Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | September 30, 2019 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F New ballpark plans Worcester Wall V E R BAT I M Improving ER access "If you're having a heart attack or stroke, you don't want to waste a minute getting to a doctor. If you're overdosed on drugs and Narcan is the only thing that will save your life, you can't afford a wrong step when you reach the hospital." Peter Demarco, a Massachusetts healthcare activist, during a Massachusetts legislature Joint Committee on Public Health hearing on proposed bills making emergency rooms easier to access New Sudbury CEO "I am confident we can continue to grow and move the business forward and deliver the high caliber products and services in our special way that makes Methods unique. I will enable our people to fulfill their passion to make a difference." Mark Wright, the newly appointed president and CEO of Methods Machine Tools in Sudbury, on his new job Black market vape "If anything, it should only increase support for legalization. From a policy perspective, this is a great example of why it's necessary. This hasn't been an issue in the legal, regulated market." Kris Krane, founder of 4Front Ventures, which owns Worcester medical dispensary Mission Massachusetts, on a string of vaping-related illnesses and how it impacts the negative stigma around cannabis legalization T he City of Worcester and Boston developer Madison Properties have filed long-awaited plans for the $101-million Polar Park baseball stadium and a bevy of mixed- use properties in the Canal District. e Sept. 25 filings are the first official plans filed with the city by the Worcester Redevelopment Authority and Madison Properties and come more than a year aer the minor league Pawtucket Red Sox and city announced the $240-million Canal District redevelopment plan to be built around the team's new home. The ballpark According to site plan application, the ballpark will have a capacity of about 10,000 people with home plate situated closer to Madison Street and centerfield overlooking Plymouth Street. Plans show a main seating area in the infield, less traditional seating in the outfield and a Worcester Wall in right field. A three-story building will form the western edge of the pedestrian entrance into the concourse-level courtyard behind home plate, featuring meeting rooms, restaurants, suites, function rooms, a pedestrian promenade, play areas, retail space and a team store. Right field will be boarded by the facility for dessert maker Table Talk Pies along Green Street, while le field will be boarded by Plymouth Street and a proposed six-floor, 121,000-square-foot office building and underground parking garage with about 125 spaces, featuring a roof deck overlooking le field. Plans call for an extension of Sum- mit Street to connect to the current terminus of Summit Street to the south with access to Green Street through the current city-owned parking lot at Pick- ett Square. A retail and restaurant site is proposed for that extension. at area will also include an open plaza to be home to food tents, restaurants and vendors and be open to the public. Hotels, retail and office space Plans were filed for the southern side of Madison Street where Boston developer Denis Dowdle is planning mixed-use developments the city hopes will help fund the debt service on the city's ballpark bonds. ose plans include 528-space munic- ipal parking garage and a dual-branded hotel consisting of a 140-room extended day hotel and a 122-room boutique hotel sharing a common drop-off area. On the ground floor, uses will include a 5,000-square-foot restaurant and 9,000 square feet of retail space facing Madison Street. e remainder of the seven-floor structure will be hotel rooms, and an eighth-level floor will include function rooms and roof decks. Another 367,000-square-foot, 224- unit, seven-story residential develop- ment in two buildings is connected by a rooop terrace at the corner of Washington and Madison Streets to be built above a 202-space parking garage, retail space and lobbies. Dowdle is planning a second phase of his development, including six-floor office, laboratory and retail building, another residential and retail tower and conversion of the former Stanley Tool Building into a parking garage. Public infrastructure To accommodate the project, the city will have to upgrade and renovate its water, sewer and transportation infra- structure in the immediate area. Numerous water mains will have to be removed or abandoned to accom- modate the project, and other improve- ments are planned to replace aging components to serve the project and upstream neighborhoods. e city will create Green Island Boulevard, a new street connecting La- martine to Madison to be located in the mixed-use portion of the development. Other roadway and transportation improvements will be made in the area, including a signalized intersection at Madison Street and Green Island Bou- levard and a le-turn lane westbound at Madison and Washington Street. W Renderings of the proposed Polar Park, which include the Worcester Wall in right field BY ZACHARY COMEAU Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer

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