Model approach?
Much has been written and debated about the past, present and future of McCoy Stadium as well as its relationship with the City of Pawtucket — the positives, negatives, and how they translate to the team’s current ownership, fans and residents. With a bra
How can a minor-league baseball ballpark best serve a city? Someday, the Pawtucket Red Sox hope to have a definite answer to said question.
In Connecticut’s capital city, that same question is being viewed differently.
In Hartford, there is a full-fledged, state-of-the art ballpark with oodles of cool features that, after a year-long delay, will finally see the curtain go up for real on April 13. That night, the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats will officially christen Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
“When we open up, the last bits of ‘Are you ever going to open?’ are all gone. That conversation becomes dead,” Hartford Assistant General Manager Mike Abramson said. “All the negativity will go away and you can start looking towards the future.”
Take a stroll outside the ballpark and you’ll find ample opportunities to make this area a destination hot spot. Right now, they exist in the form of big parking lots. Beyond the centerfield fence, you can see a huge brown building that’s abandoned.
A strong belief exists in Dunkin’ Donuts Park becoming the unquestionable spark for more tourism and economic development around it, that places to shop, eat, and recreate are
within walking distance of each other. Ultimately, such a fate resides in the hands of the area’s business community.
“When you get something that has a lot of attention and people are coming to it every day, developers have an eye for that sort of thing,” Abramson said, previously the head of corporate sales with the PawSox. “You want to be around something that has a lot of excitement.
“Right now, Hartford just feels like a place that’s on the precipice of a tipping point,” Abramson added, “but the ballpark can’t be the only thing that gets it there. Hopefully it’s the start.”
Initially, Dunkin’ Donuts Park was branded as phase one of a four-to-five phase project. Over a five to sevenyear period, one project after another would be constructed.
When all the jackhammering was done, the neighborhood stood to include a 6,000seat ballpark, a brewery, a pub-type restaurant, apartments, and a supermarket. At one point, talk of a Hard Rock Hotel was floated about while Thomas Hooker Brewery, which at one time used to call Hartford home, sought to get back within the city limits.
The city had purchased the lots surrounding the ballpark. Centerplan Construction Co. was tasked as the primary contractor for this multi-phase endeavor but was removed before anything ever got beyond the conceptual phase. Technically, Centerplan still has control of the entire project, though it’s been reported that the original deal is in the process of being dissolved.
Right now, everything pertaining to the land around Dunkin’ Donuts Park is on hold. Once the city and the former developer figure everything out, either 1.) the parcels of land remain untouched, 2.) a different developer comes in, or 3.) the lots get sold and private developers are free to do as they please.
The emergence of private developers would not be the worst thing, Abramson feels.
As the saga with Hartford and Centerplan plays out, all the Yard Goats can do is stay in their lane. An encouraging sign came last month when the home opener was sold out within 30 minutes of tickets going on sale.
“From the very start of the project, we always felt a tremendous amount of responsibility to do a really good job and make everyone proud,” Abramson said. “We’ve never had any shortage of motivation to succeed.”
With visibility from the highway, Dunkin’ Donuts Park checks off a very important box. Location is an underlying factor for any project with a wish to get off the ground, yet you also want to make sure you’re hitching your wagon to something that has a strong chance to serve as the unquestioned beacon in the community.
That’s the mission the Yard Goats are undertaking – to create enough buzz that leads to the transformation of those vacant lots and empty buildings into known commodities.
“The ballpark was put in an area with the hope that good things spring up,” Abramson said.
How can a minor-league baseball ballpark best serve a city? In Hartford, the soughtafter answer is coming. In Pawtucket, they look on with great intrigue.
“I think it’s a fair comparison,” Abramson said.