Pawtucket mayor said he was told Pawsox leaving city

PAWTUCKET MAYOR Donald R. Grebien said he was told by the new owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox that they plan to move the team out of the city. The new owners are considering moving the Triple-A baseball team to Providence. / COURTESY PAWTUCKET RED SOX
PAWTUCKET MAYOR Donald R. Grebien said he was told by the new owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox that they plan to move the team out of the city. The new owners are considering moving the Triple-A baseball team to Providence. / COURTESY PAWTUCKET RED SOX

(Updated 1:20, 1:42, 3:45 and 5:19 p.m.) PROVIDENCE – One of the new owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox said the plan is to call the team the “Rhode Island Red Sox” and move it from Pawtucket to the former Interstate 195 land on the Providence River.
“It should be the name of the state,” James J. Skeffington said in a media call Monday, adding it belongs to the people throughout Rhode Island, not just one community.
Skeffington, a partner with Locke Lord Edwards LLP, who along with Boston Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino is leading the new ownership group, said times have changed, ball parks have changed, and it’s time to build a state-of-the-art stadium for the triple-A baseball team for the players and its fans. The purchase price for the team was kept confidential.
Skeffington, president of the new ownership group, said his goal is to keep the team in Rhode Island, something that is important for him personally as a lifelong Rhode Islander.
“It’s an opportunity for me to give back to my community,” Skeffington said.
He said the new ownership wants to create something that’s more than a ballpark, a stadium that can host concerts, collegiate sports games and other events. He said the team could move to the new site in April 2017, but 2018 is more likely.
The site was appealing because it is an urban location, with access to public transportation, including Amtrak and the MBTA, he said.
He said Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium, built in 1942, is the oldest AAA stadium in the country, and would cost too much to upgrade. He said the area around the stadium in Pawtucket also lacks the transportation amenities that Rhode Island’s capital city can offer.
“You can’t get on a train in downtown Pawtucket, but you can in downtown Providence,” he said.
Said Skeffington, “New ball parks are more intimate. They’re urban centered.”
He said they want fans to be able to come to games and enjoy everything Providence has to offer, including restaurants and shops.
“We think an urban ball park could be a great success here,” Skeffington said.
Skeffington said the owners are negotiating with the property owners involved, which include the state and Brown University.
He said the site is appealing, but also described it as a “very tight, narrow site.”
“That’s what makes it exciting for us,” Skeffington said.
Home runs will land in the Providence River, he said. Skeffington said it was premature to put a cost on the project. He said the plan is to design and build the park with their own funds, adding they hope the project could be a catalyst to spur development of the I-195 land.
Skeffington said he envisions the project being a “game-changer for Providence and a game-changer for the state of Rhode Island.”
Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien said it was heartbreaking to hear of the plans to move the team out of his city. Grebien was briefed during a meeting with new owners on Sunday.

“It was gut-wrenching and heartbreaking,” Grebien said.

Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza issued a statement regarding the prospect the team moving to Providence:
“Maintaining local ownership of the Red Sox’ AAA affiliate is important for Rhode Island, and I commend and congratulate the new owners on their efforts to keep the team in our state,” said Mayor Elorza. “The prospect of moving the team to Providence represents a significant and exciting development opportunity for our capital city. I look forward to working with the new ownership team and all stakeholders to explore this possibility.”

Gov. Gina M. Raimondo also weighed in, calling the PawSox an “institution in Rhode Island.”
“My main goal is keeping them in the state. I look forward to discussions with the new owners about the details of their proposals,” Raimondo said.
Senate Majority Leader Dominick J. Ruggerio said that the “proposed relocation of the franchise to former I-195 land would complement existing development efforts being made to benefit Providence and the state. Throughout our work to provide for the redevelopment of the land, I have thought that a mixture of uses would make for the most vibrant district. This potential project could be a real economic boon for the area.”
Meanwhile, Grebien said he presented the new owners with a recently completed study by The Pawtucket Foundation which details ideas for development around McCoy Stadium, including additional restaurants, stores and housing.
“I told them how disappointed we were,” Grebien said, adding that they told him that they want to move the team to more of a “destination.”
“My job now is to try and make them understand why they should keep the facility here,” Grebien said.
However, he said he left the meeting with the impression that the team only has about a “2 percent chance” of remaining in Pawtucket. He said it may be two or three years before the team is finally moved out of the city.
Grebien said the only challenge that he can see is that Pawtucket never had a partner with a lot of capital to make the stadium a destination. The city’s location is a positive, he said.
Talk about turning the area into more like Yawkey Way near Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox, or Patriot Place, the outdoor shopping mall near the New England Patriots’ home at Gillette Stadium, started two years ago, but never progressed beyond talk, according to Grebien.
Former owner Ben Mondor “is probably rolling over in his grave today,” Grebien said. Mondor was behind the stadium’s renovation in 1998.
Nestled in a predominantly residential neighborhood, McCoy Stadium attracted 528,355 people last year, ranking it 10th in terms of attendance among AAA minor league baseball teams, according to PawSox spokesman Bill Wanless. It is owned by the city, which leases it to the state of Rhode Island, which subleases it to the PawSox; the team’s lease was extended last year until January 2021.
A new ownership group of New England business leaders and Fenway Sports Management said on Monday that it purchased the Pawtucket Red Sox from the triple A franchise’s longtime owners: Madeleine Mondor, widow of the late Ben Mondor; Michael Tamburro; and Ludwig Schwechheimer.

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In addition to Skeffington and Lucchino, who will serve as chairman, Tamburro will serve as CEO and manage daily operations of the ball club; Schwechheimer will serve as vice president and general manager; and Matthew White will serve as chief operating officer and chief financial officer. All current members of the staff will remain with the ball club.

“The Boston Red Sox have enjoyed a productive relationship with the Pawtucket Red Sox for more than four decades,” Lucchino said in a statement. “The franchise has played key roles in the Red Sox’ historic success, both as a player development affiliate and as a Rhode Island home for affordable family entertainment. We seek to enhance those roles, and to honor the substantial contributions that Ben Mondor and his loyal team have made to this community for generations.”

Lucchino, who will continue in his role as president/CEO of the Red Sox, will be available to the PawSox to offer guidance, experience, and resources.

“We are very excited about our purchase of the Pawtucket Red Sox and the opportunity to partner with the Boston Red Sox to provide first class baseball and family entertainment to our loyal fan base in New England,” said Skeffington, who will oversee the operation on a daily basis.

“We want to express our deep gratitude to Ben and Madeleine for their unwavering devotion to the fans and their lasting commitment to the community,” Skeffington added. “We will strive to live up to the Mondors’ legacy and to take this franchise to the next level both for Rhode Island and the Red Sox.”

Other members of the ownership group are as follows:

  • Bernard Cammarata – board chairman, TJX Companies Inc.
  • William P. Egan – founder and general partner, Alta Communications and Marion Equity Partners
  • Fenway Sports Management – A sister company of the Boston Red Sox and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fenway Sports Group
  • Habib Y. Gorgi – managing director, Nautic Partners LLC
  • J. Terrence Murray – former chairman, president and CEO, Fleet National Bank
  • Arthur E. Nicholas – partner, Boston Red Sox
  • Frank M. Resnek – partner, Boston Red Sox
  • Thomas M. Ryan – former chairman, president and CEO, CVS Caremark

The Triple-A International League, The National Association of Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball have all approved the new owners’ application to purchase the Pawtucket Red Sox franchise.
The home opener is April 16 versus the Rochester Red Wings.

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