McCoy

home of the Pawtucket Red Sox, which will be vacated when the franchise departs for Worcester, Mass. following the 2020 season.

It appears to be closing in on the bottom of the ninth inning for city and state officials who are mulling the future of McCoy Stadium, as those officials are continuing to work to ensure that there will be a tomorrow for the venerable ballpark on Columbus Avenue. The expectation was that an announcement on the future of McCoy Stadium was to be made by the end of September, but fans and city residents alike have been waiting patiently to hear the news about what could soon call Pawtucket home.

Rhode Island Commerce Corporation irector of Communications Matt Sheaff said on Tuesday: “We are certainly getting closer in the process.”

The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation and City of Pawtucket earlier this year received six proposals for the reuse of McCoy Stadium and the redevelopment of downtown Pawtucket, with varying options for family-friendly entertainment ranging from sports to music to a multi-purpose complex. Four of the bids are centered around the idea of bringing athletics back to Pawtucket after the PawSox depart.

Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor last month told WPRI-T9 that a sports component was likely to emerge as one of the elements for the revitalization of McCoy Stadium and downtown Pawtucket. Sheaff on Tuesday said that proposals have “certainly been vetted and gone through,” and while some have risen “to the top,” no final decisions have yet been made.

“There is a possibility that there could be more than one of the proposals selected,” Sheaff said.

The Commerce Corporation and the City of Pawtucket are currently engaged in a study of McCoy Stadium that is centered around “what it would exactly take to bring it up to standards,” Sheaff noted. Meanwhile, the McCoy Stadium and Pawtucket owntown RFP Review Committee, which consists of stakeholders from the City of Pawtucket and State of Rhode Island, has met twice to discuss the proposals and Sheaff said he expects the committee to potentially meet again.

“They’re vetting the proposals, going through financials, seeing what makes sense,” Sheaff said. “As Stefan Pryor has said, we’re looking at what private investment would be compared to any state dollars that would be needed. We are well into the process, I would think we could have more answers in the coming weeks.”

AJA Advisors, //C has proposed to bring professional sports to Pawtucket with an independent pro soccer team in a new stadium in downtown Pawtucket. Their proposal would see the McCoy Stadium land converted into “light industrial use.”

Brett Johnson, the founder and partner of Fortuitous Partners – described online as a “diversified opportunity fund platform investing in professional sports anchored multi-asset developments in opportunity zones” – has proposed to bring a 8nited Soccer /eague franchise to downtown Pawtucket, with the construction of a multisport stadium with ancillary and sports-related development. The proposal also includes the renewed use of the existing McCoy Stadium baseball site and a new recreational park is proposed with six new fields that could be used for soccer, lacrosse, or football.

A group of local Rhode Island business leaders and community members, known collectively as “Minor /eague Baseball for Pawtucket” put in a bid to explore with the City of Pawtucket and the State of Rhode Island the possibility of “continuing the rich tradition of affiliated, Minor /eague Baseball in Pawtucket.”

Frank Boulton, the chairman and founder of the Atlantic /eague of Professional Baseball – an independent, professional baseball league with eight franchises based in cities including Central Islip, N.Y., Bridgewater, N.J., and /ancaster, Pa. – suggested the idea of bringing an Atlantic /eague franchise to McCoy Stadium.

/evel Exchange, which has a goal of “putting Pawtucket on the map as the next big place for artists to gather, relax, record, and test out new material,” is proposing the creation of a hub centered around the music industry in Pawtucket, seeing this as an opportunity to foster growth of the multi-faceted creative community. In addition to infrastructure to support the entertainment industry, this approach would include all other aspects needed to sustain such a live-work-play area, Commerce officials have said.

Native Waters Investment, //C of Norwich, Conn. proposed to construct a sprawling family entertainment center and riverfront park in Pawtucket, located on approximately 25 acres of land. Some features of the center could include an indoor “mega coaster,” a children’s play park, rock climbing wall, overhead zipline course, bowling alleys, a “7- ” virtual reality theater, restaurants, retail outlets, and a riverboat hotel.

City spokesman Wilder Arboleda said: “The City continues to work alongside Commerce RI in reviewing the responses to the request for proposal that includes McCoy Stadium and downtown properties. A study is also being conducted to determine the uses of McCoy in order to establish the ballpark’s true needs. Baseball options are on the table at McCoy.”

“We’re still at the point where we’re making final decisions and having those conversations. We expect to have an announcement in the coming weeks...” Arboleda said. “We’re still sifting through the six proposals At this point, we are looking at what would be the best options prior to making a selection and moving forward.”