Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray w BZ Coostin's new radio.
Speaker 2: All right, we're going to talk about White Stadium, UH
Speaker 2: it's future in Boston. Delighted to be joined by Boston
Speaker 2: Herald reporter Gala Caley. Hi, Gala, welcome back to Night's that.
Speaker 2: How are you?
Speaker 3: I'm good, Thanks for having me, UH.
Speaker 2: I know that you have followed this story very very closely.
Speaker 2: I have followed it, uh in the in the newspaper,
Speaker 2: the UH. The Herald has has done some great coverage
Speaker 2: on it. The Globe has covered it as well. But
Speaker 2: it is fair to say that the publisher of the Globe,
Speaker 2: Linda Pizzuti, UH, is also an investor UH in the
Speaker 2: the new women's soccer program. So just trying to stay
Speaker 2: with just the facts. I'm sure that we'll get callers
Speaker 2: later on during this hour who want to take a
Speaker 2: position one way or the other. Where do we stand
Speaker 2: at this point? Now? You reported in I guess it
Speaker 2: was this morning's newspaper about a protest yesterday protesting the
Speaker 2: ongoing demolition of White Stadium again because they intend to
Speaker 2: build this professional soccer stadium on the site. This train's
Speaker 2: moving down the track. It would seem to me.
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, demolition works started last week, so the protest
Speaker 3: was basically going on while demolish work was taking place
Speaker 3: behind the protesters.
Speaker 2: Has has has the demolition work? I read your piece
Speaker 2: in the Globe today and said that there were the
Speaker 2: protesters were protesting the removal of some trees. Has the
Speaker 2: demolition work on the actual physical plant of the stadium begun?
Speaker 3: So right now it's more prep work for demolish and
Speaker 3: they haven't begun the physical work to take down the stadium,
Speaker 3: but they are on site doing.
Speaker 2: Work, and there's a hearing in Superior Court on March eighteenth.
Speaker 2: Is it possible that the demolition work will actually begin
Speaker 2: or maybe even be completed by time that hearing is occurring.
Speaker 2: It seems to me that March eighteenth is six at
Speaker 2: least six weeks away.
Speaker 3: I'm not entirely sure on the timeline, but the demolition
Speaker 3: work has taking place over the next two months, so
Speaker 3: I would think that while the trial is going on,
Speaker 3: there would be work going on to take down the stadium.
Speaker 3: So it's basically the city taking the down the stadium
Speaker 3: at its own risk. Said the Superior Court role in
Speaker 3: favor of the plaintiffs, we're trying to stop the project.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems to me that the plaintiffs should probably
Speaker 2: get into court and try to enjoin the demolition work.
Speaker 2: The reason I say that is I'm just referring to
Speaker 2: one of the paragraphs in your piece in Today's Globe said.
Speaker 2: The plaintiffs announced this week they have filed an expanded
Speaker 2: legal complaint in Suffolk Superior Court. The case is set
Speaker 2: to go to trial in March eighteenth. You know, the
Speaker 2: issues could the issue could be moved, set the stage
Speaker 2: for us. Who are the from You know, you've covered
Speaker 2: it obviously. The mayor is very committed to this. I
Speaker 2: think it's clear they had city council vote. I don't
Speaker 2: cover the council much, but it looked like a really
Speaker 2: interesting lineup. It ended up as a six to six vote.
Speaker 2: One councilor, I guess was absent or chose not to
Speaker 2: be there. I'm not sure which. Even if it had
Speaker 2: passed seven to six, I assume the mayor could have
Speaker 2: vetoed that that motion if even if it passed by
Speaker 2: that closer margin.
Speaker 3: Correct, correct. So the council was voting on a resolution
Speaker 3: which is non binding in nature. So even if the
Speaker 3: council had passed that resolution, the mayor was under no,
Speaker 3: she didn't have to comply with the council vote to
Speaker 3: call demolition.
Speaker 2: Okay. So I know it was a big hearing and
Speaker 2: all of that, but I didn't know if there was Okay,
Speaker 2: so set the bigger stage. The bigger stage is that
Speaker 2: there's a group that wants to renovate the stadium. I guess,
Speaker 2: demolish what's there and build a new stadium. It started
Speaker 2: off as a fifty million dollar project. I think you'll
Speaker 2: call them today said it's up to one hundred million
Speaker 2: dollars and that some people are concerned that the opponents say,
Speaker 2: according to your piece, that it could eventually end up
Speaker 2: two hundred million dollars. They would build a stadium where
Speaker 2: the women's soccer team would play play on the stadium
Speaker 2: field from March to November. I guess it wouldn't start
Speaker 2: until two thousand, as I understand, a year for now
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. Give us the argument on both sides
Speaker 2: as you see it, and then I'll let you go.
Speaker 2: The protesters are essentially saying, don't tear this stadium down,
Speaker 2: fix it, but leave it for students in Boston, correct, right.
