The Red Sox formally unveiled plans on Saturday for a
new Fenway Park, a project budgeted at $545M that "mimics so
many characteristic details of the beloved current stadium
that the team even plans to dig up some of the old turf and
play on it in the new facility," according to Krupa &
Vaillancourt of the BOSTON GLOBE. The ballpark, which could
open in 2003, "would be built adjacent to the existing park
and would retain the name." While Red Sox officials "were
short on financial details," team officials "expressed
optimism that they can pay for the stadium without selling
naming rights." Red Sox CEO John Harrington said that cost
estimates included about $350M for design and construction,
$65M for acquiring land, $80M for two parking structures and
$50M for traffic and other infrastructure improvements.
Harrington "stressed the team has not established any figure
for the funding it would be seeking from state or city
officials." But Krupa & Vaillancourt wrote that it "appears
the state will have to contribute at least" $50M, and
possibly $130M, if parking garages are included. But
Harrington added the team will aim to finance as much as the
ballpark as possible through private sources. The facility
will have roughly 100 luxury suites and 5,500 club seats and
purchasers of the premium seats "will be asked for deposits
... to help finance construction" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/16).
Sources in the Boston business community say the team has
discussed charging about $150,000 for the luxury suites and
$4,000 to $5,000 for club seats. The premium seating "would
account for more than half of the additional 11,000 seats in
the new ballpark" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/17). The team has posted
plans of its new ballpark on its Web site, redsox.com.
DETAILS: Harrington "struggled to control his emotions"
during Saturday's announcement and said the team is going
forward with a new ballpark with some "very mixed emotions."
The plans for a new ballpark, designed by K.C.-based HOK+
LOBB Sport, calls for three decks of seating and replicas of
"many of the old-fashioned characteristics of the existing
Fenway." The team unveiled plans after "first showing it to
community groups," including "Save Fenway Park" (BOSTON
GLOBE, 5/16). The exterior to the 45,000-seat facility
would "be a near replica" of Fenway, but with "wrought-iron
gates offering direct, if partial, views onto the field from
the street." The field will also be sunk about 20 feet into
the ground to "reduce the height of the new park's outer
wall to less than 60 feet" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/15). The team
and city officials have "begun strategizing about how to let
the Red Sox use the city's eminent domain powers to acquire"
the 15 acres of commercial buildings and parking lots they
don't own. Officials are confident that land deals can be
reached with "most of the 14 owners" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/17).
In Boston, Cosmo Macero reported that while the early
ballpark renderings were "met with praise," there were
"signs the Sox still have a lot of work to do" as commercial
neighbors "cried foul" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/15).
THE EFFORT TO WIN OVER THE HUB: On Saturday, Harrington
lobbied for a new ballpark in an Op-Ed in the BOSTON GLOBE
and wrote "in order to 'renovate' Fenway, we would have to
destroy it. And we would destroy much of Red Sox baseball
while trying to get it done" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/15). In
Boston, Anthony Flint examined the team's ballpark strategy
and wrote that as the "Save Fenway Park" preservationists
were "gaining momentum," Red Sox ballpark consultant John
Sasso and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino "urged Harrington to
grab control of the debate, explaining why Fenway can't be
salvaged and showing how great the new ballpark could be.
Supporters of the new ballpark hope the team has permanently
overcome its institutional caution" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/16).
In Boston, Peter Gelzinis called Harrington's performance at
the unveiling "masterful" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/16). A BOSTON
HERALD editorial tells Harrington, "Your plan seems
astonishingly good. Now you must convince us" (5/17).
SOX WIN OVER SHAUGHNESSY: In Boston, longtime Fenway
preservationist Dan Shaughnessy called the team's effort
"pretty good. ... The Red Sox have thought things through
this time. They have addressed most of the concerns of the
fandom" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/16). The HERALD's Steve Buckley:
"With apologies to all you Fenway huggers, it's time. ...
Now we just have to sit back and hope the Red Sox don't
somehow screw it up" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/16). The GLOBE's
architecture critic Robert Campbell likes many aspects of
the ballpark plan, but pans the idea of preserving the Green
Monster and the brick exterior (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/17).
