WooSox home opener marks the end of a long journey for Polar Park
Photo | Grant Welker
Polar Park's playing field from behind home plate
When the first pitch goes out at 3:05 p.m. Tuesday for the Worcester Red Sox's first game at Polar Park, it will mark the end of a long journey and the beginning of a new era for the city.
The opening day for Polar Park will feature the WooSox playing against the Syracuse Mets, in front of a crowd of 2,377, as the stadium capacity was capped at 25% of its 9,508 maximum due to the state's coronavirus regulations.
It has been a mad dash to the finish for the park, with construction still not fully completed and single-game ticket sales only beginning last week, but the park will host its first game today.
The journey began with a very public bid for the team in the 1990's and recent efforts took nearly 15 years of negotiations. Rumors began swirling anew in 2017 about whether the then Pawtucket, R.I. team would actually make the move to Worcester. Some downplayed the city’s efforts as feeding into negotiations between the team and the state of Rhode Island.
However, those claims were proved wrong when it was announced on August 17, 2018 the team would be relocating to Worcester on land in the Canal District. What followed was 998 days of development and criticism of the stadium and surrounding changes to the Canal District, with people raising concerns about stadium costs, property taxes and the impact on local businesses and neighborhoods.
But, the city council moved forward with the plan and on July 11, 2019 ground was broken on the project. When a challenging site and tight deadline led to major cost overruns, increasing the price from $101 million to $159.5 million, the city approved more borrowing for the project, turning the project into the most expensive minor league ballpark ever.
A recently announced oversight board will guide how the $160-million stadium will be managed.
But construction pushed on, spurring additional changes within the city. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation altered its iconic, and notoriously hazardous Kelley Square, to accommodate stadium traffic. The stadium increased the buzz and vitality of an already thriving part of the Canal District. Some businesses, such as Table Talk Pies will be moving with new development in their place.
The physically largest change coming about in the area, other than the stadium, could be the recently proposed 13-story building set to replace the former Cove Music Hall on Green Street.
The regional sports television station NESN will start airing the opening ceremonies at 2 p.m. The game can will be played on radio stations The Pike 100.1 FM and NASH Icon 98.9 – the two flagship stations of the WooSox Radio Network.
Although the team is keeping the secret of who will be throwing out the first pitch, attending the game will be Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Mayor Joseph Petty, City Manager Edward Augustus and WooSox Chairman Larry Lucchino.
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