powerful new technology from going off the rails?
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