PAWTUCKET – Pawtucket Red Sox, or Pawsox, owners and city officials on Tuesday are expected to announce a plan to build a new baseball stadium along Interstate 95 in Pawtucket.
Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien and Larry Lucchino, Pawsox chairman, will be joined by other city officials, members of the business community and union representatives. The announcement is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Slater Mill, which is nearby the Apex department store, one of the properties under consideration.
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The group is expected to announce a proposal to build a new Triple-A stadium at the iconic department store, or nearby at Tidewater, which the ownership group has been eyeing as a possible location for several months.
Details about the plan were not made immediately available, but a recent economic and fiscal report, commissioned by the city and the Pawsox, said a development project at the Apex site and adjoining area would cost $147.6 million.
The development would generate a net present value of $93.3 million in tax revenue for the state and $36.4 million for Pawtucket over 30 years, according to the report.
One of the biggest questions is whether the state or city will provide public subsidies to offset development costs for the team. Public outcry against such subsidies ultimately thwarted a previous effort by the ownership group to build a new stadium in Providence.
Gov. Gina M. Raimondo during an interview with reporters on Tuesday said she could support a new ballpark proposal if it was revenue neutral – meaning the state would make back as much as it spent in subsidies.
“I think they’re heading in the right direction. I think they’re listening,” Raimondo said.
Raimondo also said she wouldn’t want the state to spend an amount that exceeded the cost of fixing McCoy Stadium, which is the current home of the Pawsox.
The team on Tuesday morning released a video on Twitter entitled “Pawtucket is home,” saying McCoy’s time had come, and detailed a new stadium the team called: “a ballpark at Slater Mill.”
“We’ve had a good run at McCoy Stadium, but time has left its mark. We must look to the future,” the narrator says in the video. “The park will pay for itself with all revenues generated by the team and our visitors. This means zero tax increases for Rhode Islanders.”
Mary MacDonald, PBN staff writer, contributed to this report.
Eli Sherman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Sherman@PBN.com, or follow him on Twitter @Eli_Sherman.
