City Council Voices Opposition to New Red Sox Stadium Plan Costs

BOSTON-A city council hearing demonstrated the increasing opposition among its members to proposed plans to spend $212 million on a new 15-acre Red Sox ballpark. A vote is to be taken by the council next month on whether the city should invest in a new Fenway Park.

Council members want the city to explain why this property should be used for the ballpark but city officials were frustrated that council members had called the public hearing before their plans were ready. “The city is capable of addressing that issue forthrightly,” Paul Walkowski, legislative aide to council president Jim Kelly, tells GlobeSt.com. “We submitted the order of meeting back in August. It is disingenuous to believe that they weren’t ready.” Calls to the office of Boston City Hall were not returned by press time but according to Walkowski, “They were unprepared to make a case this late in the game. They’re just stalling.”