Speaker 3: So the opponents are trying to make the case and
Speaker 3: in their lawsuit that the project by transferring link to
Speaker 3: a for profit group, Boston UNI's Soccer Partners, which is
Speaker 3: the ownership group behind the new professional women's soccer team,
Speaker 3: that would be illegally privatizing public trust land. So that's
Speaker 3: their argument in the lawsuit. And the city is saying
Speaker 3: that they're proceeding with the plan and that it would
Speaker 3: increase use for Boston Public school students and basically rehab
Speaker 3: a dilapidated stadium that's been falling apart for decades.
Speaker 2: Has there been any thought I know that there's some
Speaker 2: at least conversation about a soccer stadium being built in Everett.
Speaker 2: I'm not even up to date. Do you know where
Speaker 2: that plan stands at this point?
Speaker 3: So the legislature approved the Economic Development Bill which included
Speaker 3: a stipulation that allows the Effett Stadium to move forward,
Speaker 3: which would be the new home of the New England Revolution.
Speaker 3: And the Craft Group is behind that plan, so that
Speaker 3: that's been approved by the legislature to clear the way
Speaker 3: to that, but that stadium hasn't been built yet.
Speaker 2: Right in the discussion, Yeah, at the timetable that would
Speaker 2: be a big stadium, as I understand it, that's something
Speaker 2: that's what at least two or three years at best
Speaker 2: in the future.
Speaker 3: I would think. So yeah, So that the Boston Stadium,
Speaker 3: they're trying to do demolitions for the next couple of
Speaker 3: months and continue construction into early next year and get
Speaker 3: it built so that the new women's team can basically
Speaker 3: take the pitch by March twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4: So my last.
Speaker 2: Question, and again thank you for helping us put this
Speaker 2: in context. Has there been any conversation if the Robert
Speaker 2: Craft proposal to build a big soccer stadium, I mean,
Speaker 2: I think it's substantially substantially bigger than what White Stadium
Speaker 2: would be in Effett. Has there been any conversation about
Speaker 2: having the women's soccer team maybe play next year for
Speaker 2: a season or two at Gillette. Soccer teams don't have
Speaker 2: you know, baseball like one hundred and sixty two games
Speaker 2: a year schedules. They generally play, you know, twenty twenty
Speaker 2: five games a year. I would assume that in that
Speaker 2: period of the year when the Patriots are not at home,
Speaker 2: there would be some dates available at Gillette. Has there
Speaker 2: any conversation about that with anyone, or is it just
Speaker 2: full steam ahead on this white stadium project.
Speaker 3: So I think there's actually been I saw some other
Speaker 3: reporting that there's been conversation about potentially using a soccer
Speaker 3: deal at Boston University. I think the larger conversation has
Speaker 3: been whether the new women's team should share use of
Speaker 3: the new stadium and effort with the men's team of
Speaker 3: having their own separate stadium built.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I it would seem to me, you know, going
Speaker 2: back when the when the Bruins shared the Boston Garden
Speaker 2: with minor league hockey team, the Boston Braves. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I think that I'm not mistaken. The Giants and the
Speaker 2: Jets share a football stadium in New Jersey. It's I
Speaker 2: wonder why the real I wonder why the reluctant interesting.
Speaker 2: Just the timing questions are interesting. Gala, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: I so enjoy your columns. They when I shouldn't say,
Speaker 2: your columns, your stories, the reports that you file, they're
Speaker 2: they're clear, and and that's why we've asked you back
Speaker 2: to kind of uh set the stage here for so
Speaker 2: thank you so much for for being the reporter that
Speaker 2: you are, and thank you so much for helping keep
Speaker 2: Boston in to newspapers.
Speaker 4: City great things.
Speaker 3: I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome. Thanks Gayla Cawley of the Boston Herald,
Speaker 2: and you read her stuff every day in the Herald,
Speaker 2: and she's on top of this story. Now, what I
Speaker 2: want to do is I want to open it up
Speaker 2: and I want to give you folks an opportunity to
Speaker 2: weigh in whether you're in favor or opposed to the
Speaker 2: renovation or whatever you want to call it, demolition, reconstruction,
Speaker 2: however you want to call it. At White Stadium. I
Speaker 2: certainly think that White Stadium should be improved, there's no
Speaker 2: question about that. But whether or not there should be
Speaker 2: room for a women's soccer team and effort. If they
Speaker 2: build the stadium they expect out there, that's going to
Speaker 2: be a venue that might be underutilized. So let's have
Speaker 2: at it. If you live in Boston and you have
Speaker 2: strong feelings on it, we're going to be talking with
Speaker 2: another guest. I believe at nine point thirty Lewis Eliza,
Speaker 2: the president of the Garrison Torotter Neighborhood Association, And I
Speaker 2: think it's an interesting issue, particularly on the cusp of
Speaker 2: a campaign here. This is an issue that I think
Speaker 2: there are strong feelings on both sides. Our number pretty
Speaker 2: simple six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty six
Speaker 2: one seven, nine three one ten thirty. I understand that
Speaker 2: every team would like to have their own stadium, but
Speaker 2: from a fiscal point of view and also from the
Speaker 2: comfort of a neighborhood point of view. The Celtics and
Speaker 2: the Bruins, they each play over eighty games a year,
Speaker 2: and that doesn't even include playoffs, and somehow can live
Speaker 2: together and find a schedule, as do a lot of
Speaker 2: professional hockey and basketball teams in different cities. I don't
Speaker 2: understand why any team, any professional sports team, particularly soccer,
Speaker 2: can't share a stadium. To me, it's it's kind of
Speaker 2: a question of economics. One on one. I wonder what's
Speaker 2: going on. Maybe you have some insights, join the conversation,
Speaker 2: coming right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Now, back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: nights Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: So to me, it's an interesting story. Ironically, of course,
Speaker 2: Robert Craft is the apparently the builder or will be
Speaker 2: the uh, the the funder for the stadium and effort.
