Worcester Ballpark & Redev

Anyone with an update on the building beyond the Left Centerfield wall. Hope the development surrounding the park doesn’t turn out to be as big of a disappointment as the park itself
 
NoShJFK said:
Anyone with an update on the building beyond the Left Centerfield wall. Hope the development surrounding the park doesn’t turn out to be as big of a disappointment as the park itself
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They are waiting for an anchor tenant. They don't want to build an office building without one since Covid. Same for the office/lab across the street.

And the park is far from a disappointment! Love it! Got half season tix
 
ctsketch said:
And the park is far from a disappointment! Love it! Got half season tix
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Yea I haven't heard a single real complaint yet (beyond long concession lines) from anyone who has actually been to the WooSox, seems like it has been a smash hit with everyone except jaded Rhode Islanders and people that haven't stepped foot into the park.
 
Finally got to a game tonight. I'm far from a baseball guy but this was a nice night out and the crowd was both big and lively. I actually really like the Park - they could have made yet another Fenway Jr. and instead they went a different direction and its just a fun, pleasant place to be. I like how it kind of merges with the city, the gates for the outfield GA sections are actually on the street and it makes it feel less like you're in a stadium over there and more just like you're by a ballfield. Also can't complain about the ticket price, especially with the fireworks show after. Hope they can increase some of the lighting down Green St. and Temple St. to go along with it, would make the walk back to the garages just a bit nicer.

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That is very well done and appears to be well lit. Hopefully it will not be marred with graffiti.
 
Looks nice, and finished pretty quickly. Was a statue originally planned?
 
Do you think Holy Cross or UMass will buy it and honor the Woo sox lease? It would be a great start for a new campus
 
dhawkins said:
Do you think Holy Cross or UMass will buy it and honor the Woo sox lease? It would be a great start for a new campus
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Who knows, probably just another old guy with too much money. Also they have no choice, they will either honor the lease or pay for the duration of the lease anyways, or try and go to court. the team signed like a 30 year lease
 
Polar Park doesn't really have anything to do with a theorized sale of the team. The city owns the stadium, the team is a contractually obligated tenant. Add to this, any prospective buyer would want a place for the team to play. The current venue is an excellent facility and location, they aren't going to move elsewhere.
 
I wonder if Larry Lucchino is sensing the team is at peak value prompting the sale. Their attendance this past year was basically static from the year before as the WooSox averaged about 7,350 the last two seasons at Polar Park. Given attendance is typically at its very best in the early years of a new team and stadium, this suggests it may have already reached its ceiling. These average attendance numbers are however nearly 2,000 less than the best years at the then 60 year old McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket. Furthermore, the City of Worcester's bond payments for Polar Park are about to soon dramatically escalate. Given the new district tax revenues in the first three years were not sufficient to even pay the early low stepped payments, one wonders what the future will hold with much higher payments. While the team is not financially repsonsible for this, it will still face bad local PR should Worcester start to have problems paying off the more than $100M in bonds the city guaranteed for construction of the park.
 
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Building permit for left field office building was resubmitted last week. They must finally have some lab or office tenants and ready to build the obove ground portion. anyone have the 411?
 
Attendance at Polar Park is trending downward this season. The average through 41 game gates is 6,462 (total 264,942) which equates to 68% capacity of Polar Park (cap 9,508). Four admission gates were lost due to rain and snow cancellations with three of them becoming part of Polar Park one admission doubleheaders and the other game being played at the opponent. Less than 30 home games left. While attendance will pick up some in July and August, it will be extremely difficult (in excess of 92% cap required for every remaining game) to surpass the total attendance high of 532,152 set in 2022 or the average high of 7,424 recorded in 2023. It would seem the novelty of a new sports team and park may be wearing off a bit as has been the typical norm elsewhere with similar circumstances.

As a point of reference comparison, while in Pawtucket, the franchise recorded its high attendance marks in 2005 when it drew a total of 688,421 for an average of 9,561. The 2005 season was one of six years from 2001-08 at McCoy Stadium where the team averaged in excess of 9k per game.
 
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