PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A proposed ballpark for the Pawtucket Red Sox on waterfront land in downtown Providence would have posed significant urban design and environmental challenges, according to feasibility studies obtained Tuesday through a public records request by The Associated Press.
The stadium for the Triple-A franchise of the Boston Red Sox would be empty the majority of the year, and people may not feel safe walking in that area when there aren’t events being held, according to a June 11 assessment prepared by consulting firm Goody Clancy for the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission. The commission is the state agency that owns the land the PawSox wanted to build on.
The assessment is one of several that were prepared for the commission as it considered the team’s proposal for a stadium on the land, which has been slated for years to become a public park. The deal died last month after state officials determined there were too many obstacles with the site.
Many of those obstacles are outlined in the feasibility studies.
When the stadium is not in use, many of the surrounding areas, including the area along the Providence River, could be “perceived as dead spaces, limiting their appeal as urban amenities and degrading their potential as vital public spaces,” according to the Goody Clancy assessment.
This is an inherent challenge with “integrating stadiums within thriving urban districts,” the assessment says.
The stadium would also block public views along Orange Street and Dorrance Street of the Providence River. The city zoning ordinance says these views should be maintained.
The assessment also says the stadium’s field lighting could conflict with a planned expansion of WaterFire, the public art display.
The findings of the assessment weren’t all bad.
“The stadium would add a major regional destination and attraction to downtown Providence,” it said.
Another assessment, prepared June 10 by consulting firm Fuss & O’Neill, estimates there would be significant costs to relocate storm sewers and gas pipes in order to accommodate a stadium.
It would cost $6.2 million to relocate the sewer facilities, according to the assessment. The PawSox had estimated that it would cost $4 to $5 million. Relocating approximately 1,000 linear feet of gas line would cost approximately $1.3 million.
The assessments were released Tuesday to the AP.
The commission declined to release a copy of the revised term sheet that was submitted by the PawSox to the commission over the summer. The commission said it’s not a public document because it contains confidential financial information.
House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, who hired an economist to negotiate on his behalf with the team, has also refused to make the revised term sheet public.
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