Discussion ensues on Charlestown’s course of action
By Cary Shuman
Phil Carr III attended the April 30 community meeting in Everett that began with Mayor Carlo DeMaria welcoming New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son, team president Jonathan Kraft, who talked about the new soccer stadium project.
The Krafts are looking to build a 25,000-seat stadium that would make Everett the new home for their professional soccer team, the New England Revolution. The stadium would be located across from Encore Boston Harbor on the site of a closed power plant. A new waterfront park is also part of the plans.
Carr reported his observations of the Everett meeting to his fellow CNC members at their monthly meeting Tuesday at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
“The meeting’s purpose was to discuss ideas for Everett’s community impact agreement (also known as the host community agreement),” Carr stated. “Mr. Kraft and Jonathan Kraft were both there, along with the president [Brian Belillo] of the New England Revolution and the vice president of marketing [Cathal Conlon].”
“The Krafts were saying how the stadium would bring honor to Everett, while the president [Belillo] discussed for the first time that I’m aware – and it is what we all assumed – that the stadium was not going to be used just for the Revolution games,” said Carr. “It’s also going to be used for international soccer games where the president of the Revolution said, ‘They want to bring the world to Everett.’ It will also be used for concerts and community events. They also said with that development, it would be a catalyst to develop that entire area.”
Carr noted that “there was no mention of us [Charlestown]” during the meeting. “It’s certainly a concern because it’s going to be used a lot.”
Carr was asked about Everett residents’ response at the meeting to the Kraft Group’s presentation for the new stadium. “I think it’s mixed,” replied Carr. “You had some people against it, but some people did say that if it went for a vote, it would likely win, just like Encore. One thing that stood out for me during the open mike, they were talking about all the infrastructure improvements done before the stadium opens, which makes sense.”
Carr’s concise, well-articulated, and accurate report led to a larger discussion about what CNC Chair Tom Cunha summarized as “having a seat at the table” during all City of Boston meetings about the stadium, notably regarding the stadium’s impact on Charlestown.
“I would like to see it in writing that they say that they will not put a stick or a brick together on that stadium until the access, exit, and the utilities are in place,” said Cunha. “If we do that, then we can at least
start to negotiation on just – not money – but access.”
Cunha, who clearly has been closely following the soccer stadium process, raised the issue of the construction of a footbridge to provide additional access to the new stadium.
“The mayor of Everett claimed that Governor Healey told him that funding was already in place for that,” said Carr.
CNC member Martin Kane III said it was important for Charlestown to put together a course of action.
“We need to sit down and say, ‘What do we [the Charlestown neighborhood] need and what do we want?’ And we need to make it really simple – this is No. 1, this is No. 2, this is No. 3 – and we hammer that.”
Cunha seemed to concur with the main point of Kane’s suggestion.
“If we want to call a committee meeting just for the stadium and try to get negotiations with the parties that are involved – the Revolution, the City of Everett, the politicians – I’ll send out an email to every member of the Council (who’s willing) to make an 18-month commitment to get us knowing what’s going on at that stadium.”
Cunha said the CNC will further address the issue at its June meeting.