Worcester Business Journal

26 2 021 Economic Forecast • Worcester Business Journal • www.wbjournal.com 202 Brigham St., Northborough, MA • 508-393-2444 For Tee Times: www.juniperhillgc.com Juniper Hill Golf Course Celebrating Over 85 Years of Golf • Friendly Atmosphere • Two well groomed, established courses • No membership fee • Excellent meeting facilities • 36 Challenging Holes • Top 10 Public Golf Course in Massachusetts • Golf Teaching Center Call us at 508-351-9500 Give the gift of golf Gift certificates for golf, lunch, lessons and equipment are available in the Pro Shop 508-393-2444 Outings & Functions 3 to 300 guests in a variety of settings W O R C E S T E R R E D S O X Top Worcester Red Sox stories from 2020 WooSox stadium costs increase to $132M Originally published Jan. 11. For the full version, see WBJournal.com. Due to extra construction and property acquisition costs, the planned baseball stadium the City of Worcester is building for the Pawtucket Red Sox now will cost $132 million, with the city and the team paying for the extra expense with increased ticket and parking fees, along with using the added tax collec- tions from more properties in the Canal District to pay down the ballpark debts. In addition, nearly all of the sur- rounding residential, retail and office development will no longer open with the stadium as planned. e two hotels planned for across from the stadium, for example, will now open in May 2022. ese project changes were an- nounced in City Manager Edward Au- gustus' filing on Friday for the Worcester City Council's agenda for its meeting Tuesday. e Worcester Telegram & Gazette first reported the news Friday. e stadium, known as Polar Park, still will open on time for the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple A minor league affil- iate of the Boston Red Sox, to make their debut as the Worcester Red Sox in April 2021, according to Augustus' filing. In Tuesday's meeting, Augustus is asking the City Council to approve a $32-million loan to cover the additional needed ballpark funding. Of the extra expenses, $9.4 million was caused by an increase of construc- tion of the stadium itself, due to com- plexities in the design and the property, and a 5% increase in construction costs. e cost of just the stadium construc- tion is now $99.4 million. Another $32.5 million in public money is going toward infrastructure improvements around the stadium, including streetscape, roadway, parking and wayfinding. e $9.4-million expense will be borne by the team, but that amount will be paid down because the team will re- ceive revenue from the increased facility fee on tickets for stadium events. e fee for baseball games will rise from 50 cents to $1, while the fee for non-baseball events will rise from $1.00 to $1.25. e facility fee was to be used to pay for stadium upkeep. e first $200,000 in collections will go toward stadium up- keep, and the rest will go for the team to cover the $9.4 million in added expense. e DCU Center in Worcester has a similar facility fee on its tickets, which can be up to $4. e fee for Worcester Railers' tickets is $2. e other part of the increased expenses creating the need for the $32-million loan are the land acquisition and site preparation costs. ose costs rose because of several factors: environ- mental remediation, the city needing to buy more properties than anticipated, a complicated retaining wall system, and the relocation fees for businesses moving, including a $6-million expense to move the data firm Windstream. City-owned Polar Park has run into a few issues, including a pandemic-related construction delay and cost overruns of at least $30 million. PHOTO/COURTESY OF WORCESTER RED SOX

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