A city-owned 75-year-old stadium in Boston’s historic Franklin Park will be renovated for a new National Women’s Soccer League team. The park, designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted in the 1880s, is the home of White Stadium, which was built in 1949 and has since fallen into disrepair. Franklin Park is conveniently located near the Green Street and Forest Hills Orange Line stops and is easily accessible by walking and biking.
The renovation will add spaces, accessibility, systems, and amenities needed to be a citywide resource and will be used as an athletic facility for Boston schools’ athletic programs. The building team will take special care to preserve White Stadium’s art deco façade as well as Franklin Park’s heritage trees and pastoral paths. Improvements to White Stadium will include roof canopies over new grandstand seating areas that will hold 10,000 spectators and the addition of a mixed-use space with food and beverage offerings that opens out to the Playstead playing fields. Called “The Grove,” the event lawn will host events such as tai chi, children’s storytelling, small performances, seasonal markets, and cultural gatherings programmed with a neighborhood advisory group.
The West Grandstand and Grove will be renovated into 75,000 sf of team areas, concessions, and fan lounges, leased by the professional team and renovated/rebuilt for their needs. The East Grandstand and field will be demolished and rebuilt by the city to accommodate a 75-yard-wide regulation field and track. It will also focus on Boston Public Schools needs with student wellness areas, locker rooms, athletic equipment storage, and school department offices.
“This project is a visionary partnership between the City of Boston, the Boston Public Schools, and Boston Unity Soccer Partners to leverage the significant investment of a professional women’s soccer team to benefit generations of Boston public schoolchildren,” said Tamara Roy, principal, Stantec.
Construction is expected to be substantially completed by March 2026.
On the building team:
Owner and/or developer: Boston Unity Soccer Club LLC
Architect: Stantec
Stadium Design Consultant: Moody Nolan
MPFP Engineer: VAV International
Electrical Engineer: ART
Structural Engineer: WSP
General Contractor/Construction Manager: N/A
Related Stories
| Oct 30, 2014
New hotel to be developed at future Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters
The Omni property will be one of the only full-service upscale hotels in the area, and serve as a cornerstone of the mixed-use development, which will be anchored by the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters and Frisco’s Multi-Use Event Center.
| Oct 20, 2014
Singapore Sports Hub claims world's largest free-spanning dome
The retractable roof, which measures a whopping 1,017-feet across, is made from translucent ETFE plastic panels supported with metal rigging that arches over the main pitch.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
| Sep 24, 2014
Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector
On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.
| Sep 22, 2014
4 keys to effective post-occupancy evaluations
Perkins+Will's Janice Barnes covers the four steps that designers should take to create POEs that provide design direction and measure design effectiveness.
| Sep 22, 2014
Sound selections: 12 great choices for ceilings and acoustical walls
From metal mesh panels to concealed-suspension ceilings, here's our roundup of the latest acoustical ceiling and wall products.
| Sep 17, 2014
Atlanta Braves break ground on mixed-use ballpark development
SunTrust Park will be constructed by American Builders 2017, a joint venture between Brasfield & Gorrie, Mortenson Construction, Barton Malow Company, and New South Construction.
| Sep 9, 2014
Using Facebook to transform workplace design
As part of our ongoing studies of how building design influences human behavior in today’s social media-driven world, HOK’s workplace strategists had an idea: Leverage the power of social media to collect data about how people feel about their workplaces and the type of spaces they need to succeed.
