PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island would like to keep the Pawtucket Red Sox minor league baseball team but not at any cost, Gov. Gina Raimondo said in an interview.
“I’d like to see them stay, whether it’s McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket or elsewhere — I know Providence has a couple of ideas,” Raimondo said Oct. 27 during The Bond Buyer’s Healthcare and Higher Education Conference.
“The challenge is, at what cost?” she said. “I’m optimistic that we can get it done. Hopefully.”
The new ownership group of the Pawsox, led by former Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino, last spring proposed a ballpark on land near downtown Providence vacated by the relocation of Interstate 195, but Raimondo said the $120 million price tag — $4 million per year over 30 years — was too high.
Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza’s administration has proposed alternative Providence sites.
Debate over sports facility financing has simmered as minor league baseball franchises have become more profitable in recent years.
