Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft is constructing on his previous calls for Mayor Michelle Wu to halt demolition of White Stadium by now urgent Wu to cancel the town’s lease with the for-profit group vying to convey a brand new professional ladies’s soccer staff there.
Kraft, per his marketing campaign, is urging Wu to cancel the town’s 10-year lease with Boston Unity Soccer Companions “until a use analysis is conducted and made public that focuses solely on the needs of Boston Public Schools students.”
He stated Wednesday that the town ought to rent an out of doors professional to conduct such a baseline research, and renegotiate a lease with Boston Unity that has the for-profit group on the hook for “100%” of the stadium prices and facilities that don’t immediately profit BPS children.
“Mayor Wu’s actions are a massive failure of leadership and fiscal stewardship,” Kraft stated in an announcement. “It makes no sense for the city to be committing over $100 million in taxpayer dollars at White Stadium at a time when the city is increasing taxes on homeowners and delaying other more important priorities.
“It should be alarming to everyone that a use analysis focused specifically on the needs of BPS kids was never conducted.”
Kraft, 57, stated Wu ought to have sought to find out how massive of a stadium and what floor could be wanted to finest serve BPS children, together with how a lot area time and facilities like locker, medical and coaching rooms they would want, and priced that out.
“Mayor Wu should immediately take steps to reset this process so that the needs of Boston Public School students and the taxpayers are put before the interests of the wealthy private investors,” Kraft stated. “The secretive and rigged RFP process the mayor engaged in has produced a bad deal for BPS kids, the surrounding communities, and the city’s taxpayers.”
Kraft, the son of billionaire New England Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft and former head of his household’s philanthropic arm, repeated his prior requires Wu to halt demolition at Franklin Park’s White Stadium till the courts can rule on a pending lawsuit that seeks to cease the roughly $200 million public-private plan.
He additional urged the mayor to inform metropolis taxpayers who can pay for the demolition and restoration work ought to the authorized problem achieve success. A Suffolk Superior Court docket trial is about for March 18.
Wu’s marketing campaign fired again, saying Kraft “knows nothing” concerning the venture he’s criticizing.
“Given the hardball tactics and taxpayer subsidies demanded by the Krafts, it’s no wonder Josh Kraft thinks every public-private partnership is a bad deal,” a Wu marketing campaign spokesperson stated. “Fortunately, the city has found a partner to cover half the cost to build and all costs to maintain a facility that will be open to thousands of BPS students, coaches, and community more than 345 days per year.
“Josh Kraft should address his own glaring conflicts of interest before criticizing a project he knows nothing about.”
Wu, 40, has taken goal at Kraft’s potential battle of curiosity together with his household’s involvement in plans to construct a brand new soccer stadium in Everett, which has encountered resistance from the mayor and different Boston officers over visitors and parking issues in close by Charlestown.
Town is leasing White Stadium to Boston Unity, which owns the brand new professional ladies’s soccer staff that will share use of the sector with BPS student-athletes and is about to take the pitch in March 2026. Boston Globe CEO Linda Pizzuti Henry is an investor within the staff, however is working to again out of the deal.
The plan championed by Wu has divided the group and develop into a central marketing campaign challenge. Taxpayers are on the hook for roughly $100 million, a price that’s grown in current weeks.
