SJC considers whether Boston can redevelop White Stadium on protected Franklin Parkland

The Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday heard competing legal views over whether statutes enacted in 1947 and 1950 and the terms of the George Robert White Fund Trust permit the City of Boston to rebuild and lease White Stadium in Franklin Park to a private soccer team.

Counsel for the plaintiffs opened by telling the court, "This case concerns the disposition and change in use of land within Franklin Park," tracing the parcel's origin to an 1883 eminent-domain taking explicitly for park purposes and citing the Parks Act of 1875 and Frederick Law Olmsted's involvement in the park's early design. Plaintiffs argue the later statutes and funding measures do not explicitly surrender the original park dedication and therefore Article 97 and related statutes continue to protect the land.

A justice read language from the 1950 act — "so long as White Stadium shall remain in the custody and control of the school committee of Boston ... shall be deemed to be a school building and yard" — and used that text to probe whether subsequent statutes can be read together to change the parcel's dedicated park purpose. Plaintiffs' counsel urged the court to follow precedent such as Higginson v. Slattery, which requires clear legislative authorization to repurpose…