Speaker 2: His son Josh Graft is apparently on the cusp of
Speaker 2: formally announcing that he is going to challenge mayor who
Speaker 2: for mayor, So this becomes a really interesting political story
Speaker 2: as well. So love to hear from you, particularly if
Speaker 2: you are from the you know, Franklin Park community. Is
Speaker 2: this Do you see this as an upgrade to your
Speaker 2: community or do you see it as an opportunity for
Speaker 2: people from the outside to come in and actually turn
Speaker 2: a stadium in your community or a piece of land
Speaker 2: in your community into something that doesn't necessarily have great
Speaker 2: benefit to your community. I think it's a fascinating issue,
Speaker 2: particularly in an election year. Let me go to Phil
Speaker 2: in Boston. Phil, you are first this hour nightside.
Speaker 5: Go right ahead, lucky me.
Speaker 6: You know this thing is going crazy. Actually I never
Speaker 6: been to that stadium, but it wasn't that.
Speaker 5: That was believe.
Speaker 6: It was started under a guy named George Wright. Was
Speaker 6: white with a multi millionaire who dedicated to the land,
Speaker 6: including the zoo as they had a restaurant in that area. Also,
Speaker 6: it was dedicated to the city of Boston and it
Speaker 6: should be a historical landmark. I believe would not be
Speaker 6: given like a little to throw at them and it
Speaker 6: was non commercial, no deviation's license a CC.
Speaker 2: I'm sure that, I'm sure that all of those issues,
Speaker 2: Phil will be discussed. The White Stadium has for decades
Speaker 2: been the place where high school football is played for
Speaker 2: Boston schools, Boston Public schools, right, and so that has
Speaker 2: always been the place that high school football has been played.
Speaker 2: And of course the stadium has fallen into disrepair over time.
Speaker 2: It's not the it's not as as wonderful perhaps physically
Speaker 2: as it once was. And now you have a women's
Speaker 2: soccer team coming in and a little bit apparently has
Speaker 2: been let's knock.
Speaker 6: Down the statue liberty while we're at it. That's getting
Speaker 6: some kind of old tool. But I mean, I just
Speaker 6: thought you is all at traffic's going to be coming
Speaker 6: in there. I mean, we're packing to get the whole people.
Speaker 6: I mean, people can have a little peace and choir
Speaker 6: with a few trees, a few old trees. And why
Speaker 6: can't they enjoy your working all day paying the bills
Speaker 6: for the stuff, and what do they do? None of
Speaker 6: its just an opinion.
Speaker 2: Well yeah again, I I what part of Boston do
Speaker 2: you live in?
Speaker 6: Philm I live about ten miles from there, roughly that's fine.
Speaker 6: That may have wolves neighborhood.
Speaker 2: Actually Russindale, Okay, fine, well whatever the point is, you're
Speaker 2: not being impacted directly, but you have empathy for people
Speaker 2: who are being impacted directly. And again when you read
Speaker 2: the piece in the Boston Herald today, clearly there was
Speaker 2: a pretty significant demonstration yesterday. And yes, the demolition is
Speaker 2: going on, and that's happened in a lot of communities.
Speaker 2: You had, you know, runway expansions at Logan Airport, you know,
Speaker 2: forty fifty years ago, when the people in East Boston said, no,
Speaker 2: you know, we got too much air traffic noise. Now, yeah,
Speaker 2: rolled over, They got rolled over. And it happens a
Speaker 2: lot there was they were going to run the big
Speaker 2: road right through Roxbury and Dorchester and Mattapan and and
Speaker 2: uh they we're going to have, you know, an extension
Speaker 2: that you have all of these fights, and what happens
Speaker 2: is each community gets separated. It's interesting that you're the
Speaker 2: first person calling having empathy for your neighbors ten miles
Speaker 2: away in Boston. And I think that that that's credit
Speaker 2: to you, a credit to you. But I would hope
Speaker 2: to hear from folks who are more directly impacted, so
Speaker 2: they can talk about what it means to them. They
Speaker 2: do have a golf course down in Franklin Park, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: Well that's not going to be impacted by this. This
Speaker 2: is the stadium, and of course there will be and
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people in Boston look at
Speaker 2: this and say, look, this is our stadium. We've paid
Speaker 2: taxes for years and years and years, and now some
Speaker 2: group with deeper pockets is coming in. So okay, I mean, well, yeah,
Speaker 2: you know again that that's an irrelevant issue because I
Speaker 2: would assume that that people will be able to if
Speaker 2: they want to go attend the games, they'll be able
Speaker 2: to buy tickets, drive there, et cetera. No I gotta
Speaker 2: I gotta run here because they want to get one
Speaker 2: more in before my break is always thanks, question called
Speaker 2: thank you good night. Let me go to Mike in Boston. Mike,
Speaker 2: you were next on nightside.
