By Cary Shuman
The state legislative process to build a new 25,000 seat soccer stadium in Everett may be on hold for now, but Charlestown Neighborhood Council Chair Tom Cunha is preparing for a future public review process for the proposal.
Sen. Sal DiDomenico, who represents Charlestown, has been championing a plan that would lead to the Kraft Group building a soccer stadium in Everett on the site of a former power plant (which has been closed), across from the Encore Boston Harbor resort/casino. The stadium would be the home field for the New England Revolution professional soccer team. The Kraft Group would also build a new waterfront park along the Mystic River. The proposal did not make it to the floor of the State Legislature by the end of the session in August.
But Cunha wants to be on the ground floor when discussions begin about the new soccer stadium. He initially brought up the idea of a soccer stadium committee in June, but he said the process will begin in October.
“Five or six residents have already contacted me, and they would like to be on the committee,” Cunha said at Tuesday’s CNC meeting. “I think our concern here is how it [soccer stadium] affects us and how we can mitigate the effects. We want people of influence from Charlestown to be at the table. There are going to be a lot of concessions made if we’re not in that room. We would like to be involved, informed, and used as part of the process.”
Cunha said after the meeting that the committee would likely be called, “The Charlestown Soccer Stadium Committee.” That committee would be asked to provide a monthly update on the soccer stadium issue at CNC meetings.