Breaking News/12.11.2024
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She’s all in: As costs soar, Boston’s mayor doubles down on plans for a now $200 million pro soccer stadium - and on her ties to team investors
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu actually made some news in her monthly chat with the hosts of GBH’s Boston Public Radio.
Pressed about the ballooning cost of plans to build a 11,000 seat women’s pro soccer palace in Boston’s historic Franklin Park, Wu vowed to “pay for our half of the stadium, no matter what it costs."
That’s about as close to a blank check as you can get from the mayor and the city, which has agreed to split with private investors the cost of the proposed stadium for BOS Nation, a new National Women's Soccer League team.
Yet Wu made a rather notable omission during her interview Wednesday with BPR hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan.
In particular, Wu made no mention of the campaign fundraiser that was to be held for her later at a South End restaurant.
Not just any restaurant, but the Beehive.
Which just happens to be co-owned by Jennifer Epstein, president of Boston Unity Soccer Partners, the group leading the charge to build a pro soccer stadium in the city.
And Wu’s pledge for the city to effectively pay whatever it takes to cover its half of the stadium project is likely music to Epstein’s ears, though maybe not such pleasant news for city taxpayers, who are now staring at a $91 million bill, up from a previous $50 million.
Meanwhile, donors at the Wednesday evening event - “Mayor Wu’s End of the Year Celebration” - were encouraged to give up to $1,000 apiece to the mayor’s campaign account, the maximum allowed under state campaign finance laws.
Co-chair and co-host titles were reserved for those who managed to bring in $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, from other donors.
“Help power our movement!” reads the pitch to contributors at the campaign fundraising event, which includes the reminder that Wu is the “first woman, person of color, and Asian-American elected Mayor of Boston.”
Overall, Epstein and the other high-powered investors and developers pushing plans to build a pro soccer stadium in Franklin Park, part of Boston’s Olmsted-designed Emerald Necklace, have spent the last two years currying favor with Wu and other key pols.
Epstein, president of Boston Unity Soccer Partners, and her developer husband Bill Keravuori, have pumped more than $15,000 into the campaign coffers of Wu and other local elected officials, as Contrarian Boston has previously reported.
However, the stadium proposal, which has steadily marched through the City Hall approval process, faces stiff opposition from a combination of neighborhood residents and advocates for Boston parks.
Plans call for demolishing White Stadium, a dilapidated high school facility in Franklin Park, and replacing it with a significantly larger 11,000 seat soccer venue, covering seven acres, that will also include new school athletic facilities.
An additional 1.25 acres of parkland will be paved over next door to make way for the “Grove,” a Fenway Park-like concessions area that has been pitched as a public gathering place, but will be closed off during game days for soccer fans.
It includes a new beer garden building.
A coalition that includes a group called the Franklin Park Defenders, as well as the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, are now battling the project in state court, with a trial date set for March.
"Boston taxpayers are being asked to write a blank check for the benefit of BOS Nation’s millionaire investors, with no limit to how much this bloated project could ultimately cost us,” Dorchester resident and stadium opponent Jessica Spruill said in a statement following Wu’s comments on GBH.
As for Wednesday evening’s fundraiser at the Beehive, one question was whether Epstein, who is leading the soccer stadium drive, donated use of her Tremont Street restaurant to Wu’s campaign.
That turns out not to have been the case.
“The committee is proud to support local businesses by hosting events throughout the city at various neighborhood restaurants and venues throughout the year,” Julia Leja, a spokesperson for Wu’s campaign committee, stated in email to Contrarian Boston. “Tonight, as always, we are paying for all event costs.”
These are good questions and ones that I will be looking at. The city has yet to release any details on the deal.
Interesting that Epstein's husbands company is the lead developer for the stadium, at least that is what is indicated on the company website. Since this is a public / private project, was there a public bidding process? Did BPS put out an RFP or was this single sourced? Would be interesting to see what fee structure is for the firm and if it increases as the price of the project increases.