House speaker says he won’t support Senate version of ballpark proposal

PAWTUCKET – One day before the Pawtucket Red Sox were scheduled to hold a “Cranston Community Night” in his district’s backyard, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello on Monday told the Dan Yorke State of Mind program that the ballpark bill as drawn up by the Senate will not be considered in the House in its current form.

Toward the end of the interview that aired on MyRITV, Yorke asked Mattiello if the PawSox deal for a new $83 million ballpark that would be built on the mostly vacant Apex department store site was dead.

“The Senate bill is dead in the state of Rhode Island. Two-thirds of Rhode Islanders do not support it and therefore, the House will not

support it,” was how Mattiello responded.

One person close to the ballpark situation who spoke to The Times did not interpret the comments as Mattiello looking to nix the proposal completely.

The PawSox and Senate leaders refrained from comments or statements after Yorke played the entire interview with Mattiello on his afternoon radio show on WPRO.

Mattiello’s words come less than a week after the Senate approved two bills that would authorize the state and Pawtucket taxpayers to cover $38 million of the estimated cost $83 million to construct a new home for the Triple-A franchise, and House Democrats holding a closed- door caucus to discuss the project.

Ballpark backers are hoping that Mattiello will attend Tuesday’s Cranston-based ballpark presentation by the City of Pawtucket and the PawSox. Mattiello did receive an invitation, as did many Cranston residents.

Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien is expected to attend Tuesday’s gathering in Cranston, as are members of the PawSox front office staff and labor leaders.