House speaker: Talks between state, PawSox have stopped

Posted: Sep 18, 2015 4:39 PM EDT Updated: Sep 18, 2015 4:41 PM EDT By Associated Press  PROVIDENCE -

A spokesman for the House speaker says negotiations between the state and Pawtucket Red Sox for a proposed stadium on waterfront land in Providence have stopped.

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.

Berman says economic incentives sought by Providence are another "significant barrier."

Gov. Gina Raimondo told Rhode Island NPR Thursday that her impression is that the deal involving the former I-195 land is dead.

A PawSox spokeswoman didn't immediately return messages seeking comment.

The team's ownership group had been working with state officials to renegotiate a deal after the team's original proposal faced strong public opposition.

Channel 10 here.

Governor Raimondo comments earlier in the day on RI NPR

Friday morning, Governor Raimondo spoke about the PawSox situation on RI NPR's Political Roundtable. "I would love the PawSox to stay here," she said. Then went on to discuss the options. With regard to the I-195 site, she said that it appeared that  "... the costs are too high there. Brown has very legitimate economic demands that are too high. It's not economically feasible for the ownership."

The full Roundtable conversation is here. Governor Raimondo's comments on the PawSox begin at minute 6.

Sept. 14, 2015. Jewelry District Association issues position statement on PawSox ball park proposal. The full text follows:

Jewelry District Association votes “NO!”
to a PawSox stadium on the I-195 redevelopment land

While initial reaction to the PawSox proposed stadium in April appeared to be largely negative, some members of the JDA urged that no decision be made pro or con until further information became available.

So the Association has remained neutral. Until now. After months of discussion, the PawSox proposal is locked up at the office of the Speaker of the House; no meaningful new details are forthcoming, financial or otherwise.

Two weeks ago, when the active members of the JDA were asked to vote on locating the stadium on Parcels 4, 14 and 42 of the I-195 redevelopment area, their vote was decisive: 66% Opposed. 21% For. And 13% Abstaining.

The JDA has not made a hasty or uninformed decision.

As soon as the PawSox made their original proposal, we invited them to a JDA monthly meeting. In one of his last public appearances, James Skeffington presented the PawSox case to a packed JDA meeting and conducted a lively Q & A session.

In the months since, JDA leadership and individual members have attended many information sessions – PawSox presentations, public forums organized by stadium opponents, meetings of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission.

It is clear that the original financial proposal from the PawSox was a raid on the pockets of all the tax payers in Rhode Island. A land grab. A blow to Pawtucket. An inflated claim of job generation. A fanciful notion that the stadium could work as multi-use venue for football, baseball, ice hockey and concerts.

Planning to create a vibrant new core in the Jewelry District.

For more than a decade, the JDA has been working with the City of Providence, the I-195 Commission, RIDOT and many local organizations to make sure the land freed by the demolition of I-195 would develop as a vibrant, new, mixed-use center for the historic Jewelry District neighborhood.

The nearly five acres (Parcel 4) on the Providence River waterfront that the PawSox want for the ball park are designated for a public park by the Federal Highway Administration. With its footbridge linking the east and west sides of the river, the park will be a unique place for public enjoyment. The city of Providence demonstrated remarkable foresight when it opened up the river to the public years ago. The new park will expand a resource that has won Providence national renown as a walkable, livable city.

And, invisibly to all but engineers, the park plays a key role in a complex storm water abatement system designed to allow large-scale building in the I-195 redevelopment area. If the ball park goes in, more millions of dollars would be needed to rework the infrastructure.

As the I-195 parcels begin to fill up with buildings, the park will be the only open space for the new residents and workers in the Jewelry District. It will not be the narrow linear extension of the river walk that the PawSox said they’d allow alongside their stadium wall.

It will offer a wide open space for multiple public activities year ‘round. (Unlike a baseball stadium that sits empty nine months a year, a useless hulk blocking the broad river vista opened to the public by the destruction of I-195.)

