Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!

For 22 Years, Boston Arena Broke Promise To Hold 3 Fundraisers A Year

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

A classic David and Goliath story is playing out in Boston. A group of inner-city teens are facing off against the corporate giant that owns the Boston Bruins and their home arena, the TD Garden. NPR's Tovia Smith reports.

TOVIA SMITH, BYLINE: From the get-go, these teens say, their goal of a $20 million ice rink and rec center in one of the city's neediest neighborhoods felt like a long shot. Kids like 17-year-old Shayne Clinton were literally cold calling companies asking for donations and hoping for a miracle.

SHAYNE CLINTON: It's like shooting a half-court shot backwards.

SMITH: Not surprisingly, the kids were having a hard time scoring. That is, until a neighborhood old-timer remembered something about the law enabling construction of the Boston Garden. The owners were supposed to have three fundraisers a year to benefit community rec centers. So the teens, including Jonah Muniz and youth organizer Ken Tangvick went digging.

JONAH MUNIZ: Oh, my God. When we found the clause, it was a shocker.

KEN TANGVICK: And we just stared at it. And we kept reading it over and over and over and was saying, does it say what we think it says?

SMITH: It did, but the real shock was yet to come.

MUNIZ: Oh, my God, the eureka moment when we finally received the letter saying TD Garden has officially raised no money for fundraisers. Swish. Three-pointer (laughter).

SMITH: A game-changer. So last week, TD Garden announced a deal with the state to pay up - just over a million and a half dollars - and congratulated the teens. But they weren't celebrating.

LORRIE PEARSON: That doesn't work for us. It's nothing. And that's just so insulting.

SMITH: By their math, students like Lorrie Pearson figure three fundraisers a year for 22 years plus interest and penalties comes to nearly $14 million.

PEARSON: So we're not going to stop. We're not going to stand for it. And we're not going to just be pushed around.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) We don't think it's very funny.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Chanting) Jeremy Jacobs, where's the money?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) We don't think it's very funny.

SMITH: The kids protested outside TD Garden. Today, they'll rally at the statehouse. And they've been plotting legal strategy with advisor Ken Tangvick.

TANGVICK: And I think our message to the attorney general is, are you going to accept this ridiculous 1.65 number or are you going to do your job and enforce the law?

SMITH: But ridiculous is not exactly how TD Garden sees it. The owners declined to comment for this report, but in a statement, they say they give some $2 million a year to various charities. They based their one and a half million dollar settlement on what they raised from one of their community events and then tripled it just as a gesture of good faith. But the teens insist they're being low-balled. And philanthropy expert Elizabeth Ziegler with Graham-Pelton Consulting says they make a good case.

ELIZABETH ZIEGLER: I think we can assume that the fundraisers wouldn't be little student-run bake shops. These events would draw celebrities that would be commensurate with the brand of TD Garden and the sports teams.

SMITH: You could say the teens have already won with a priceless lesson about civic activism. Indeed, several, like Mabel Gondrez, are scrambling to rewrite their college application essays.

MABEL GONDREZ: Yeah. I'm going to write about just standing my ground with TD Garden and still trying to chase that dream. We're not going to give up at all.

SMITH: But for others, like Jonah Muniz, the lessons are a little less inspirational.

MUNIZ: The reality check for me is like higher powers, be careful with them definitely.

SMITH: Lorrie Pearson's takeaway is that the state could strike a deal for its citizens and then promptly forget about it for decades.

PEARSON: That doesn't make me want to work in government.

SMITH: But a career in community activism, Pearson says, maybe. Tovia Smith, NPR News, Boston. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Corrected: August 17, 2017 at 12:00 AM EDT
An earlier version of this headline stated that the Boston arena broke a fundraising promise for 24 years. It was 22 years.
Tovia Smith is an award-winning NPR National Correspondent based in Boston, who's spent more than three decades covering news around New England and beyond.

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.