By Cary Shuman
Sen. Sal DiDomenico remains “hopeful” that his bill to clear the way for a new 25,000-seat soccer stadium being built in Everett could still be approved before the end of the year.
DiDomenico’s measure, part of the Senate’s economic bill, would have changed the “designated port area” status of a 43-acre site situated along the Mystic River in Everett and thus allowed the Kraft Group to build a new stadium for its New England Revolution professional soccer team that currently plays it home games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
But last Thursday the economic development bill that consisted of DiDomenico’s measure was not resolved by a joint House of Representatives/State Senate conference committee of six members, denying the bill being sent to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk for approval.
“We had some good discussions regarding the soccer stadium piece of the economic development bill, and I’m hopeful that we can find a resolution when the final bill is brought before us,” said DiDomenico.
Mayor Carlo DeMaria expressed his disappointment that the proposal has been stalled on Beacon Hill and there will now be a delay in cleaning up the site of the former power plant.
“This legislation isn’t about one project. It’s about the future of our city. I am angry that the focus hasn’t been on the fact that Everett is an Environmental Justice community losing millions of dollars in tax revenue and instead is being forced to continue to tolerate a dirty industrial site when we could be starting the formal process to use private funds to clean up the site and start collecting important tax revenue,” said Mayor DeMaria. “It’s incredibility unfair and inequitable that the dramatic needs of Everett are being overlooked. I will continue to fight for the needs of Everett until we get the same redevelopment opportunities that all our surrounding communities have enjoyed, and I will not stop until our residents get the same benefits they deserve.”
“This legislative session, our Commonwealth missed a vital opportunity to clean up a brownfields site for an environmental justice community, robbing the city of Everett and its community of the ability to remove a dilapidated and decommissioned power plant and remediate a site contaminated over the decades and replace it with a public park, water front access, and a privately funded soccer stadium – which was just one piece of this very significant project. We are grateful for the willingness of Senate President Spilka and Senator DiDomenico to advance this project and thank them for their commitment to doing the right thing for the Everett community, are deeply disappointed that the House would not take up this legislation on its own, and that the Legislature was unable to act on major legislation at the end of this session. This inaction on language that had no financial commitments from state or local government has halted the public process to determine the feasibility of this project before it could even begin and passing this legislation was strictly about allowing us to start the process of determining the viability of this project for Everett. Massachusetts’ political landscape is one of the only places where creating opportunities in environmental justice communities and rehabilitation is dictated by the needs and bargaining of political leaders with outside influences and we had hoped for a different outcome for the citizens of Everett and environmental justice for that community.” – spokesperson for the Kraft Group