Speaker 7: Welcome, Hi Dan, how are you? We've talked off and on.
Speaker 7: We share a high school alma made together and I
Speaker 7: played my high school football there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that goes back when we were there in
Speaker 2: the eighties, seventies, seventies. Okay, go ahead, I didn't play football.
Speaker 2: In high school, I played hockey and baseball, So I'm
Speaker 2: glad to hear from you.
Speaker 7: Go ahead, I played hockey and baseball too. Anyway, you know,
Speaker 7: grew up in Jamaica. Plane this this thing makes no
Speaker 7: sense at all. I mean, it's an ego trip.
Speaker 4: Here.
Speaker 7: The mayor is trying to raise taxes and then spend
Speaker 7: one hundred million dollars on a stadium that doesn't make
Speaker 7: any sense. And why don't they use the model that
Speaker 7: the women's professional hockey team did. They're playing up at
Speaker 7: Lowell because they couldn't support at this juncture a new rank.
Speaker 7: And it's just an ego trip. And if you know
Speaker 7: Linda Henry, you know who has an ownership interest, so believes,
Speaker 7: and let's get her husband a stroke of check. I mean,
Speaker 7: it just makes no sense on any front to spend
Speaker 7: the taxpayer dollars for. And I don't live in Boston anymore,
Speaker 7: so it doesn't affect me. But she's out trying to
Speaker 7: raise taxes and the community doesn't want it. And you
Speaker 7: know it's funny. I had summer jobs with the NBC
Speaker 7: in Franklin Park and it's and it's a it's a
Speaker 7: beautiful area. But it's not that easily accessible. And if
Speaker 7: you look at it any infrastructure situation, you know, accessibility
Speaker 7: is the key. Look at all the money they had
Speaker 7: to spend and roote one in Foxborough. Uh uh uh,
Speaker 7: you know, to to finally get Jillette Stadium somewhat workable.
Speaker 7: So it's it's kind of sad to see a power
Speaker 7: play like this in the backs of the citizens of Bostin.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I don't know what the cap of
Speaker 2: a newly constructed or a newly refurbished, however you want
Speaker 2: to characterize that stadium would be. But if they're gonna,
Speaker 2: let's say, have a stadium of even modest size, which
Speaker 2: would be fifteen thousand, I don't know what the capacity
Speaker 2: of White stadium is. You would know better than I
Speaker 2: since you played football there.
Speaker 7: I don't, But it's not that much.
Speaker 2: No, I'm no, I understand that. But what I'm saying is,
Speaker 2: you build a stadium let's say, let's say fifteen or
Speaker 2: twenty thousand. That's about the size of the seating capacity
Speaker 2: at the Garden, right, But I gotta tell you, I
Speaker 2: don't know where you're gonna put fifteen or twenty thousand
Speaker 2: cars in the Franklin Park area. There's a zoo that
Speaker 2: runs there. I don't know what time of day, what
Speaker 2: days of the week they're gonna have games. It's and
Speaker 2: of course.
Speaker 7: The has the garden has creator rail and rapid transits
Speaker 7: so people can park their cars in and indoor.
Speaker 2: Parking, indoor parking. They obviously are parking with street exactly.
Speaker 7: And it's just it's just not a great location. And
Speaker 7: I mean, just to you know, if they're talking ninety
Speaker 7: million dollars now that it's going to be more than
Speaker 7: ninety million dollars. And I just I feel bad for
Speaker 7: the citizens because I think this mayor is quite naive
Speaker 7: and we'll see where it all goes.
Speaker 2: And well, I don't know that she's naive. I think
Speaker 2: quite the contrary. I think that she makes other mayors
Speaker 2: look like, you know, wilting Flowers. I mean, she she
Speaker 2: rolls over people who disagree. Look what happened in the
Speaker 2: North End, uh, Look look what has happened elsewhere. And
Speaker 2: I gotta tell you that she she what, she gets
Speaker 2: what she wants. Hey, I got to break away, unfortunately, Mike,
Speaker 2: because they got a special CBS News report coming down
Speaker 2: to this plane crash. Tonight smaller plane crash in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2: Keep on on top of with this and anytime we
Speaker 2: touch it, you give us a call. Okay, Thanks Mike.
Speaker 1: With Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: All right, we are now joined by Lewis. Elisa Lewis,
Speaker 2: Welcome to Night Side. How are you, sir?
Speaker 8: Good evena I'm fine?
Speaker 2: How are you doing great? You have been active in
Speaker 2: the Boston neighborhood communities for how long?
Speaker 8: It's about fifty years. I've been with the Garrison Try
Speaker 8: to Navorate Association and the Frankent Bark Correlation since nineteen
Speaker 8: seventy eight. We started in both at the same time.
