Another timeout called in saga of Ayotte Field sale

After latest round of bidding on ballfield, council stops short of sales agreement, says it needs more time

WOONSOCKET – Given its best offer yet for Ayotte Little League Field – $711,000 – the City Council stopped short of granting Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt the authority to move toward a purchase and sales agreement with the suitor, but it’s getting closer.

The council amended an ordinance that would have given Baldelli-Hunt the power to continue negotiating with Fall River-based First Bristol Corporation, demanding more details about the developer’s plans for the site before deciding whether the deal warrants further consideration.

First Bristol had already informed the city that it plans a 20,000-square-foot building for retail or medical offices when it tendered the offer, but members of the council say they need more information before the sale gets their seal of approval.

“We’re looking for specifics on who, and what type of product they might be distributing,” said Council President Daniel Gendron. “It’s for the protection of the neighborhood.”

Under the amendment, First Bristol has up to 90 days

to tender a proposed purchase and sales agreement for the idle baseball field wedged between Great Road in North Smithfield and Providence Street.

The council voted unanimously on the amended resolution during a meeting Monday in Harris Hall. The amendments, proposed by Councilman James Cournoyer, were accepted without opposition from his colleagues on the panel.

The vote was First Bristol’s second crack at taking possession of Ayotte Field, a parcel of roughly two acres at a busy commercial intersection that the city has tried to sell, without success, on multiple occasions dating back to 2008.

The city cut off negotiations with First Bristol last year after the company offered $600,000 for the parcel. Members of the council insisted the parcel was worth more, but First Bristol wouldn’t budge. The company insisted the market for retail property was softer than officials thought and challenged the city to get a more current appraisal on the land.

The city accepted the challenge, and First Bristol returned with a new offer last month that’s about $25,000 less than the mark established by the new appraisal.

The offer was one of two the city fielded after issuing a public request for proposals. Cost Realty of Lincoln, a company affiliated with Venda Ravioli in Providence, tendered an offer of $625,000 for the parcel.

In early 2016, Cumberland Farms had an option to buy the parcel for $825,000, but the convenience store giant unexpectedly waived its rights after months of review, citing problems with the traffic configuration at the busy site.

Cumberland Farms is now building a new store on Victory Highway in Slatersville that’s on track to open in October. It’s located at the same site where Cumberland Farms demolished an old store it had operated for years.

The administration has been working especially hard to sell Ayotte Field since Baldelli-Hunt’s $2.6 million overhaul of World War II Veterans Park, where the completion of the state-ofthe-art Napoleon Lajoie Little League Field made Ayotte Field unnecessary.

Situated in prime commercial territory, city officials say there’s no point in holding onto the parcel for recreational use any longer because it could be converted into a permanent new revenue stream with a privately-owned retail building on it to generate property taxes.

A global real estate development and property management company, First Bristol already owns the Bank of America Building at 25 Cummings Way.