Boston PFC Approves Nearly $7M Design Contract Expansion for White Stadium Renovation

BOSTON -- November 20, 2024, Boston's Public Facilities Commission unanimously approved a nearly $7 million expansion of the White Stadium design contract and three open-space land actions at its November 20 meeting. The commission voted to amend the existing contract with Jones Architecture Incorporated, adding $6,977,289 and extending the agreement through August 15, 2027, to cover construction documents and construction administration for the renovation of the east grandstand and track and field at the 450 Walnut Avenue Jamaica Plain facility, a project with an estimated $90 million construction cost. Senior Project Manager Brian Melia told commissioners the current design development phase is just concluding and that the new grandstand will house Boston Public Schools athletic offices, locker rooms, strength and conditioning spaces, and community rooms. In the Mayor's Office of Housing portion of the session, Program Manager Teresa Stratula secured commission approval for two open-space actions: a $100 conveyance of a 3,138-square-foot Roxbury parcel to Urban Edge Housing Corporation for a pocket park, and a $400 tentative developer designation for Boston Food Forest Coalition Incorporated on four Dorchester parcels that have sat in city inventory for more than 20 years. Senior Housing Development Officer Chris Rooney also won a 12-month extension for ODJ Dev LLC's tentative designation on 11 Jamaica Plain parcels slated to yield 40 affordable homeownership units, with the team targeting an April 2025 return to the commission for a construction-start vote.