Speaker 2: So tell us about from your perspective. We spoke earlier
Speaker 2: this hour with Gayla Cawley of the Boston Herald The Reporter.
Speaker 2: There's something about this set of circumstances that doesn't quite
Speaker 2: feel right to me. Has anyone thought about having the
Speaker 2: women's soccer team play out at the Gillette Stadium couple
Speaker 2: of years until that soccer stadium is built over in Everett.
Speaker 8: Well, the understanding is there have been a number of
Speaker 8: discussions about alternative sites. It's not just Everett, but you know,
Speaker 8: Solgeant Field and over at Harvard, over bu you know,
Speaker 8: places where they have a lot more seating capacity and
Speaker 8: where they have transportation, and they're not creating such a
Speaker 8: major negative externality on the surrounding communities. I'm not sure
Speaker 8: why they want to try to stick it into a
Speaker 8: historic park. This park is by Omstead Glaus Omstead. It's
Speaker 8: over one hundred and some years old, It's on the
Speaker 8: National Historic Registry. And it seems like they don't have
Speaker 8: a concern that what they're doing is that they're destroying,
Speaker 8: you know, a treasure that's a part of the city
Speaker 8: of Boston, not Gesture, Dorchester and Jamaica Plane and Rocks
Speaker 8: Ray for the city of Boston. It's a historic landmark.
Speaker 8: But they seem to care a little about it. And
Speaker 8: this may have seemed dead set to give this team
Speaker 8: opportunity to create an entertainment center. Some of it may
Speaker 8: beat the soccer, but rest of it is entertainment at
Speaker 8: the expense of everyone who lives in the community.
Speaker 2: So what will they do? I mean, it seems to
Speaker 2: me that their goal is to demolish White Stadium. That
Speaker 2: demolition's underway, am I correct Lewis?
Speaker 8: Well, they've set up They've not taken down any walls,
Speaker 8: but they're doing the preparation. The problem is not just
Speaker 8: the demolition of a building that is a monument also
Speaker 8: as part of the Art deco of the serties, but
Speaker 8: they want to destroy one hundred and forty eight mature
Speaker 8: trees and for whatever reason, has nothing to do with
Speaker 8: them being able to play soccer in the stadium. So
Speaker 8: we're trying to figure out as a community, why are
Speaker 8: they destroying the fauna and the floral you know environment.
Speaker 8: Why are they taking away mature trees that also add
Speaker 8: to the quality of life in terms of air filtration,
Speaker 8: and you know, they can't be replaced. They don't have
Speaker 8: enough space to replace the trees that they're trying to
Speaker 8: take down, So it doesn't make sense. We're not sure
Speaker 8: it has anything to do with soccer anymore. It's just
Speaker 8: that they want to give a gift to a bunch
Speaker 8: of millionaires because they're not thinking about the people in Jamaica.
Speaker 8: Plain a rock Ferry.
Speaker 2: Lewis in terms of taking down trees, I haven't been
Speaker 2: on a site survey, but I'm very familiar with Franklin Park.
Speaker 2: Go to Franklin Park Zoo and all of that, I'll
Speaker 2: bet you the word that is reality is what's prompting
Speaker 2: the removal of the trees. Is one word parking.
Speaker 8: Well, I hope not, because their footprint for White Stadium
Speaker 8: is small, and so if they're taking down trees and parkland,
Speaker 8: they're violating Chapter ninety seven of the State of Public
Speaker 8: Parks Land. And I know that everything that they're doing
Speaker 8: now is different than the Franklin Park Coalition, in the
Speaker 8: community groups and others that came together to file a
Speaker 8: lawsuit against them, the own state Conservancy in Garrison Trotter.
Speaker 8: We brought the lawsuit because they were threatening parkland. They
Speaker 8: said they weren't, and so the Judge Ellison, she would not,
Speaker 8: you know, allow us to have a twoper restraining order.
Speaker 8: Now they're taking, clearly taking two full acres of parkland
Speaker 8: and at the tint of use for parking, it's not
Speaker 8: allowed by the state law. And so I really think
Speaker 8: that the Attorney General and the Auditory and you know,
Speaker 8: the Secretary of State and some of the others, the
Speaker 8: Secretary Environmental Affairs should be questioning what's going on here
Speaker 8: because this is egregious land taking and what they're proposing
Speaker 8: if it's for parking. This would be totally against the
Speaker 8: law as established within the commonwealths Lewis.
Speaker 2: I know that there's a hearing or it's actually the
Speaker 2: case is set to go to trial on March eighteenth.
Speaker 2: It seems to me that by March eighteenth a lot
Speaker 2: of damage can be done through demolition. Do you think
Speaker 2: it's time to perhaps go back into court and with
Speaker 2: some evidence of of what's being done to the trees
Speaker 2: and also the arrival of the demolition equipment, that the
Speaker 2: judge might decide to reconsider her denial of her preliminary
Speaker 2: injunction because clearly there will be irreverable harm being done
Speaker 2: if they're able to proceed with the demolition and the
Speaker 2: removal of the trees before the trial even starts.
Speaker 8: You're absolutely right, there's no question in lovable harm we've done.
