The plans for a new professional soccer stadium being built across Route 99 from Encore Boston Harbor are on hold for the immediate future.
The state Senate had advanced the proposal by inserting special language in a supplemental budget bill that would have detached the 43 acres for the stadium and waterfront park from the Designated Port Area (DPA). However, leadership in the House of Representatives did not include the special language necessary for the proposal in its version of the spending bill.
And just like that, Everett’s hopes for a state-of-the-art 25,000-seat professional soccer stadium (that was to be the likely home of Bob Kraft’s New England Revolution franchise) are dashed.
Sen. Sal DiDomenico, who has championed the stadium proposal in the Senate, expressed his disappointment with the decision by the House of Representatives.
“I’m disappointed this language wasn’t included in the final bill,” said DiDomenico. “We have worked so hard on this issue because as an environmental justice community we deserve something better than a polluted power plant on our waterfront. This is a transformational project and an economic catalyst for our area. I want to thank President Spilka and Chair Rodrigues for including it in the Senate version and I am hopeful that we can find a resolution in the very near future.”
Mayor Carlo DeMaria, whose vision resulted in the five-star Encore Boston Hotel locating in Everett and bringing thousands of jobs to area residents, issued a statement, saying he was not pleased with the roadblocking of the stadium project.
“I continue to maintain the position that a privately-funded professional soccer stadium, which would invest millions into an historic remediation effort of a defunct power plant, provide economic mobility opportunities for our Everett residents, advance the region’s multi-modal transit network, and create much-needed access to the Mystic River would be the best use of that portion of Everett’s waterfront,” said DeMaria. “As the leader of an Environmental Justice community, plagued for decades by the detrimental health impacts created by giant industrial polluters, I am disappointed that the legislation has not advanced. I am going to continue to advocate to State leaders that a lower income, minority-majority community like Everett deserves the chance to explore such a transformational economic development opportunity.
“While I have stated this before, I feel the need to reiterate: the removal of the parcel from the DPA, which was the focus of the legislative amendment, would not approve a stadium project on the site. It would simply allow a proposal to be put forward locally, at which point a robust public engagement process would commence,” concluded DeMaria.