78-Year-Old Boston Stadium To Get $30M Renovation For New Professional Women’s Soccer Team
The National Women's Soccer League has decided to bring women's professional soccer back to Beantown, and a major stadium overhaul is coming with it.
The NWSL awarded the expansion franchise to a Boston-based investment group called Boston Unity Soccer Partners, which has also proposed a $30M renovation of the dilapidated White Stadium in Franklin Park, the Boston Globe reported Monday.
The group is led by Jennifer Epstein, the founder of Juno Equity and an investor in women-led companies.
The league plans to begin playing in Boston in 2026, so the plans to rehabilitate the 78-year-old stadium would need to move forward quickly to be ready for the first season.
The group filed a proposal with the city in June to renovate the stadium and surrounding area in Franklin Park. The group also wants to partner with the city and Boston Public Schools to make sure the stadium would not only be used for the professional team but also for student-athletes.
In its proposal, the group proposed renovations to the stadium's west grandstand, improvements to the field and environs, and adding an event space to host public, community and business gatherings throughout the year.
The city also intends to expand the stadium as part of this partnership to meet the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's standards, including making accommodations for an eight-lane track and rebuilding the east grandstand, which would feature modern indoor athletic facilities, locker rooms, and community and office space.
The stadium was built in 1945 and had historically been a resource for BPS athletes, but it fell into disrepair by the 1980s, and even after $4.2M was spent to expand and renovate the stadium, there wasn't much else that could keep it from deteriorating further, the Boston Globe reported. Further issues arose in the 1990s when a fire broke out in the east grandstand, seriously damaging the stadium, and since then the public has had little to no access to the space.
Before its demise, the stadium wasn't just home to athletics but played an important part in the community, hosting live shows, including Earth Wind & Fire, Sly and the Family Stone, and Richard Pryor, as well as a major Black Panther Party rally in 1969.
This proposal wasn't the first call made to help the stadium come back to life. Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish had proposed a $5M investment to begin renovations on the stadium in 2013, The Bay State Banner reported. But the plans fizzled out, with some calling to revive them years later.
The news of the new women's professional soccer team playing in Boston comes after The Kraft Group's multiple failed attempts to find a new soccer stadium for its New England Revolution men's team. The team shares a home with the New England Patriots in Foxborough, but Kraft has tried to find a site to build a stadium of its own in Boston.
The group has looked at the Bayside Expo Center property that was just approved for the Dorchester Bay City project; Widdett Circle, which was just bought by the MBTA for $255M; and a massive waterfront property in Everett that ran into zoning issues that stalled any proposals not meant for industrial use.
