Progressive pols are fond of buzzwords like “bold” and “transformative” to sell expensive, expansive projects. Mayor Michelle Wu and Co. have another semantic arrow in the quiver, promoting yet another plan to bring “generational” change to Boston.
Once more, neighborhoods are pushing back.
Last year, Wu and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper proposed that the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science move from the Roxbury campus it shares with Madison Park Technical Vocational High School to the vacant West Roxbury Education Complex.
“The proposals that we’re putting out, they’re very big,” Wu said. “We’re talking about generational change at a scale that we haven’t seen in quite some time in our district. ”
This year, the city plans to redevelop Franklin Park’s White Stadium into the new home of a professional women’s soccer team.
“We are excited about the public support for this generational investment in our Boston Public Schools students and the surrounding community,” Wu said in a statement this week.
Questions at the heart of both proposals: “how is going to help the neighborhood? What is the real benefit to Boston Public School students? What are the downsides?”
Community blowback put an end to the O’Bryant School move, despite Wu’s enthusiasm for the “transformative investment” for Boston.
But the White Stadium plan is rolling ahead. As the Herald reported, the Parks Commission approved plans to demolish the structure Monday.
There was community debate, in which opponents and supporters of the project by Mayor Wu and Boston Unity Soccer Partners duked it out over whether the public-private plan would truly benefit BPS student-athletes.
The city and Boston Unity would kick in about $50 million apiece. It’s not that BPS students don’t deserve a new stadium — they do. But why should a BPS project be contingent on a facility for a professional team?
According to the state, migrant shelter costs are projected to cost $1 billion over the next several years. Why not cut a $100 million slice of the budget pie for a new White Stadium, just for the community?
As with the O’Bryant school plan, opposition revolves around practical concerns. An 11,000-seat stadium means thousands of soccer fans pouring in to Franklin Park. It’s doubtful they will all make their way to the city on Bluebikes. Where will they park, and how will that impact the surrounding neighborhoods?
There are MBTA stops at the park, as there are at Fenway Park. Still, game-day traffic in Kenmore Square is a nightmare, as cars circle the surrounding streets looking for spaces.
The Major League Baseball website anticipates this step: “If you are driving to Fenway Park, keep in mind that typical backups on local streets begin about one hour before the game.”
Renee Stacey Welch, a Jamaica Plain activist and a plaintiff in a lawsuit trying to stop the project, noted, “It doesn’t take $50 million or more to rehab that park for us, for our kids, for our community. We do not need a beer garden. We do not need luxury boxes that I can’t afford. This isn’t for us, and it sure as hell is not for our kids.”
Listening to the residents of Boston, especially those impacted by such projects, would be a “bold,” “transformative” move, Mayor.
