A first look at the proposed Revolution stadium in Everett

Building a standalone stadium in or near Boston has been a longtime goal of the Krafts. Revs president Brian Bilello said it would attract more fans, particularly from the immigrant communities in and around the city. The Kraft Group also aims to provide a more intimate experience in a stadium more appropriate for soccer. Seating would be closer to the field than at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, and an area behind one of the goals would be designed as standing-room only for diehard fans. Bilello expects the stadium would seat as many as 25,000 fans, though no final number has been established.

“These urban soccer stadiums have done really well, and have been big community assets,” Bilello said earlier this week. “There’s no doubt if we were able to build this project, it would sell out.”

A community benefits agreement that became public last fall says on-site parking would be limited to 75 spots, and Bilello said public transit is a big advantage of an urban stadium. The Orange Line is less than a mile away, with a station at Charlestown’s Sullivan Square, and plans are in the works to extend the Silver Line bus from Chelsea through Everett and past the stadium. Meanwhile, a footbridge over the Mystic between Assembly Row in Somerville and the nearby Encore Boston Harbor casino is in the works, and there have been preliminary talks about adding a commuter rail stop in Everett.

Plans also call for a dock at the stadium site for ferries going to and from the Encore Boston Harbor casino.

Bilello said the stadium could host 19 to 24 Revs games a year, as well as other sporting events, concerts, and community festivals.

But before any of that happens, the 43-acre site where the stadium would go needs to be removed from what’s known as a designated port area, a state-regulated zone where development is essentially limited to marine industrial uses. That’s the main goal of the legislation, filed by Senator Sal DiDomenico of Everett, discussed at the hearing on Tuesday — essentially the first public airing of the stadium plan since Everett officials and state lawmakers began discussing it two years ago.

The property — located across Route 99 from the Encore casino — is currently home to a decommissioned section of the Mystic power plant that Encore owner Wynn Resorts acquired from Constellation Energy last year. The Krafts would demolish that section of the plant and clean up the site, although an Eversource substation would remain on the property.

Bilello said it’s too early to talk about an opening date. Removing the project from the industrial port area is just the first step, and it’s no sure thing that the Legislature will agree to do so before formal sessions end on July 31. Concerns remain about traffic, particularly in neighboring Charlestown, and about the potential competition the stadium would pose for existing concert venues such as the TD Garden and Fenway Park. While Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria is a strong supporter, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne have expressed some reservations.

Should lawmakers approve the bill, the Krafts would then need to obtain a range of state and local permits, a process that could take two years, before construction could begin.

Planning for the Everett stadium is underway as the Krafts and tourism leaders in Boston prepare to host seven games at Gillette Stadium and other activities for the 2026 World Cup. Bilello said progress on a new stadium would dovetail with the World Cup festivities, though the project would not be finished by that time.

“The message to the community [with this project] that ‘soccer is here to stay in a really big way’ blends really nicely with the World Cup in 2026,” Bilello said.

Plus, he notes, a soccer-specific stadium in the heart of Greater Boston will increase the Revs’ profile in a way that has been harder in Foxborough, Bilello said. He envisions the Revs becoming on par with the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics.

“I don’t think you would ever hear of them refer to the ‘Big Four’ sports teams again if we had this stadium in Everett,” Bilello said. “It really allows us to reach new people … in a way that’s different than being out in the suburbs.”

Among those raising concerns at the hearing were Councilor Sharon Durkan of Boston, whose district includes the TD Garden and Fenway Park, and Arthur Jemison, Wu’s planning director. Both of them said Boston needs to have a voice in the debate.

“Boston, and most particularly Charlestown, will bear the brunt of the transportation impacts,” Jemison said.

And Maggie Sullivan, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, criticized removing the site from the industrial port area via legislation as “spot zoning” and poor planning, saying it would undermine the state’s clean energy goals by preventing the land from being used to support the offshore wind industry.

In contrast, DeMaria said the stadium and adjacent waterfront park would help Everett “emerge from its former industrial past” much in the same way the Seaport in Boston and Assembly Row in Somerville have been redeveloped.

And DiDomenico noted that that most of the designated port area would remain intact.

“We can’t wait to get those smokestacks down,” he said. “We can’t wait to have this building that’s been contaminated for decades off our waterfront.”

Among the many Revs fans who spoke up was Matthew Puglise of Seekonk, who came to the State House wearing a Revs sweatshirt. He told lawmakers how he met his wife going to Revs games, and how he’s looking forward to taking their daughter to games at the Everett stadium even though it’s much further away from their home. Puglise hinted at the various stadium sites that have come up in the past, only to be dropped from consideration for various reasons.

“The thing that’s been missing for the entirety of my Revs fandom ... is its own stadium, its own home,” Puglise said. “The amount it would mean to the fans is immeasurable. ... We have never been as hopeful as we have with this project.”

Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.