Preserve, don’t discard, McCoy Stadium

Posted 3/5/15

To the Editor:

I don’t think that the new owners of the PawSox want to keep the team in Rhode Island. The new owners are smart businessmen and they will want to build their new $70 million …

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Preserve, don’t discard, McCoy Stadium

Posted

To the Editor:

I don’t think that the new owners of the PawSox want to keep the team in Rhode Island. The new owners are smart businessmen and they will want to build their new $70 million ballpark in a location that will guarantee the success of the team. The proposed site in Providence does not seem to meet this standard. The only site that would make the investment of $100 million worthwhile is the land adjacent to Gillette Stadium’s MBTA commuter rail station in Foxboro, Mass. A new ballpark built in this location could be expanded in the future to replace an aging Fenway Park.

I suggest that Rhode Island make these new owners an offer that would save them over $65 million. If the new PawSox owners would invest $15 million to renovate McCoy Stadium, Rhode Island would match these funds over a five-year period. If a ballpark built in 1912 can be successfully renovated, surely a ballpark built in 1942 can be successfully renovated.  McCoy Stadium, like Fenway Park, is a historic site that should be preserved and not thrown away like an old shoe. 

Kenneth Berwick

Smithfield

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  • Ken B

    The PawSox should stay at McCoy Stadium. It is a historic site. In 1999, it was upgraded to meet Triple-A requirements. The average attendance over the last seven years is 8908. It is the only family friendly stadium in Triple-A baseball. For less than 55 dollars, a family of six can attend a game and have a hot dog and a soda. In 1981, the longest game in the history of baseball, 33 innings, took place there. Numerous Hall of Fame players have played at McCoy Stadium. If federal funds to upgrade the Providence & Worcester rail right of way that parallels the George R. Bennett HWY were provided, MBTA commuter rail service from Boston to McCoy Stadium could be provided and a bike path from the Washington Bridge in East Providence connecting the East Bay Bike Path to McCoy Stadium could be built. A MBTA station and the McCoy Stadium Bike Path would be a catalyst for private economic development in the area. A 50 cent surcharge on each ticket sold could finance a revolving fund to pay for any necessary transportation infrastructure improvements to McCoy Stadium..

    Kenneth Berwick, Smithfield, RI

    Saturday, March 7, 2015 Report this