Residents: Fight against field house not over
Oppose facility at McCormack school
Boston residents opposing the development of a new field house to be built at John W. McCormack Middle School in Dorchester say they aren’t giving up the fight after the proposal narrowly passed before the Boston School Committee Wednesday night.
“We are going to keep pushing to preserve playing fields there, I think that is going to be our goal but there are a lot of different ways that could happen,” said Laura Carroll, legal counsel to the Harbor Point Community Task Force in Dorchester.
Members of the task force along with McCormack students, teachers and other community members have long opposed a proposal from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester and the Martin Richard Foundation to build a field house facility on the ball fields of the school, potentially robbing students of open field space.
Ruby Reyes, director of the Boston Education Justice Alliance said the move is a “land grab” that draws upon issues of racial equity.
“Everything this community of color wants has been pushed and destroyed in order to have this proposal to go through,” said Reyes.
Reyes said it’s “sneaky” and “nefarious” to try and take green space from students during a pandemic, especially when attention is focused around school reopening efforts.
In a rare split vote from the Boston School Committee, the proposal passed Wednesday night, with three votes in favor of the field house, two against and two abstaining.
The vote followed hours of public comment along with questioning and discussion from committee members.
McCormack teacher Neema Avashia said the vote should have been delayed, adding it was in “poor form” to rush it through.
“Power brokers in our city have gotten really good at saying they’re listening without actually doing anything with what’s said,” said Avashia.
Boston School Committee Chairman Michael Loconto said he “didn’t see any need for us to deviate from our process,” in terms of voting, and called the field house a “gift for this community.”
When asked about open field space for students he noted the close proximity of Moakley Park, UMass Boston
and Boston College High School.
Bob Scannell, CEO and president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester, said students will have priority to use the field house and will be offered a free Boys & Girls Club membership. Scannell said the next step in the process is gathering community input for the field house.
“You start with the kids because they’re a heck of a lot smarter than we are and they’re more creative and it’s their space,” said Scannell.
Mayor Martin Walsh said, “The idea of building a club house on Harbor Point is great, it’s going to benefit the kids in school, it’s going to benefit the community.”
He said, “I quite honestly don’t understand the folks that are against this.”