Progress continues on the construction of Polar Park for the Worcester Red Sox (Class AAA; International League), as the first steel beams go up at the site Monday morning.
The under-construction Polar Park is the future home of the WooSox, the franchise that will play its final season as the Pawtucket Red Sox in 2020 before relocating to the Massachusetts city in 2021. With its scheduled opening a little over a year from now, the ballpark continues to make progress, with the latest construction milestone set to occur Monday morning as the first steal beams rise at the site.
Not only will the placement of the first beams represent a major milestone, but it will also set the tone for continual progress in the construction process as the ballpark begins taking shape. More from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:
The Gilbane-Hunt construction team is set to raise the two pillars and a connecting crossbar at 11 a.m., according to Bill Wanless, spokesman for the Pawtucket Red Sox, which will officially relocate to Worcester in 2021.
He said more steel pillars will follow Monday and later.
Club officials expected to be present for the raising of the steel include Larry Lucchino, chairman and principal owner of the Pawtucket Red Sox; Dr. Charles Steinberg, team president; and Dan Rea, executive vice president, real estate development and business affairs.
The steel construction will start at the deepest part of the site, along the third-base side of the ballpark, and work its way around the seating area to the first-base side.
Polar Park is being built as part of a larger redevelopment of the surrounding Kelley Square/Canal District. New development is slated to include an office building behind the ballpark’s left field wall, two hotels and residential buildings, and a mixed-use building that will feature retail, office, and lab space. When the facility does open, it will be the International League’s first new facility since the debut of BB&T Ballpark for the Charlotte Knights in 2014.
Rendering courtesy City of Worcester.
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