The Franklin Park Coalition (FPC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to involving the community to work, play, & engage in Franklin Park, Boston’s largest green space. Designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 1800s, Franklin Park serves as an urban oasis to the surrounding neighborhoods and the City of Boston.
Franklin Park Coalition (FPC) congratulates the City of Boston and Boston Unity Soccer Partners (BUSP) on the signing of a long-term lease to redevelop White Stadium as a public community asset. Along with the Franklin Park Action Plan, the City’s redevelopment of White Stadium and its surrounding areas represents the largest ever investment in Franklin Park. FPC believes a renovated and well-maintained White Stadium will be an asset to Franklin Park, community members, and Boston Public School (BPS) student athletes – a net benefit to all.
Over the last two years, the City of Boston and BUSP have engaged with community members through dozens of meetings. Throughout this planning process, FPC has advocated tirelessly for the interests of park users. FPC solicited feedback from over 700 regular park users and made nearly sixty specific recommendations to the City. We are encouraged to see that many of our recommendations are incorporated directly into the binding lease and usage agreements, including:
FPC is pleased with the project’s progress, but our advocacy is not done. We will continue to push for comprehensive traffic management for all large events (including BPS) to prevent increased motor traffic in and around the park and improve public transportation access to the park. We will press BUSP to meet their 50% commitment to minority business hiring and for BPS to exceed their targets.
The commitment by the City and BUSP to focus the White Stadium renovation on community and student use represents a sea change after decades of underinvestment in Franklin Park. We look forward to seeing the project move forward and a rejuvenated White Stadium that benefits Franklin Park, Boston’s student athletes, and the surrounding community.
The Boston Public Schools and a professional women’s soccer team have developed a renovation plan for George Robert White Schoolboy Stadium.
The renovated Stadium will include 11,000 seats for 20 pro women’s soccer games every year and new buildings for BPS athletics, including fitness rooms, a sports medicine facility, and administrative offices. Following a community survey with everything from enthusiasm to not-in-our-park opinions expressed, FPC has successfully worked with the city to have concerns addressed and the plans modified to protect and enhance the park, as well as help neighbors ensure Stadium operations do not negatively impact them.
Implementation update: FPC members were in the house for the Mayor’s State of the City speech in January announcing big investments in Franklin Park to begin implementation of the Franklin Park Action Plan. We are thrilled that a new park administrator, new maintenance staff, and a woodlands restoration team will be hired in response to Action Plan recommendations. Thank you, Mayor Wu!
The Franklin Park Coalition Board of Directors offered their Comments on the Action Plan and sent a budget request to the Mayor and our elected officials for a significant operating and capital investment to begin Action Plan Implementation. Much of this request will be met in 2024-25. Thanks to all the community members and park users who contributed to the Action Plan development over the last five years and to those who advocated at the Mayor’s Coffee Hours and City Council budget hearings.
We’re please to announce a new page dedicated as a one-stop-shop to report and track your concerns about Franklin Park. Go to www.franklinparkcoalition.org/311 to view open and closed comments and complaints from parks users. The page leverages the City of Boston’s 311 service to display requests relating to issues in the park. See litter that needs to be addressed? Fallen limb? Out of service water station? You can report these issues, and more, on your smartphone (Android; iPhone) or via the web. And track your report, and those of other park users, at www.franklinparkcoalition.org/311.
Bos: 311 is the best way to report all the issues you want to see address in the park. Download the app, then snap a photo on your phone, tag the location in the park, and write a short description.
The Franklin Park Coalition plays a big part in conservation and stewardship of the park. This work is carried out primarily through our volunteer programs. FPC volunteers come the local community, Northeastern University and other educational institutions, and businesses/corporations. We also have hosted AmeriCorps members, and organized a summer youth conservation team.
There are lots of opportunities to play in the park! The FPC organizes the annual Kite & Bike Festival, the Elma Lewis Playhouse concert series, and the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. We also host the Winter Festival and a range of health & fitness activities throughout the summer. Stay up to date on upcoming events by checking out our calendar and joining our mailing list!
Although most people know the FPC because of our events and park stewardship, advocacy is really at the core of what we do. FPC advocacy has deep roots; the organization was founded in 1974 by community members concerned about mismanagement in the park. They made the park the urban oasis that it was meant to be. The fact that Franklin Park is such a beautiful, safe, and well-used space is due in no small part to the advocacy of the FPC and our membership.