Braintree Planning Board Approves Thayer Academy Turf Field With Lighting Conditions

BRAINTREE -- April 15, 2026, Braintree planners approve Thayer Academy's artificial turf football field and permanent lighting with conditions requiring a year-end check-in on use and parking. The Planning Board unanimously granted site plan review and a grading permit for the 745 Washington Street project, which will replace the school's aging grass field and track, install four 70-foot LED light poles calibrated for zero foot-candle spillage at property lines, and add 450-seat bleachers with a press box on the 23.68-acre campus. Attorney Frank Marinelli represented the trustees; head of school Chris Fortunato told the board the current grass field "becomes less functional and less safe for our students" due to weather and heavy practice use. Neighbors on Tremont Street pressed Thayer on game-day parking congestion and asked what would prevent nightly field rentals under the new lights; the board's conditions require the school to return before December 31, 2026, to report on lighting frequency and present a traffic management plan, and cap game lighting at 10 p.m. The board also approved a minor facade modification to the roughly $40 million Dick's House of Sport conversion at South Shore Plaza, permitting the design team to retain and stain existing concrete panels for sustainability reasons rather than remove them.