Reports: Revs won’t be building stadium on Bayside property

The plan to build a New England Revolution stadium on the Bayside property in Dorchester, MA is dead, according to Jennifer Smith of the Dorchester Report.

Whispers about the Revs relocating to Dorchester first emerged in 2016 when The Boston Globe reported that the Kraft family was interested in constructing a soccer-specific stadium on the waterfront property that the University of Massachusetts purchased in 2010.

The Dorchester Report confirmed that the two parties were talking about building a 20,000 seat stadium that would cost approximately $250 million.

Those talks were derailed in part by the public, who were especially vocal about potential traffic issues. The public asked to be more involved in any potential projects associated with the land that once housed the Bayside Expo Center.

With a soccer stadium off the table, elected officials, like State Representative Nick Collins, are now looking into ways that the land can be used that would satisfy all parties.

“Now that this negotiation is over, I want to turn our focus toward maximizing the benefits of this unique waterfront property in our neighborhood,” Collins told the Reporter. “[It’s vital that] Dorchester residents are brought to the table to determine what is the best use of the property in best interests of UMass, its students, and its faculty.”

The Boston Globe seconded the news that came from the Dorchester Report by getting a comment from a UMass spokesman.

“I think it’s well documented that there had been conversations over time about the potential for a stadium-anchored development at the site,” UMass spokesman Jeff Cournoyer told the Globe. “It doesn’t appear feasible at this point.”