The Triple-A East Worcester Red Sox' brand-new Polar Park is "essentially ready for its May 11 Opening Day," and the City of Worcester in assuming over half the $159M construction cost is "placing a bet on itself," according to Michael Silverman of the BOSTON GLOBE. Around the ballpark "sit more than a half-dozen parcels of land currently swarming with backhoes, tractors, excavators, and hard-hatted, orange-vested construction workers." These sites will take "months, even years, to be fully developed," but the "tax revenue and bond sales stemming from plans for housing, a hotel, a parking lot, a lab, and retail and office space hold the key to why Worcester forged a business as well as a civic partnership with the WooSox." Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty said, “This area will pay for the park itself -- the funding we put forward -- from all the revenues of the projects.” Silverman notes as lessees of Polar Park for the next 30 years, the WooSox will "reap nearly all of the revenue from tickets, concessions, advertising, broadcasting rights, and merchandise," though the team also is "responsible for most operating costs." The city was responsible for 55%, or about $88M, of the stadium’s price tag, with the WooSox paying nearly $61M -- 38% -- and the state and federal governments "picking up the balance." WooSox Chair and Principal Owner Larry Lucchino: "This is my fifth ballpark, and this was probably the hardest, the most difficult, with the most people participating in the process and with the least money, so it was a very challenging undertaking" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/23).
Worcester Red Sox will reap nearly all of the revenue from Polar Park as lessees; the Triple-A team also is responsible for most operating costsWorcester Red Sox
