Page 10 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, MAy 9, 2025 Community members, City of Everett staff and elected officials gathered at the community meeting at the Connolly Center. (Photos courtesy of City of Everett) Attendees gathered at the Connolly Center for the community meeting. The Kraft Group President Jonathan Kraft speaking to attendees during the community meeting at the Connolly Center on April 30th . State Senator Sal DiDomenico speaking to attendees. Representatives from the New England Revolution offered free items and met with attendees at the community meeting. PROJECT | FROM PAGE 1 “will become the heart of the community. The building itself will not only be an economic engine, but a community asset for soccer, football and cheerleading from the High School and Middle School and the first crack at jobs will go to Everett residents. We do that in Foxborough; Foxborough is our partner.” He also said, “The park will be open 365 days a year and we’ll program all kinds of activities. [State Senator] Sal [DiDomenico] said the waterfront was blocked off since 1897. That was only 121 years since the country was founded in 1776 and it’s been 128 years since 1897. Since the country was founded, the waterfront was cut off for more time than people were allowed to use it.” In earlier remarks, DiDomenico thanked the Krafts for their commitment to the project. “We’ve turned a page on the past of the industrial waterfront because we deserve better,” he said. “We’ve had to look at the site with no benefits to the community, and pollution was pushed into our neighborhoods. Now we have people who are willing to send hundreds of millions of dollars to turn the site into a stateof-the-art facility for a soccer team to call Everett home. It will be seen on national and international stages. I would not have put my name and reputation on the line if I didn’t think in my heart this is the best use of the land.” In his opening remarks, DeMaria said, “We need private investment to clean up the site and create a new source of revenue to replace the dirty smokestacks from a now defunct power plant that has defined our community for too Attendees had the opportunity to share with Mayor Carlo DeMaria what they would like to see in the community benefits agreement for the potential stadium project. long. The federal and state governments were not going to clean up the site. At the local level, we don’t have the resources to, so we had to create an opportunity for a well-financed private party to invest in our City. I believe we can all agree Robert Kraft knows a little something about doing what it takes to create big wins.” In later comments from residents, David Senatillaka added, “No other developer will do environmental mitigation and cleanup to change this blighted site into something the community can use.” New England Revolution President Brian Bilello said the stadium would be one of the best in the country if not the world and would host international matches in addition to Revolution games, as well as concerts. “We want to bring the world to Everett,” he said. He also went over the process of having the designation of the land changed from a Designated Port Area to one under which the stadium could be built, issues siting the stadium in between currently used and abandoned energy facilities and how state, local and environmental regulations will guide the construction. “Can it fit, given all the constraints?” he asked rhetorically. “It’s a tight fit. It can’t be too close to the water because of regulations, but the fact it can’t be gives us a park.” He pointed out that renderings being shown are “by no means a final design. They’re just enough of a design to let us understand how a stadium could fit, but nothing has been approved yet. We have a lot of work to do, but it has the potential to be a beautiful site, and we’re open to hear what the community wants it to be.” Mayor Carlo DeMaria speaking to attendees. He also spoke about the impact the stadium could have culturally and economically. “This is not just about a soccer stadium, but a transformational project,” he feels. “When you operate a sports facility, it’s not like another business. It’s great to see the impact a team can have on a community, and I’m excited to see the impact this could have on Everett. The opportunity to be in Everett is special to us. It’s such a vibrant and proud community. That’s where we want to be. Where we’re not just a building, but part of the community. We’d make the facility available for community events.” Regarding economics, he added, “The casino opened up the waterfront and we could be the next catalyst for future development.” Posters for the meeting PROJECT | SEE PAGE 14
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