“We have received word the site still confronts certain obstacles and lacks the necessary support, and we have been urged to consider other possible sites, ” he said.
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Doyle added that PawSox ownership has not changed its stance that keeping the team at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket is not an option. Right now the PawSox are limiting their search to a Rhode Island ballpark.
When asked if she was afraid the team would pack up and setup shop in another state, she answered the risk was always present, but that she will keep working with the team.
But the minute it becomes apparent there’s no public money for a new ballpark anywhere in the state, you can bet cities like Worcester or Springfield (the great white whales of more than one MiLB owner, including Ben Mondor at one point) or even suburban Boston locales in the form of Framingham will be pitching some level of woo at the PawSox.
Yet as Raimondo’s administration indicated in recent months, a number of hurdles had to be cleared for the team’s preferred site to move forward.
Larry Berman, spokesman for House speaker Nicholas Mattiello, said Friday there have been no negotiations since it was disclosed two weeks ago that Brown University wants $15 million for land that is part of the area the team wants.
Now that the 195 proposal is dead, PawSox spokesperson Patti Doyle said Saturday the team is still willing to look at other spots in Providence or other cities.
Yet the team’s initial request for 0 million in taxpayer subsidies over 30 years, and an exemption from Providence property taxes, triggered a backlash fueled by the 2012 bankruptcy of 38 Studios, the video game company owned by former Red Sox star Curt Schilling that had been lured to Rhode Island with a $75 million loan backed by taxpayers.
Meanwhile, the I-195 Commission on Monday resumed talks about using the land for a public park, which was determined to be the best use of the land when the state acquired it. “I thought that would have been a very successful location”.
The mayor said he had supported at least one alternative site, a 5.3-acre plot of land in downtown Providence called Victory Place.
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The club will now focus it’s energy on preparing for the upcoming 2016 season at McCoy Stadium, while listening for ideas and plans for a new long-term plan for the team.
