Large turnout of support for proposed soccer stadium

By Neil Zolot

Mayor Carlo DeMaria and State Senator Sal DiDomenico were pleased with a turnout of approximately 100-plus people and support they heard about building a professional soccer stadium in Everett, at a public forum in the City Council Chamber at City Hall on Monday, March 31. “I heard some good feedback,” DeMaria said. “The concerns I heard are consistent with mine, which we’ll try to mitigate.”

“I was glad to see so many people here tonight,” DiDomenico said. “There was engagement by and with the community. I feel there’s support.” He feels the project will be a catalyst for changes that will benefit the entire community.

Resident David Senatillaka said the project will transform Everett from an industrial city to an eco-friendly destination for recreation.

“Wynn, Davis and the Krafts came to Everett,” former Ward 6 Councillor Al Lattanzi said in reference to the developers of the casino, a proposed lithium battery storage facility and the soccer stadium for the New England Revolution, which would also host concerts. “What do they know we don’t? Everett is a hidden gem.”

There was also a contingent of union workers who work on construction projects. “We want to have the stadium,” Everett resident Kevin Ricci, an electrician, said. “It will help us out with employment and will attract people to Everett that will patronize other businesses.”

“People won’t just come for a game. They’ll go to other businesses,” Stephanie McCollough of Clean Up Everett agreed. “There’ll be jobs, but not just at the stadium.”

In opening remarks, DeMaria went over some of the particulars of the project, which he said will transform land with a “blighted, defunct power plant” into something that will clean up the waterfront without using public funds, bring people to the waterfront, create union and other jobs and trigger enhancements for public transportation. “I don’t see a downside,” he said. “I have faith in MBTA General Manager Phil Eng. He gets things done. All the improvements we want will be done. It’s not just talk. It’s going to happen.”

“We’ll figure out things that make sense for the stadium and the community,” Transportation Director Jay Monty, who was sitting beside DeMaria and DiDomenico, said.

DiDomenico explained the legislative process that led to the proposal for a 25,000-seat soccer stadium and concert venue on a 43.1-acre parcel on Alford Street across Lower Broadway from the casino and across the Mystic River from Charlestown, including an economic development bill, S.2692, that will lift the land’s classification as a Designated Port Area (DPA) when Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs) are crafted with Everett and Boston. That will trigger the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) process and local site plan review on the actual construction of the stadium. “We spent the last two years refining the legislation,” he said. “It doesn’t refer to the soccer stadium, it’s about the DPA. It said to lift the DPA to allow us to explore the possibility of a soccer stadium. There’ll be several ways for the community to be engaged in this. There will be ample opportunities to be involved. Nothing is pending. This is just the beginning.”

The legislation, titled An Act relative to economic development on the Mystic River, also mandates a project be completed within five years of its signing, which is November 2029. A stadium is a preferred option, in part due to input from environmental groups, like Conservation Law Foundation, which lobbied for a use that would benefit the community and against condominiums people in Everett couldn’t afford.

It includes provisions for consultation between the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and the Office of Coastal Zone Management to take resilience to coastal flood damage into consideration, but DiDomenico also said he is disappointed that the environmental lobbyists have withdrawn from the process. “Groups came to us and said we had to get this done,” he said. “They were adamant about getting something signed before the DPA was lifted, but since the agreement was signed, they have left the field.”

If a CBA cannot be crafted by May 1, the Cities of Everett and Boston and The Kraft Group will be required to enter nonbinding mediation. If it is not finalized by December 31, the parties will be required to enter binding arbitration. “I believe there’ll be agreements in place before that,” DiDomenico said.

Current plans for the CBA include establishment of a four-acre public park, a $5 million initial contribution and continued support for a community center that can be used year round, an annual contribution of $1 million or a mutually agreed on total based on ticket sales for an as yet undetermined purpose or purposes, a $10 million payment to a Housing Stabilization Fund, an as yet undetermined number of tickets to be made available to the city for regular season New England Revolution home soccer games and other events at no cost to the city, incorporation of renewable energy measures in the stadium and opportunities for Everett residents to get 50% of the jobs in the first five years of the stadium’s operation, with competitive wages and benefits and not requiring a college degree.

It could also include Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), often an incentive for developers when a community doesn’t require them to pay taxes, but asks for PILOTs of a lower amount. “PILOTs are sometimes considered to incentivize development of areas that are blighted or require significant private investment,” DeMaria’s Chief of Staff, Erin Deveney, explained. “Generally speaking, and not specific to the stadium project specifically, developers seek PILOTs for financial relief for the investment made in projects while at the same time agreeing to a stream of revenue to support that community through the payments made under such agreements.”

However, everything is still subject to negotiation.

Some people in the audience spoke against the project or voiced concerns about parking and traffic. “A 25,000-seat stadium with only 75 parking spaces; I just don’t get it,” Ward 6 Councillor Peter Pietrantonio said.

He was one of many councillors in attendance. They did not convene a meeting and waited in line along with others to ask questions and make comments during the forum.

“We did this so no one would be able to bring a vehicle,” DeMaria answered. “There’ll be a lot of public transportation down there,” a reference to new bus lines and transit stations.

Pietrantonio continued, “We want to build, we just don’t want a stadium.”

“What goes there?” DiDomenico asked.

“I’ll leave it up to you. You’re the brains,” Pietrantonio answered.

“When people speak, they can’t say the people of Everett don’t want this stadium,” Eamon Kernan said in reference to the support for the stadium in the room. He also said his family lives near a major soccer stadium in Ireland easily accessible by public transportation and he works for the state Department of Transportation and feels the transportation enhancements will work.

“At the end of the day, I believe this will be something the people of Everett will be happy about,” DeMaria interjected.

“There are serious problems and the Krafts are the only ones who have stepped up to clean the site,” DiDomenico answered when asked about the cleanup of the site.

“I believe this is our best opportunity to get the area cleaned up,” DeMaria added. “They’re spending close to $1 billion of their own money with no subsidies. I’d rather see the companies that polluted the land clean it up, but that’s long gone.”

“Why is the answer to a cleanup build, build, build?” resident Jeff Parente asked. “Nature can come back on its own.” He also said that any jobs generated by construction and operation of the stadium should “have livable wages so people can afford to live in the city.”

Parente and others said the proposal should be a ballot question. “I don’t see why this can’t come up for a vote,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of multimillionaires coming into our city and telling us what to do with our land. Most people here seem to be on your side. You shouldn’t be worried about a vote.”

“People have said to put it on the ballot,” Ward 5 Councillor Robert Van Campen added. “I believe it will make people feel better. It has support. I believe people will approve it.”

DeMaria answered that with a December 31 deadline to craft a CBA, it might not be possible to put it on a November ballot.

“Historically, private developments have not been voted on in this community,” DiDomenico added. “The only time you see voting on a stadium is when public dollars are involved. There are no public dollars involved.”

Councillor-at-Large Michael Marchese said he is in favor of the project, but would “like to see the revenue stream trickle down to the people of Everett.”