The North Shore Navigators (summer collegiate; Futures League) are committed to Fraser Field through 2020 after agreeing to a new lease that calls for a $45,262.15 prepayment.
Prepaying the rent didn’t field the Navs any breaks on the total amount, but it does give Lynn the money to buy a new synthetic turf to replacing the aging turf first installed when pro baseball returned to the former Eastern League and independent-league ballpark. That cost: $300,000, with the prepayment almost totally going to cover a funding hole.
It’s unusual for a team to prepay a lease: usually baseball teams work hard to hang onto every cent of available cash. In this case, however, it works out for the Navs on a few levels: the team gets the needed new turf, and the city gets the assurance of the money up front. From the Daily Item:
Police Chief Kevin Coppinger, who serves on the commission, asked what would happen if the Navigators decide to move before the lease is up.
“That’s the risk of prepaying,” Lamanna said, adding that it would not be incumbent on the city to repay any of the money.
[Navigators GM Bill] Terlecky said if the team was put on the market having a lease on a ball field would actually be a selling point.
Pat and Lindy Salvi own the Navigators; many of you will recognize GM Bill Terlecky as a veteran of the minor-league baseball scene. Fraser Field opened in 1940 as home to Eastern League baseball.
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