Speaker 8: You cannot unbeat the drum or put the genie back
Speaker 8: in the bottle. To remove these mature trees, one hundred
Speaker 8: and forty eighty of them, would be devastating to the
Speaker 8: environment just in general, just for the quality of life
Speaker 8: or just the quality of the air within the in
Speaker 8: the area. But you know what we asked the city
Speaker 8: to do. We ask the city council to step up
Speaker 8: and represent the concerns of also this subaultment because while
Speaker 8: the park is in seven District seven and in roxbory
Speaker 8: Dorchester in Jamaica Plane, it serves the city, it's the
Speaker 8: regional park. It's the park with the that serves the region.
Speaker 8: I mean, this is a park that has the golf course.
Speaker 8: I mean what they're doing is not just devastating the
Speaker 8: white stadium area, but the place stead which is used
Speaker 8: for hundreds of events throughout the year. And I think
Speaker 8: the Mayor's cone death and I think those city councils
Speaker 8: who just sit on the side and act like they
Speaker 8: have it has no impact on them are not representing
Speaker 8: their constituents very well because the course of this thing
Speaker 8: is far exceeding anything that's necessary to rebuild a stadium
Speaker 8: for the use of children. So we're clear that this
Speaker 8: is not about children, this is not about athletic sports
Speaker 8: in our public schools. But if the judge will hear it,
Speaker 8: I would hope that that the members of the Rocks
Speaker 8: of the Franklin Park Defenders group that are trying to
Speaker 8: get the judge to reconsider in the first place, would
Speaker 8: go back and ask for another order to say until
Speaker 8: there's clear understanding of what this impact is going to be.
Speaker 8: Now that they've gone past the footprint for a white
Speaker 8: stadium and they're in chapter ninety seven, you know there
Speaker 8: should be a halt of this because there's still just
Speaker 8: fundamental things that have not been clarified, particularly there talking
Speaker 8: and the transl tation plan. It's not even close to
Speaker 8: being finalized.
Speaker 2: Lewis, you're you've been a great spokesman for causes in
Speaker 2: this city for many years, and you you're a great
Speaker 2: spokesman tonight for it. I the more I look at this,
Speaker 2: the more questions I have, and you've raised more issues
Speaker 2: in my mind. And I've got to tell you, I
Speaker 2: don't know who your lawyers are.
Speaker 9: I don't know if you're the folks who you're working
Speaker 9: with are able to hire, you know, a big Boston
Speaker 9: law firm or something like that, or if one of
Speaker 9: these big loss of Boston law.
Speaker 2: Firms would do some pro bono work. There may be
Speaker 2: some some lawyers in Boston who are listening to us tonight,
Speaker 2: And it would seem to me that this is a
Speaker 2: if if simply one Superior Court judge has said no,
Speaker 2: if that superior Court judge is not willing to reconsider
Speaker 2: a change in circumstances, then I would try to appeal
Speaker 2: it and if necessary, go through what's called the gatekeeper
Speaker 2: Statute at the State Supreme Court and get it up
Speaker 2: in front of a single justice of the Supreme Court. Again,
Speaker 2: the city has plenty of lawyers in their legal department,
Speaker 2: funded by taxpayers from your community and other parts of Boston.
Speaker 2: It seems to me that that you guys are getting
Speaker 2: rolled over here, and just on the point of just
Speaker 2: absolute fairness, I'm concerned about it. Let us do this, Lewis,
Speaker 2: Let's stay with me for a second, and let's for
Speaker 2: a few minutes, and let's see if some listeners want
Speaker 2: to chime in on this. I looked at the story
Speaker 2: in the Herald today. I looked at the Globe. Was
Speaker 2: there a story in this protest in the Globe today?
Speaker 8: Yeah? There was something was something about there was about
Speaker 8: two thousand and three dozen people out yesterday in the
Speaker 8: freezing cold. You know, because there's a commitment coming from
Speaker 8: all quarters of the communities, not coming from one neighborhood,
Speaker 8: come from people are far away, right.
Speaker 2: So it's good that it's good that the Globe readers
Speaker 2: as well. I mean, it's a it's a it's a
Speaker 2: it's a great picture, uh, in the that Nancy Lane
Speaker 2: took in the Herald today, A company Gala Cawley's story.
Speaker 2: We'll take a break if you'd like to talk with
Speaker 2: Lewis and Lisa six one seven, two, five, four ten thirty,
Speaker 2: six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. Lewis has
Speaker 2: taken on many fights during his career here in Boston
Speaker 2: on social justice issues, and I suspect he sees it
Speaker 2: very clearly as just another one of those fights. I
Speaker 2: think that the story needs more publicity, and that's why
Speaker 2: we're talking about it tonight. I hope you join the conversation.
