Greater City Providence
House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said Saturday that PawSox managing partner Larry Lucchino told him late this week the drive has ended to move the Pawtucket Red Sox to former Route 195 land and Brown University property in Providence.
[…]Lucchino said Governor Raimondo “communicated to our partners” that the site wasn’t suitable.
Negotiations for a Triple-A ballpark on that site have “ceased … The project is not going to happen at that site,” Mattiello said.
[…]Lucchino said the team is still looking in Rhode Island, but he said he would not talk further Saturday night. He said he was returning The Journal’s phone call from his birthday celebration with family in Pittsburgh. Asked whether any Massachusetts communities have reached out to the team, Lucchino said, “No comment.”
Jef Nickerson
What a shame something couldn’t be worked out, would have been a game changer.
Yeah, it would have changed the game from Pawtucket to Providence but no overall benefit to Rhode Island.
Now lets see if there can be real economic development on the i-195 lands.
No really, any site in Providence is a far better location than McCoy.
I know one thing – a baseball stadium contributes far more to the economy of the city than another grass and tree empty place. Providence does not need another park!!!
In any event, it is about Providence – not RI.
Although we have multiple parks, having an open space park in that location to downtown, the jewelry district, the east side and the river can be very beneficial. More room for events and shows. Burnside isn’t open enough to support events, neither is Roger Williams on south main street. India Point Park supports events and is on the ocean but isn’t centrally located enough. The main park, Roger Williams Park and zoo is grand and fantastic, but also isn’t close enough to downtown for tourists, business man and women, and students to walk to. That’s why this location would be perfect for a park. I was for the stadium, but a public park is a good second choice. Think of a smaller Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is very successful amongst New Yorkers sitting right on the East River.
*If* the 195 pedestrian gets built, this park will probably not sit dead as many of Providence’s other parks do.
Sad. I still think that a) a ballpark here would have been among the best ballparks in the country and b) that the PawSox ownership group, not content with that, ruined their chances by poisoning public opinion with a horrendous and offensive initial proposal.
When “already fabulously rich” is still not rich enough …
–Apple wants to relocate 5000 high paying jobs here.
–Uneducated citizens of RI… “No because 38 studios!”
Yes, the Pawsox owners blew it. This could have been a wonderful addition to the city.
The park WILL sit dead except perhaps for the immediate waterfront. And not even that if current plans are followed: The waterfront will be walled off, a cheap design. More inviting riverwalks and parks beckon in nearly every direction.
And I decided to save the full rant about the bridge which apparently is to be delayed until such time that we all become grateful for a crappy one.
We can’t have anything nice. Why? Because it seems we can’t have anything at all in this place.
#pedestrianbridge #ballpark #housing #transit #jobs #infrastructure #taxbreaksforresidents #studenthousing #accessiblewaterfront #economicdevelopment
If they really want a new waterfront stadium, I would love to see it built where Apex is in Pawtucket.
That is a great idea! But isn’t it “Where Apex used to be?”
No, Apex is still there.
I’d rather see the stadium stay where it is and have the Apex site be part of the postgame destination plan (i.e., part of a vibrant downtown Pawtucket). Unfortunately, the city has been pushing to keep it big-box retail.
I’d be pretty upset if the Apex building was torn down. It’s such an iconic building. I just hate all the surface parking around it.
Postgame destination plan? Really? It’s still Pawtucket.
Icon, schmicon.
It is drive-by architecture where there should be human scale streetscape. So what if from a windshield on I-95 it looks a little more interesting than the usual big box? At ground level it is blank mile of nothing. It walls off what could be a nice spot above the river. It worsens the isolation of the salvageable walkable remnant of downtown Pawtucket.
Put it in the textbooks to illustrate how people once thought they could save the city by making it just like the suburbs. Oh wait, people still think that?
I think it is a shame that the Pawsox will probably leave RI now, and I would have supported a stadium downtown with the right deal. There’s no way that pedestrian bridge ever gets built and unless the Providence Parks Conservency holds everyone’s feet to the fire, the waterfront park will simply be static empty space that will only be populated during waterfire.
While I absolutely will cop to being far away and not as jacked into the the development scene as I once was, and it sure isn’t my tax dollars, it doesn’t look like the redevelopment of the I95 lands is all that cohesive, or interesting.
The park will be empty, and full of the entitled homeless of Providence. I actually saw someone pooping on the RiverWalk. They just dropped their drawers and splattered all over the ground. There is drug use, drinking, and the bad types of loitering. There is absolutely zero monitoring and patrolling. At least if the Red Sox moved their, they would have had security. The City should make Brown patrol the RiverWalk full-time once South Street Landing goes live.
Amazing! You (KCB) know the future.
What if, instead of what you’ve envisioned, there were folks from all walks of life enjoying the pleasures of RiverWalk? What if, instead of condemning the “…entitled homeless of Providence…” you volunteered to help end homeless (perhaps you do)? What if, instead of suggesting that someone else monitor RiverWalk, you organize a volunteer group of folks who donate their time to do so; or, provide port-of-potties?
Question: where would you poop if you had to go and you did not have access to a toilet? Perhaps that person wasn’t well.
Perhaps my City and Brown University can collaborate to help resolve/solve some of these (and more) issues. I cannot imagine either one forcing the other to do anything.
Finally, what comes to mind is – be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Folks from all walks of life enjoying the River Walk? That happens. Every 2 weeks during the summer. It’s called Waterfire. Other than that, the River Walk is pretty empty of people. Have you ever walked it? If the River Walk is going to be the best damn thing in the city, then that park is going to have to give free reach arounds or something. Until then, the park is likely just going to be another empty park with a handful of folks using it.
As for patrol, what good will a volunteer group do if folks have no problem pooping in front of passersby? The volunteers can’t do anything about it. You put a police officer there, and the pooper can be arrested. It’s pretty simple. And yes, the city can push Brown to patrol it, especially if there are more Brown students there due to the adjacent Brown property.