Breaking News | Cost of Boston's pro soccer stadium project much higher than what city has estimated, Kraft contends
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A $170 million question: Amid heated reelection campaign, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu blasted by challenger for allegedly not coming clean on true cost of her soccer stadium mega project
The question isn’t whether the cost will continue to rise on Boston’s controversial, $200 million-plus redevelopment of White Stadium, for it will.
After all, this is Massachusetts, land of the Big Dig.
Rather, as Boston Mayor Michelle Wu pushes her hotly contested plan to build a pro soccer stadium and school sports complex in historic Franklin Park on the site of the old White Stadium, the only question now is how much higher the price tag will go.
On Monday, mayoral challenger Josh Kraft blasted Wu’s stadium plan, arguing that City Hall insiders are warning that Boston taxpayers could wind up with a $170 million bill.
That would be well above the current $91 million estimate of Boston’s share of the $200 million project, a joint venture between the city and high-powered local investors looking to bring a women’s pro soccer team to the Hub. That $91 million, in turn, was up from a previous estimate of $50 million.
“If you say you are a transparent leader who is accountable to the taxpayer, you need to act like one,” Kraft said at a Monday morning campaign press event. “The public deserves answers.”
Contrarian Boston reviewed the document that Kraft is referring to, reaching out to development experts over the weekend.
The big question is whether the estimate, which isn’t dated, is current and if it still reflects current cost projections, one construction executive told Contrarian Boston.
The demolition of the decrepit, 1940s-era White Stadium to make way for the new soccer stadium/school athletic complex now appears complete, taking one potential risk off the table, the executive noted.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s press office offered a strong, though not exactly categorical, denial of the numbers in the estimate.
“The City does not recognize this document,” the city spokesperson said. “The figures in it are not representative of any cost estimates related to the planned renovation of White Stadium.”
Contrarian Boston requested a detailed breakdown of the current estimate for the city’s share of the stadium/school sports complex, including all contingencies and design work, but did not receive a response by our deadline.
Hi Casey - good points - and agreed that White Stadium was an insult to generations of Boston schoolchildren.
I, for one, am not troubled by the cost. Many things that are good to do are costly. This stadium has for many years been an insult the school kids who have had to use it. So spend the money to make it better.
And the Big Dig? Yes it was costly. But it was also the best thing that has happened to Boston in the almost 60 years I've lived here. Boston is a wealthy city. Spend money to make things better for people, and I'll have no objection to the large property tax I pay on my 1,800 square foot abode. Remember what Oliver Wendall Holmes said: "Taxes are the price we pay for in a civilized society." I'll pay for a civilized society with pleasure. That's the kind that everyone should live in.