The JDA is not opposed to a baseball park in principle, just not on the proposed site.

If McCoy Stadium (for which the citizens are still paying) and Pawtucket must be abandoned – and we ask Why? – the JDA would welcome the PawSox at some alternate site.

But whatever the site, it must involve: NO land giveaway. NO public money. NO subsidies or tax cuts. NO loan guarantees or lease/leaseback deals that make the owners a profit at the taxpayers’ expense.

We urge the public to join us in saying NO to a baseball stadium on parcels 4, 14 and 42.

The discussions have been going on for months. PawSox, Yes! PawSox, NO! (for the Jewelry District Association position on the subject, go here.)

And now, suddenly there's a non-baseball park contender for Parcel 4. As reported late last week by Go Local Prov and the Providence Journal, a new proposal is on the table.

Go Local Prov, Sept. 11, 2015:  "Coran Capshaw Red Light management is said to be eyeing Providence's riverfront opportunities for a mid-size outdoor concert venue, according to multiple sources -- and is slated to be making an announcement regarding interest in the land shortly, which is projected to be just where the PawSox have been looking."

Go Local Prov coverage here.


Providence Journal, Sept. 11, 2015:  "Dean Weinberg, a certified public accountant and Providence resident, has visions of creating a music pavilion on proposed parkland along the Providence River, and he says he has partnered with artist-management company Red Light Management of Charlottesville, Va., to build and operate a venue he says will become the new 'city center.'"

The Providence Journal article continues, here.

As negotiations apparently continue behind closed doors up at the State House, some heavy hitters got into the game publicly on Thursday.  Brown put conditions on selling their property to the PawSox that may add drastically to the cost of the project. 

And Mayor Elorza, who has been silent on the subject until now, weighed in with an opinion on the project.

Ted Nesi at WPRI detailed these breaking news stories for WPRI.

"The Pawtucket Red Sox suffered a new blow to their hopes of building a riverfront stadium in Providence on Thursday after Brown University said it won’t sell the prime downtown land the team needs without a clear show of support from local leaders and residents."

You can read Nesi's full article here

And, as if that's not enough, in Friday morning's Providence Journal Kate Bramson included a statement from Speaker Mattiello that indicates some reconsidering going on up at the State House:  "The PawSox is an issue that's just not ready, and it may never be ready to be addressed. I don't know if the ballpark is going to happen or not." 
You can read the Projo's front page story here.

At 5:00 o'clock this afternoon, welcomed in by the raucous and joyous music of the What Cheer? Brigade, a large crowd armed with kites, bikes, dogs, skates, soap bubbles, Frisbees, and the other things one brings along for an afternoon in a park to protest the proposed PawSox stadium on the river's edge off Dyer Street.

We'll have more details soon. But in the meantime, here's a gallery of some of the sights and signs from the event:

Opponents and supporters of the PawSox move to the Jewelry District came together on Tuesday night at Dueling Pianos. No pianos were played, but there was dueling a-plenty.

Kate Bramson and the Providence Journal were there. You can read her article HERE.

Look really closely at the Journal photograph, and you can the top of JDA President Arthur Salisbury's head in the crowd along with other JDA members.

Sharon Steele, a former JDA President and current chair of our Quality of Life Committee represented the anti-stadium side. The Q & A Forum was moderated by Ted Nesi, television reporter for WPRI-12. What turned out to be a lively, informative and sometimes raucous discussion was presented by Leadership Rhode Island and the Harvard Business School Association of Southeastern New England.

Special thanks to Dueling Pianos for providing their space and staff for this important community event.

Following last night's public Q & A Forum on the proposed PawSox stadium location, team representatives are reported to have toured the Victory Plating site on Eddy Street. An interesting development, though what the intention for the tour was remains unclear.

All we know is what we read in the Projo article HERE.

Read the article in the Providence Journal here.