Speaker 2: It may not affect you if you don't live in Boston,
Speaker 2: but uh, it's a it's a question of fairness and equity,
Speaker 2: and at this point, those people who are standing on
Speaker 2: the cold yesterday, they get, in my opinion, the short
Speaker 2: end of the stick back on Night's side right after
Speaker 2: this six one seven, two, five four to ten thirty
Speaker 2: six one seven nine three one ten thirty.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World
Speaker 1: night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: So my guess Is Lewis. Elisa Lewis is a community
Speaker 2: activist in Boston for many years president of the Garrison
Speaker 2: Trotter Neighborhood Association, and they are opposed to the demolition
Speaker 2: of White Stadium in the construction of a soccer stadium
Speaker 2: for the use of a new female soccer team that
Speaker 2: has been granted a team in Boston with us. Now
Speaker 2: friend of many years in someone who's a big advocate
Speaker 2: for schoolboys sports himself, quite an athlete, former NHL player
Speaker 2: Paul Stewart who lives down the Cape. Stew I hope
Speaker 2: you don't mind you introducing you, but I want to
Speaker 2: get you because it touches on a subject I know
Speaker 2: you're concerned about. I want to get your credentials in
Speaker 2: front of the audience. Go right ahead.
Speaker 10: Well, I spend many many years every Friday afternoon watching
Speaker 10: my dad coach Boston English as we played at White Stadium.
Speaker 10: I remember in the springtime my dad's baseball team tryouts
Speaker 10: were always asked. I think that would be the south
Speaker 10: end of the stadium as well. They had track and field,
Speaker 10: and I think back to when the Patriots were thinking
Speaker 10: about they had been over at BU they were thinking
Speaker 10: about trying to take over White Stadium, and that was
Speaker 10: shot down because of the fact that my dad told
Speaker 10: me this that there was a fund called the George
Speaker 10: Robert White Fund who had financed the stadium when they
Speaker 10: first built it for the benefit of the students of
Speaker 10: the city of Boston. In fact, in the mid seventies,
Speaker 10: a Northeastern University who had played at Perkins Field in Brookline,
Speaker 10: which was half during a half grass. They eventually dropped
Speaker 10: their football program because they couldn't get a stadium. They
Speaker 10: tried to get the White Stadium and that was rejected
Speaker 10: because this schoolboys stadium. I guess the the uh, the
Speaker 10: entire way the documents were set up was only for
Speaker 10: the students and the children of the city of Boston.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It was. It was probably a charitable
Speaker 2: trust which probably existed this day. By the way, people
Speaker 2: who don't remember Northeastern football, they had some pretty good
Speaker 2: football players coming out of there, including a tight end
Speaker 2: by the name of Dan Ross.
Speaker 8: Uh.
Speaker 2: Paul, say hello to Lewis, you I know where your
Speaker 2: heart would be on this, Lewis. This is a friend
Speaker 2: of mine, Paul Stewart, and he's someone that you guys
Speaker 2: should probably talk to because because he understands the history
Speaker 2: of this this facility.
Speaker 10: Well, I grew up in Dorchester and Jamaica playing and
Speaker 10: as I say, I was at White Stadium quite often.
Speaker 10: And the fact of the matter is that if the
Speaker 10: soccer team the one side of the stadium not suse
Speaker 10: the neighborhood, the other side was gutted by fire. And
Speaker 10: the fact is that if this soccer team wanted to
Speaker 10: utilize the stadium with the stands as is, refurbished them,
Speaker 10: put maybe new benches, seats in and such, and utilized
Speaker 10: it for a year or two until the other soccer
Speaker 10: stadium is built out by the old racetrack. I think
Speaker 10: that that would be appropriate because the refurbishments that they
Speaker 10: would have very similar to what the Whalers, the Boston
Speaker 10: Whalers did in seventy two when they came in and
Speaker 10: assisted with the with the with the rebuilding of the
Speaker 10: Boston Arena. So, yeah, come use our stadium, fix it up,
Speaker 10: use it, but you're not going to be here for long.
Speaker 4: And that to me because the students and.
Speaker 10: The children of the city of Boston really should own
Speaker 10: that place.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's what that is. What Lewis said, Lewis,
Speaker 2: you want to comment and what Paul had to say,
Speaker 2: he's obviously in.
Speaker 8: Your bawlings one, which is and he's spot on. And
Speaker 8: then you know, when I came to Boston back in
Speaker 8: seventy two, they were programs and activities going there. And
Speaker 8: I've always lived on Stever Street or Hutchon Street, but
Speaker 8: now I've been on sever Street for more than fifty years,
Speaker 8: and I can tell you there are programs and activities
Speaker 8: that happened there on a regular basis. Stay up for
Speaker 8: school boys, school girl activities. It's been the center of
Speaker 8: activity and sports for all the memorial games, of Thanksgiving,
Speaker 8: classics and things of that nature. The idea that this
Speaker 8: mayor wants to take it and turn it off to
Speaker 8: a private concern is no longer being a stadium. It's
Speaker 8: not becoming an entertainment center, which I think is what
Speaker 8: they want to But the impance is is it supposed
Speaker 8: to be for the students in Boston public schools. They
Speaker 8: want to take more than one hundred million dollars and
Speaker 8: give it over to a private concern, and they're not
Speaker 8: trying to maintain the track, you know, But we don't
Speaker 8: have a complimentive plan to track and fee a layout
Speaker 8: the part of the stadium that was by fire, the
Speaker 8: east wing of the stadium, that's the school departments that
Speaker 8: they're going to take it over. In the west wind
Speaker 8: the UNS Boston UH Soccer. He said that they were
Speaker 8: going to pick it up. But what they want to
Speaker 8: do is tuned in into you know, a box seats
Speaker 8: and lucky you know, lucky cheers and both positives. That
Speaker 8: does not service the children's public, does not give anything
Speaker 8: to apthletic programs in Boston, which definitely indeed of a
Speaker 8: professional field called it's not about all children.
