Pawtucket and R.I. Commerce Corp. initially sought proposals for “McCoy Stadium and Pawtucket Downtown Development.” But the winning selection, Fortuitous Partners’ $400 million soccer stadium development, does not include the aging ballpark at all.
The excitement over the Tidewater Landing project, which calls for redevelopment of three riverfront properties in Pawtucket, temporarily overshadowed the original impetus for the request for proposals: what to do with the sprawling stadium, parking lot, track and field once the Pawtucket Red Sox move out after the 2020 season. But as the dust settles on the soccer stadium project announcement, the focus has returned to the city-owned McCoy property, according to Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien.
The decision to work with Fortuitous does not preclude the city and Commerce RI from selecting another one of the six responses to the RFP for redeveloping McCoy, according to Commerce RI spokesman Matt Sheaff.
Sheaff said the economic-development agency will continue working with the city to determine whether to move ahead with one of the proposals in the coming months.
Before making a decision, city and state leaders are waiting on results from Maryland-based consulting firm EMG Corp., which was hired to analyze costs of a variety of scenarios, including reusing the stadium for a ballpark, redeveloping the site for public or government use, or demolishing the structures and selling the land to a private buyer, according to Grebien.
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FUTURE OPTIONS: Pawtucket Councilman Terry Mercer says his first job was selling popcorn and peanuts to the crowd during Pawtucket Red Sox games at McCoy Stadium. While he would prefer to see baseball remain at the stadium, from a fiscal standpoint, he favors a new high school, noting the availability of state funding for school construction projects./ PBN PHOTO/MIKE SKORSKI[/caption]
A feasibility study conducted in January 2017 found that renovating or replacing the stadium as a Triple-A ballpark came with a $68 million to $78 million price tag. The stadium was last renovated in 1999 and needs substantial repairs to its structure and systems due to water infiltration and use.
Two of the other responses to the request for proposals called for baseball, but either Single-A or an independent league.
‘As a purist, I’d like to see baseball there.’
TERRY MERCER, Pawtucket City Council member
Talk in the neighborhood around McCoy has heated up about the future of the property. Jeff Wang, owner of the Mei-King Chinese Restaurant across South Bend Street from McCoy, said the suggestions he’s heard circulating include transforming the stadium into a concert venue or building apartment buildings on the parcel.
Government use is also an option: either a new City Hall and public safety complex, or a larger high school that combines students from the city’s Charles E. Shea and William E. Tolman high schools.
Developer Brett Johnson, too, is eyeing the soon-to-be vacant space with interest. Johnson, a principal with Fortuitous Partners, is pitching a year-round sports complex with indoor and outdoor fields for community use – separate but complementary to the Tidewater Landing project.
“Everything is on the table,” Grebien said. “It’s just a matter of what we as a community want.”
Pawtucket City Councilman Terry Mercer, whose district includes McCoy, weighed pros and cons of several ideas.
“As a purist, I’d like to see baseball there,” Mercer said, waxing nostalgic as he remembered his childhood growing up within 100 yards of McCoy, and his first job selling popcorn and peanuts to the crowd.
But, Mercer noted, a Single-A team would have a shorter season and might not generate enough revenue to justify the cost of renovations.
From a fiscal standpoint, he favors a new school, noting state funding available for school construction projects. However, a consolidated high school also creates challenges in busing, and cuts the number of extracurricular opportunities available to students, he said.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
