A 2015 report by Populous indicated that $65 million would be needed to modernize McCoy Stadium, which is now under another review.
As we noted in September, a previous study on the home of the Pawtucket Red Sox (Class AAA; International League) indicated that $65 million would be needed to bring McCoy Stadium to modern Class AAA standards. However, McCoy Stadium is receiving another look, this time from Pendulum.
Pendulum is being asked to study both McCoy Stadium and the surrounding area, specifically addressing what it would take to both renovate the ballpark and create additional development opportunities. Unlike the previous Populous study, which was commissioned in 2015 by then-co-owners Larry Lucchino and James J. Skeffington, the Pendulum report is a partnership between the PawSox, the City of Pawtucket, and the State of Rhode Island.
The Pendulum report is expected to be delivered in January. Between now and then, officials are wondering what conclusions it will draw that contrast from the Populous report, mainly as it relates to details on related development. More from the Providence Journal:
The team noted McCoy’s location in a residential neighborhood, with poor access to major thoroughfares, limited parking and restrictions on the number of non-baseball events because of noise and lighting issues. The study said the area has “little to no potential for commercial development around the ballpark.”
That’s in stark contrast to ideas stressed over the last two years by Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien, who has talked of redeveloping land around McCoy.
Pendulum has been asked to look well beyond the 6-acre McCoy footprint, including: nearly 22 city-owned acres, about 40 privately owned acres and nearly 10 acres of pavement.
“You should not feel constrained to the adjacent land parcels that Populous mentions in its study,” wrote PawSox Vice Chairman Mike Tamburro in an Oct. 11 letter to Cole. ” … Populous was limited in its use of adjacent areas due to constraints believed to exist at the time…”
McCoy Stadium first opened in 1942. Its last major renovation occurred before the 1999 season.
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