Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | June 21, 2021 | Worcester Business Journal 15 mercy of the mix of construction and weather," Steinberg said. Aer e Berm is completed, the next areas of Polar Park to open will be the Kid Zone, the Plymouth Street Promenade, and the Eighth Hill, all of which will add capacity and gathering areas to the stadium, Steinberg said. "It is a work in progress, where you are happy to open each new element with each home stand," Steinberg said. A R C H I T E C T U R E & C O N S T R U C T I O N F O C U S W Bigger Dipper 2021 VIRTUAL Ice Cream Fundraiser SUPPORT OUR KIDS ONE SCOOP AT A TIME! Support children and their families in the Worcester area with the services they need to thrive and BeWell! Donate now through July 15 to receive coupons to redeem at 11 local ice cream locations through September 6. TO DONATE: • Scan the QR code • Visit sevenhills.org/BD Bigger Dipper 2021 VIRTUAL Ice Cream Fundraiser SUPPORT OUR KIDS ONE SCOOP AT A TIME! Support children and their families in the Worcester area with the services they need to thrive and BeWell! Donate now through July 15 to receive coupons to redeem at 11 local ice cream locations through September 6. TO DONATE: • Scan the QR code • Visit sevenhills.org/BD Bigger Dipper 2021 VIRTUAL Ice Cream Fundraiser Support children and their families in the Worcester area with the services they need to thrive and BeWell! Donate now through July 15 to receive coupons to redeem at 11 local ice cream locations through September 6. TO DONATE: • Scan the QR code • Visit sevenhills.org/BD Bigger Dipper 2021 VIRTUAL Ice Cream SUPPORT OUR KIDS ONE SCOOP Support children and their area with the services they Donate now through July redeem at 11 local ice cream September 6. TO DONATE: • Scan • Visit SUPPORT OUR KIDS ONE SCOOP AT A TIME! New England baseball attendance New England is home to four Triple A and Double A minor league baseball clubs. Inaugural season 2021 2017 2004 1994 Stadium capacity 9,508 6,850 6,500 7,368 Date state lifted COVID capacity restrictions May 29 May 19 May 8 May 24 Average game attendance since restrictions were lifted 6,331 4,723 1,885 2,670 Peak 2021 game attendance 6,988 6,372 3,141 6,032 Worcester Hartford New Hampshire Portland Red Sox Yard Goats Fisher Cats Sea Dogs Minor league level Triple A Double A Double A Double A Notes: Attendance figures are through June 11.The Polar Park capacity number is based off its planned capacity for when construction is complete. Sources: Individual teams, Minor League Baseball with a lot of kids has its own music." Steinberg expects demand for seats to remain strong throughout the inaugural season, particularly as the end of the coronavirus restrictions have enabled more plans for group sales and parents to plan outings for their children once the school year ends. "Demand for the group venues are as hot as can be right now," Steinberg said. e City of Worcester, which is overseeing the project and paying for $88 million of its cost, deferred questions on the construction delays to the team. Delayed by private development Another reason for the construction delays and capacity limits, Steinberg said, has been the delays in the construction of the private mixed-use development from Boston firm Madison Properties. e bulk of that private project, which was announced the same day in August 2018 when the team announced its plans to move to Worcester, was supposed to be complete when the stadium opened, but it has been beset by its own delays. Specifically, the Le Field Building, a $16-million office building slated to be built immediately off of Polar Park's le field was initially planned to be constructed simultaneously with the ballpark. at building is now tentatively slated to open in 2023. Because the Le Field Building is no longer being built simultaneously, Steinberg said it has delayed the opening of certain elements, particularly e Berm grass gathering-and-seat area. Madison has completed the basic underground work on the Le Field Building, which includes a planned 100-space parking garage, which will now allow the rest of the Polar Park stadium construction to proceed, said Denis Dowdle, the developer behind Madison Properties. Dowdle is waiting to have a tenant lined up for the building, which could host offices or a life sciences company, before proceeding with construction of the upper floors. Once the tenant is lined up, he said the construction should be complete in about 12 months. "We are working on lining up a tenant. We swing the bat every day, but who knows when everything will fall into place," Dowdle said. "We are anxious to try to get going as soon as possible." Completing construction e other four buildings on Dowdle's private development are a 125-room hotel; a 228-unit residential building; a second residential building tentatively planned for 125 units; and a $11-million lab building. e tentative completion dates for those buildings remain the same as they were earlier this year, Dowdle said: Starting with September 2022 for the 228-unit residential building; December 2023 for the second residential building; May 2024 for the hotel; and December 2024 for the lab building. "We are optimistic we are going to keep developing building aer building until it is full," Dowdle said. At Polar Park, e Berm is the next area slated to open, Steinberg said. e construction crews have to pour the concrete for the Plymouth Street sidewalk which leads to e Berm and then install the grass for the seating area, a process expected to take two weeks. "We would love for that to happen by the Fourth of July, but we are at the

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