Olympic Stadium at Suffolk Downs?
Any Plan for the Site Must
Meet Community Principles, Approval
Community group reiterates five guiding
principles for development
EAST BOSTON, Feb. 2, 2015—As Mohegan Sun joins a lawsuit against the
Massachusetts Gaming Commission and the President of Boston2024
suggests that Suffolk Downs could be an alternative site for the
proposed Olympic stadium, a community group is doubling down on its
commitment to ensuring that any future development of the Suffolk
Downs parcel must meet certain principles – one of which is East
Boston approval.
EastBoston2020, a largely East Boston-based group of urban planners,
architects, public infrastructure experts, and representatives of
various community groups, formed after the November 5, 2013,
election in which East Boston voters rejected a casino at the
161-acre site at Suffolk Downs. The group is re-releasing its vision
for the parcel in light of news reports that the site may be pursued
to build an Olympic stadium, should Boston be selected as host city
for the 2024 Games and planners’ first choice for a stadium, Widett
Circle, fall through.
“We are not taking a formal position on whether or not Boston should
play host to the Olympics, only underscoring our assertion that
whatever is proposed for that parcel must meet certain standards and
gain support from East Boston residents,” said Giordana Mecagni, a
co-founder and leader in the group.
The group’s two-page vision statement, titled “Overarching
Principles For Development in East Boston,” outlines five principles
by which all future significant development proposals in East Boston
– and Suffolk Downs in particular – should be measured. The five
principles - permanent job creation, community inclusion and a
transparent process, environmental impact, transit-oriented
development, and economic feasibility - present a framework to
ensure that this critical and unique site is developed in a way that
enhances quality of life by creating permanent 21st century jobs,
improving transit oriented mobility and ensuring no degradation to
the environmentally sensitive site. Recently, the group called on
the five candidates in the special election for State Representative
to endorse the vision.
“Although Suffolk Downs is privately owned, it is supported by a
highway and transit system owned and operated by the state and paid
for by the taxpayers of Massachusetts,” said Jim Aloisi, a former
state Transportation Secretary, native of East Boston, and founding
group member. “It is only fair and just that any major development
on its grounds be thoroughly vetted by local citizenry and
surrounding communities. We hope these principles, which express a
positive and forward-looking vision for the future of this site and
community, will be embraced by a broad spectrum of state and local
decision makers. Ours is a constructive vision, and we are eager to
engage with those who appreciate the potential for this site to
bring transformative change to the community, the city and the
region.”
What’s more, with the track recently allowed to continue pari mutuel
betting absent live racing, and this week’s news that Mohegan Sun
would be joining a lawsuit against the state’s gaming commission,
some may think the door remains cracked for casino development at
Suffolk Downs. Not so, say the group’s leaders.
“The people of East Boston have rejected a casino in our community —
twice,” Mecagni said. “We look forward to working with Suffolk
Downs’ landowners and any future developer to ensure that the parcel
becomes something that creates jobs, includes and benefits all
community members, is environmentally sustainable and
transit-oriented, and is economically feasible. These are non-negotiables.”
A full version of the “Overarching Principles For Development in
East Boston” can be found at www.eastboston2020.com. For more
information, please contact east.boston.visioning@gmail.com.
Visioning group members include:
Jim Aloisi
Lyle Bradley
Joel Bryce
Ernani Jose DeAraujo
Antonio Di Mambro
Neenah Estrella-Luna, MPH, PhD
Meg Hammond
Chris Marchi
Brian Gregory
Steve Holt
Giordana Mecagni
Sandra Nijjar
Mike Russo
Trent Sheppard
