New England Revolution Stadium | 173 Alford Street | Boston-Everett

citydweller said:
I think the notion of a waterfront park would appear to be a nice complement and certainly would enhance the aesthetics but how much use would they think this would actually get considering its location. You can't escape the "urban grittiness" as was previously mentioned. Given the limited footprint of the site, I would rather that they eliminate or reduce the size of the park to maximize the available space for the best possible stadium design.
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Skate to where he puck is GOING TO BE, not to where it is now. That Mystic Waterfront is CHANGING on both sides.
 
It's also worth noting that this may well be the one chance to extend any kind of greenway on that side of the river. If the stadium blocks such an amenity, then it likely can never happen anywhere that is downstream of the Alford St bridge.
 
>then it likely can never happen anywhere that is downstream of the Alford St bridge

You are right, future waterfront dev't will never happen downstream with or without a waterpark. Perhaps instead of a park, they could just build a river walk/bikeway ....

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.... I realize I'm in the minority with my opinion but I'm just being pragmatic.
 
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The open space aspect is not open to negotiation like that because it was part of the deal when they allowed use as a stadium and not a port. Personally, I think the casino is hideous and a soccer stadium here is a waste of a good view. It might look cool on tv but that's it. But I will say that it is better than what is there and if built it will be maybe the second nicest soccer stadium in Greater Boston
 
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One final comment, my perspective (or bias) is that I'm a Rev's fan. As a fan, the location of the stadium, amenities and ease of access and parking is what's important. I could care less about the proposed waterfront park but I'm sure the City and local residents would see differently. I have no issues with the commute and parking to the Foxboro stadium but can't say the same about Everett. Yeah, and before anyone starts yelling, I realize that there are many Rev's fan in the Boston area that will be thrilled that the Rev's will be relocating locally.
 
It's also very important to remember that this waterfront is subject to Chapter 91 restrictions and setbacks that aim to preserve the shoreline for open uses. It would be an incredible headache to try and get around that. In any case it looks from these latest plans that the stadium will maximize the use of the heavily restricted parcel (on all sides because of Eversource and Excelon Power Station easements). You can see how much more space the stadium is filling compared to previous renders, and I think future renders will look a lot different to the placeholder ones they've been sharing.
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Arenacale said:
I'm sure the expansive parkland is something of a bone to be thrown to the community, but it would be cool to see the Revolution stadium placed right up against the water, which would make it feel more "urban" in my mind. Then the remaining space could be better filled out with housing or hotels or something.
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Also, I want to mention that Craven Cottage is probably not a great example of "more urban and less park". Fulham is considered affluent, quiet, and more leafy compared to the rest of London ( much less dense than many historically dense neighborhoods in Boston although it is more dense than Charlestown or Everett), and there is a huge waterfront park directly to the South of the stadium (which I understand is also the walk that most fans make to get to a game from the Tube).
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Arenacale said:
MLS lacks these types of venues simply because it's so new, and I think that is hamstringing them in trying to build culture and personality around their teams.
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Fulham is the second oldest team in London (~150 years old now) and only ten years younger than what is considered the oldest professional soccer team in the world. Fulham/Craven Cottage 100 years ago was a working class neighborhood with a very industrialized waterfront, and the team had a lot less culture.
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The Revolution has to start somewhere, and a centrally located stadium with mixed use development and parks is the most significant foundation for establishing a long term culture and fandom (as long as they don't do the American sports thing and move stadiums or relocate every 15-20 years). You can't plop down a brand new stadium in the middle of a historic neighborhood almost anywhere in the world, the neighborhood has to grow around the stadium. Fenway (the neighborhood) didn't exist 10 years before Fenway Park was built. The Everett Stadium isn't abandoning that sort of historical integrated model, this is how you build another Fenway Park 100 years from now (Gillette will probably always be kinda in the middle of nowhere though).
 
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citydweller said:
>then it likely can never happen anywhere that is downstream of the Alford St bridge

You are right, future waterfront dev't will never happen downstream with or without a waterpark. Perhaps instead of a park, they could just build a river walk/bikeway ....

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.... I realize I'm in the minority with my opinion but I'm just being pragmatic.
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Yes, I expect some of it can only be a narrow river walk/bikeway, but this can be punctuated by parks. My larger point, though, is that for any kind of path to reach the area in your picture requires that such a path have room for it along the stadium section. Given the need for crowd management during events, a plaza or park for that section makes sense, rather than just a path. But the key thing is that if space for a path or plaza is blocked, that's permanent, and there is no longer an option to open the remaining sections of waterfront.
 
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