Speaker 2: Uh, Lewis, Lewis, hold on, I got another call. I
Speaker 2: do want to take ste you said, you said a
Speaker 2: lot in a brief period of time, you know, the.
Speaker 4: One or two. I just wanted to add to it that,
Speaker 4: you know, come use our stadium and add to it
Speaker 4: very similar to what happened. You know, I played golf
Speaker 4: at Franklin Park and we had my dad's tournament there
Speaker 4: for years. And the fact is that you know that
Speaker 4: course is derelicted Donald Ross Course, and you know Bill
Speaker 4: Flynn was leased the course and they fixed it up
Speaker 4: and now it's back into the spot where it should
Speaker 4: be in the hands of the neighborhood, and some great,
Speaker 4: great golfers have come out of there. We had Chechie
Speaker 4: Rodriguez there, we had Tiger Woods when he was an amateur,
Speaker 4: coming and give lessons to the kids. And I think
Speaker 4: that this could be the same formula. Don't also forget
Speaker 4: that UH Mascot tried to take over East Boston Stadium,
Speaker 4: very similarly built, same design, and yet for some reason
Speaker 4: it was also uh a property that didn't belong to
Speaker 4: anybody but the students and the children of the city
Speaker 4: of Boston.
Speaker 2: Well, I think both you gentlemen agree. I hope you
Speaker 2: can get you together at some point. If either one
Speaker 2: of you need the other's number, let me know. Paul,
Speaker 2: I got to get one more in. Thanks friend, always
Speaker 2: great to.
Speaker 4: Talk to you here, Yes, mister president.
Speaker 2: Thanks to thank you much. Ben, Thank you appreciate that.
Speaker 2: By bye bye, Mark, I got you in here under
Speaker 2: the wire, buddy.
Speaker 5: I've become very disenchantic with Michelle who It's as if
Speaker 5: she has turned into a dictator before our very eyes.
Speaker 5: I mean, there's this controversy over what Wright Stadium.
Speaker 2: Yes, yep, that's what you're talking about.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean Nickerson Field it be you would have
Speaker 5: been a perfectly good alternative closer to public transportation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're the second person. You're the second person who
Speaker 2: mentioned that. Mark. I agree with you.
Speaker 5: And there's the dispute over outdoor seating in the North End,
Speaker 5: and I suggested a compromise just one row of two
Speaker 5: person table. But I seem to have been entirely ignored.
Speaker 2: And you're not special that a lot of people feel ignored, Mark,
Speaker 2: So join the club. All right, Mark, you got it
Speaker 2: in and I got you in late, but but I'm
Speaker 2: running late here and I gotta wrap it up on
Speaker 2: the stand.
Speaker 5: And thanks for taking my paw.
Speaker 2: You're welcome. Thank you very much and made some great
Speaker 2: points in a brief period of time. Thanks Mark Lewis.
Speaker 2: Thank you for the fight that you are carrying on.
Speaker 2: If there's anything that I can do for you, Rob
Speaker 2: will give you my direct line.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Thank you for Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 8: And what you're doing is most important. Keep getting people
Speaker 8: to understand this isn't about Dorchester or rock Heery to
Speaker 8: make a plain, this is about the city of Boston.
Speaker 8: People who play golf here, people bring their kids to
Speaker 8: the zoo. People love, frankly part but people who love
Speaker 8: and appreciate Frederick law On set. This is an historic
Speaker 8: landmark that is being destroyed and with little or no
Speaker 8: thought about what the long term benefits will be for
Speaker 8: the children of the city of Boston. They're families and
Speaker 8: the students.
Speaker 2: Well said Lewis. Great to hear your voice. It's it
Speaker 2: sounds as strong as it ever did. And in a
Speaker 2: dispute like this, you tend to be on the side
Speaker 2: of the people and on their behalf. I thank you
Speaker 2: for doing it. If I can be of any helps you,
Speaker 2: you let me know. Rob will give you my direction.
Speaker 8: You so much and keep the word thank Thanks Lewis.
Speaker 2: We will hang there and Rob will give you my
Speaker 2: direct line in case you need to reach me. When
Speaker 2: we come back. We're going to change topics, lighten up
Speaker 2: a little bit, but actually an important topic Valentine's two
Speaker 2: days two weeks from today, creating happy and healthy relationships.
Speaker 2: We're going to talk with a couple's therapist, the licensed
Speaker 2: couple therapist, how you can bring some of the joy
Speaker 2: back into your marriage if some of it has somehow disappeared.
Speaker 2: We're going to be talking with Carolyn Sharp,