BOSTON — A kickoff celebrating the unveiling of the National Women’s Soccer League’s name and logo for its new Boston team was attended by hundreds.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the ownership group for Boston’s National Women’s Soccer League spoke to sports fans, reps from all of the Boston sports teams as well as city and state leaders at Dick’s Sporting Goods on Boylston Street Tuesday night.
The “BOS Nation Football Club” is an anagram for “Bostonian,” but not everyone in the city is cheering for the new team’s arrival.
A group of neighbors who will be sharing White Stadium in Franklin Park believe it will limit their access to a crucial community asset.
20 plaintiffs in a lawsuit are not budging in their opposition and claim that the project is being fast-tracked without following state environmental laws.
“If it wasn’t surrounded by people of less affluence and influence, I don’t think they would try to put a professional women’s soccer team in a park,” said Carla-Lisa Caliga, a member of Franklin Park Defenders.
The aging stadium, which is maintained by Boston Public Schools, has fallen into disrepair over the years.
The Franklin Park Defenders wants the stadium to be renovated but alleges that the city is illegally transferring control of a public asset to a private, for-profit organization.
“Now you take away one of the green spaces that we do have left, and you’re saying, guess what, 22 good weekends during the year you’re going to give it to them,” said Renee Stacey Welch, a member of Franklin Park Defenders. “We want feasibility studies. We want traffic studies.”
Mayor Wu said BPS student-athletes and the community will have use of the park 90 percent of the time.
“This is the first professional sports team in the country to be co-housed with a public school district in a stadium that will be home to our student-athletes as well,” said Mayor Wu at Tuesday’s event.
The city is expected to contribute $50 million in taxpayer money for the project, and Boston Unity Soccer Partners, the company founding the new team, $30 million.
The pending lawsuit is scheduled for a trial in March 2025.
BOS Nation will begin playing in the league in 2026.
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