Worcester ballpark costs going for further approval
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Construction is slated to start this summer on a new ballpark for the Pawtucket Red Sox off Madison Street in Worcester. More financing votes are expected soon.
Though key votes have already been approved, the Worcester City Council has more votes upcoming on costs to build a ballpark for the Pawtucket Red Sox.
City Manager Edward Augustus has requested nearly $28 million in his capital budget request for the coming year to help build Polar Park off Madison Street in the Canal District. Another $36 million will be included in the fiscal 2021 capital budget.
Upcoming votes may largely be a formality.
The City Council voted last fall to borrow $101 million for the ballpark, and has already bonded for roughly $30 million. Those two capital-budget requests cover the remainder of the $101 million that hasn't already been bonded.
A new vote of the council could come as soon as Tuesday night.
Another upcoming meeting will move plans ahead for a parking garage across Madison Street from the ballpark. The city's Designer Selection Board is scheduled to meet May 7 to interview four engineering firms to design the garage.
Construction of the 10,000-seat ballpark is slated to start this summer, with a planned opening of April 2021. A few pieces need to fall into place before construction starts in earnest, including buying businesses that stand in the way and demolishing buildings. The city initially said it would have ownership of those sites by April 1.
No final plans have been presented for approval for the ballpark.
The city and state are investing heavily in both the ballpark and a related mixed-use development, as well as remaking Kelley Square to make it easier for people to get to, from and though what is expected to be a much busier neighborhood in the coming years.
The state's MassWorks infrastructure program is paying $23 million to reimburse the city for a parking garage south of Madison Street, in what is envisioned as a development with residential, office and retail uses, along with two new hotels. MassWorks funding will also help defray construction costs for market-rate housing in the new development. The total MassWorks commitment has been pegged at $35 million.
The state Department of Transportation is also covering costs for remaking the Kelley Square intersection, which has been pegged at $14 million.
In addition to Worcester's $101 million borrowing for the ballpark, the city is also giving tax breaks to two new hotels that are planned for the mixed-use development and waiving permitting costs that it would normally charge applicants.
City and state officials have said public costs are leveraging what will be greater amounts of public investment.
The PawSox will pay $6 million upfront for the ballpark and roughly $1 million a year in rent for 30 years. It will keep revenue from advertising inside the stadium as well as from naming rights deal with Polar Beverages.
The planned roughly $140 million mixed-use development across Madison Street from the ballpark is where city officials have said ballpark costs will be reimbursed — and then some — from new tax revenue. The city has created a special tax district around the ballpark, collecting new revenue to help pay back the city's bond for the park.
Worcester officials have also said the bonds will be repaid through parking revenue, advertising and other sources. By 2022, the first year the city must begin repaying those bonds, the city has said those revenues will come to $3.7 million, giving the city a surplus in the first year of more than $740,000.
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