The multi-million dollar investment it would take to upgrade McCoy Stadium, home of the Pawtucket Red Sox, or raze the ballpark and build a new one on the same site, is not worth a big public investment, according to a long-awaited engineering and economic report released Friday.
The study shows neither renovating the historic but aging stadium to bring it up to modern AAA baseball standards, nor razing the stadium and building a new ballpark on the same site would yield much in the way of jobs, taxes or other economic benefits for the state or city.
Renovating McCoy would cost an estimated $68 million, but the study cautions it will likely generate minimal return on public investment in the project other than the jobs and taxes generated by the construction and a “modest level’’ of increased economic activity.
Even with the building of a new stadium, at an estimated cost of $78 million, the McCoy site’s limitations mean that “in all likelihood’’ a new ballpark would not “provide an opportunity to attract private investment and development.’’
The $105,000 study was done by Pendulum Studio II and a team of ballpark experts. The study was financed by PawSox ownership, the city of Pawtucket and Rhode Island state government.
The consultants stated that it is “highly unlikely that a typical goal of a public investment of this nature –to generate a significant return on that investment driven by ancillary development around a new stadium—will ever be realized.’’
One of the challenges is the location of McCoy, in a residential and light industrial neighborhood far from the section of Pawtucket where the city is focusing redevelopment efforts – the Blackstone Riverfront near Route 95 and such attractions as Slater Mill and downtown.
Rather than provide a politically palatable compromise that would point to a solution, this study, in effect, sends state and city leaders back to the drawing board.
The original plan pushed by the new owners of the PawSox, the Boston Red Sox top minor league team, was to build a new stadium along the downtown Providence waterfront, on land that became available when Route 195 was rerouted away from downtown. But that proposal crashed after the untimely death of team President Jim Skeffington, a longtime Rhode Island lawyer and political power broker, and after a citizens group objected to the $120 million cost, which included a hefty public subsidy along with free land.
The report also listed the pros and cons of renovating McCoy versus tearing down the historic park and building a new stadium on the same site. On the pro side of this option would be retaining the “historic characteristics’’ of McCoy and its legacy. A renovation would also position PawSox ownership to attract year-round events outside the baseball season. There would be fewer rain delays due to improved field drainage. And the playing field could be used more often for other sports, such as lacrosse, soccer and football.
A renovation would also mean expanded parking and development of a football and track and field facility. Fans would get better seating and improved sight lines, as well as upgraded concessions and amenities. For example, a relocation of seats down the first and third baselines would reduce the foul territory and place fans closer to the action. And new group areas and better amenities would likely increase attendance. A renovation could be completed in one or two seasons, depending on weather, according to the study.
While a renovation would extend the useful life of McCoy for 20 years, there is the possibility that further studies may be show that the damage to McCoy is more extensive that currently thought. There is a lack of visibility from Route 95. And, as the study points out, the surrounding residential neighborhood isn’t amenable to redevelopment.
