The legal battle over a stadium being built for a professional women's soccer team in Boston's Franklin Park has come to an end.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of the city and the private partnership behind the project in a lawsuit filed by the environmental nonprofit Emerald Necklace Conservancy and a group of residents.

The joint venture, Boston Unity Soccer Partners, has been planning to renovate the 1940s-era White Stadium since 2023 so it can host the National Women's Soccer League’s Boston Legacy FC.

The team had hoped to open the stadium in time for its debut in the league this year, but project delays led Boston Legacy FC to begin playing in March at Gillette Stadium.

The plaintiffs first filed their lawsuit in February 2024, arguing that the project to rebuild the stadium violated state laws for protecting parklands. A Suffolk Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the project in April 2025, but the plaintiffs then appealed to a higher court.

The partnership continued to work on the stadium project during the appeal process and received criticism from the plaintiffs for doing so, WBUR reported.

The Supreme Judicial Court ultimately ruled that the plaintiffs didn't have standing to sue over the administration of the George Robert White Fund, a charitable trust created in 1947 that allowed the city to build the original stadium.

It also ruled against the plaintiffs’ claim that the site is public parkland that should be prohibited for use by a private soccer team. It said a pair of laws in 1947 and 1950 “effectively removed the stadium parcel from its previous designation as parkland.”

The team also secured a major financing victory in September when it obtained a $100M loan from Bank of America for the stadium project, a deal that Mayor Michelle Wu hailed as a “landmark financing agreement.”

The stadium will also host Boston Public Schools athletic contests.

The city has pledged to cover $135M of the project's total cost, which has risen substantially over the last three years to $325M, The Boston Globe reported.

The project includes rebuilding the stadium's west grandstand, installing a new grass field and an eight-lane track, and expanding community space and public restrooms.

“The Court’s decision clears the way for completing the White Stadium renovation and delivering a world-class facility that will serve our community for generations, and sets a national standard for youth athletics and professional women’s soccer,” team owner Jennifer Epstein said, according to the Globe.