Worcester Ballpark & Redev

[NoShJFK]

Opening Day was yesterday. With a reduced crowd obviously. The park looks beautiful on the inside but the exterior is a joke.

The development around it is a wait and see.
And I can’t help but saying still... it has a very - less than AAA feel with seats barely going past the dugouts. I don’t mind the bullpens but in right they could’ve been pushed further down the line and in the visiting pen could’ve been pushed to left-center field. The park needs more seats and the over hang and exterior need to be redone.

I will say the “Worcester wall” concept works. It doesn’t seem tacky or forced. And it’s not an artificial wall as the stadium is built into the side of a hill

Non-development related but it’s been announced over 50 of their games will be on NESN. That’s huge for

 

[cubalibre]

View from across Madison Street with the parking garage going up before the other planned developments. There was some (corporate?) event going on at the park.

 

[RandomWalk]

The thing looks unfinished.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

500 ft. bomb straight down the LF line might let you hit one into a moving CSX locomotive cab.

 

[RandomWalk]

They would need to thread the needle between the foul pole and the scoreboard. Where’s Carleton Fisk when you need him?

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

They would need to thread the needle between the foul pole and the scoreboard. Where’s Carleton Fisk when you need him?

Looks like it would be even easier if you skied a foul ball high enough to clear the LF grandstand roof, as the tracks run even closer to that side of the stadium.

Any which way, I smell a Bernie & Phyl's bedroom set giveaway sweepstakes for whoever guesses the date a fly ball hitches a ride to Selkirk.

 

[Massachoicetts]

wow i hate it..

Very underdelivered here. This is worse than a Boston project.

It looks old.. and unkept.

 

[MrDee12345]

I'm looking at this park like a desperate drunk guy looks at a fat girl at last call. It's on the inside that counts, right boys?

 

[JumboBuc]

View attachment 13020

This thing reads very "midcentury suburban high school" to me. The part with no windows on the left must be the gym or auditorium.

I can just picture the blue-painted concrete block walls and the high-traffic tile floors inside, plus the crackly intercom system and random spot in the ceiling that's been dripping since Freshman year.

 

[RandomWalk]

$1 million for the park. $156 million invested in Bitcoin.

 

[citydweller]

wow i hate it..

Very underdelivered here. This is worse than a Boston project.

It looks old.. and unkept.

the design of the exterior was intentional, meaning it was suppose to have an industrial look-and-feel to "blend" with Worcester's past. They actually incorporated some aspect of the old Worcester Higgins Armory (https://www.johnwhigginsarmoryllc.com/) Personally, I could care less what the outside looks like. But what's important are the amenities, sightlines, comfort, decent food and hopefully a fun and competitive team. You know, it's baseball. Or, you can whine about the exterior.

 

[JumboBuc]

Personally, I could care less what the outside looks like. But what's important are the amenities, sightlines, comfort, decent food and hopefully a fun and competitive team. You know, it's baseball. Or, you can whine about the exterior.

If you don't care about the architecture and urbanism, you're hanging out on the wrong forum. This is not www.comfortdecentfoodandacompetitiveteamBoston.com

 

[bigpicture7]

...it was suppose to have an industrial look-and-feel to "blend" with Worcester's past.

And what we got was trying-too-hard architecture...with a steep price tag, ironically, to replicate something that looked a certain way specifically because it was economically built.

 

[citydweller]

I guess when it comes to sporting venue's, I don't have a critical eye for the architecture. Just look at some of the gems we have around here, TD Garden, DCU center ... all just bland buildings.

 

[RandomWalk]

The old Garden was a gem, with all of its quirks. The TD Garden is an econobox money extraction space, which could just as well be located in Albany.

 

[MrDee12345]

The old Garden was a gem, with all of its quirks. The TD Garden is an econobox money extraction space, which could just as well be located in Albany.

Looking back on the Old Garden, the place was kind of a dump with poor sight lines.

I disliked the TD Garden for years, but with the changes in the seating, I think it's a much better arena.

 

[Arenacale]

I guess when it comes to sporting venue's, I don't have a critical eye for the architecture. Just look at some of the gems we have around here, TD Garden, DCU center ... all just bland buildings.

I love the fact that the DCU Center still largely looks like the place my dad took me to for monster trucks as a kindergartener. I still go to that show annually, pandemic notwithstanding, and I was crushed when they took out the old concourse/lobby a few years back. That it hadn't really changed in all those decades gave me a ritualistic feeling, like going back to my old church (probably says more about how I feel about monster trucks than the actual architecture!).

 

[HenryAlan]

the design of the exterior was intentional, meaning it was suppose to have an industrial look-and-feel to "blend" with Worcester's past. They actually incorporated some aspect of the old Worcester Higgins Armory (https://www.johnwhigginsarmoryllc.com/) Personally, I could care less what the outside looks like. But what's important are the amenities, sightlines, comfort, decent food and hopefully a fun and competitive team. You know, it's baseball. Or, you can whine about the exterior.

Agreed. Plus, I think the exterior looks fine if you don't believe all ballparks must be made of brick. It actually reminds me quite a bit of Dodger Stadium, which is one of my two favorited places to catch a game.

 

[HenryAlan]

The old Garden was a gem, with all of its quirks. The TD Garden is an econobox money extraction space, which could just as well be located in Albany.

And which one would you prefer for a game? Be honest.

 

[RandomWalk]

It’s really a question of what you are looking for in the experience. I can’t get excited for the luxury sports venue experience.