The private nonprofit that protects Franklin Park says the city of Boston can renovate White Stadium as a “high-quality, fully-public high school” sports venue for “a fraction of the cost” of building a professional soccer stadium.

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy, a plaintiff in a pending lawsuit challenging the current project, has found a renovation centered on “the needs of Boston Public Schools students” would cost an “estimated $28.9 million.”

Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Unity Soccer Partners, an all-female ownership group that includes Boston Globe CEO Linda Pizzuti Henry among its investors, for more than a year have eyed turning White Stadium into a venue that would house BPS athletics and the city’s next professional women’s soccer team.

The city’s share of the roughly $200 million project has skyrocketed from $50 million as initially estimated to today’s $91 million amount, and the mayor hasn’t ruled out further increases.

In a radio interview last month, Wu stated her administration is committed to paying for Boston’s half of the project “no matter what it costs” to taxpayers.

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy has issued a report on what it would take to build a venue that would meet the needs of BPS student-athletes and the greater community without hosting BOS Nation Football Club which won an expansion bid in September 2023 to join the National Women’s Soccer League.

The city is being urged to back out of the current project and adopt the conservancy’s design concept. The group says their proposed venue is aligned with the “city’s plans to expand BPS athletic programming at the site” and would feature a new MIAA-compliant eight-lane track, a new grass football/soccer field, a full restoration of the 5,000-seat West Grandstand with new locker rooms, bathrooms, concessions, a ticketing/sales booth, and BPS offices.

The “most significant change” compared to the BOS Nation plan, the conservancy says, would be the removal of the existing East Grandstand, which has been damaged since a fire decades ago. Roughly 500 new seats would be incorporated into a landscaped hill, “tying White Stadium into the natural geography of Franklin Park.”

“Built into the side of the landscaped hill would be an indoor public restroom pavilion and wintertime warming space with drinking fountains,” the conservancy’s report states, “as well as a new 5,000-square-foot strength and conditioning suite for BPS student-athletes.”

More than 30 residents opposed to the controversial plan to renovate White Stadium to house BOS Nation sent a letter to Wu earlier this month, demanding “immediate termination” of the city’s lease agreement with the team.

The group’s letter, sent right after the new year, also demanded that a City Council hearing be held to discuss alternatives for White Stadium’s renewal. The mayor’s public-private deal, the letter stated, “doesn’t make sense to taxpayers.”

Renovations at the dilapidated park and stadium — where half of the grandstands were burned out from a fire decades ago— would triple the number of hours the stadium could be used, 90% of which would be dedicated to Boston Public School student-athletes and the community, project proponents have argued.

“As the public learns more details about this project, it has become clear that what is being proposed in Franklin Park is not a mere renovation of White Stadium, but the demolition of 95% of the existing high school stadium and the construction of a larger, new professional-scale stadium,” the Emerald Necklace Conservancy states in its report, issued Wednesday.

“Complete with beer gardens, luxury boxes, merchandise stores, and a jumbotron, this stadium proposal is designed around the needs of a professional soccer team first and foremost,” the group adds, “not the needs of BPS students.”

City Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy filed a hearing order to address the concerns with projected costs, community input, and transparency on the planned redevelopment last week.

Flynn has also introduced an additional hearing order about how he wants there to be a project labor agreement – a requirement for contractors to hire local workers, apprentices, and underrepresented groups – if the city and team’s project goes forward.

Flynn has called for the public-private partnership to consider Boston University’s Nickerson Field, a plan that would save the team roughly $100 million for its share of renovations at White Stadium, and the city nearly $70 million.

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BOS Nation FC responded to the conservancy’s report, highlighting how its plan with the city would deliver “increased city revenue” and establish a Franklin Park Preservation Fund which would provide a $500K annual community grant for local organizations.

“We are proud to be part of a project that transforms White Stadium into a modern and accessible facility that is a worthy home for Boston Public School students and our club,” the team said in a statement shared with the Herald. “We remain committed to the city’s proposed vision for the stadium and are honored by the opportunity to act as stewards for such a treasured community asset.”