The Pitch at Wyman-Gordon Field, Take II

Proposed Wyman-Gordon Field with Proposed Airline BRT (Red) and Trolley (Green) Public Transportation Stops

I discussed building a soccer specific stadium for the New England Revolution in a previous post, it is by far the most viewed of my recent posts. In the comments, Harry T. points out that I'm not the first/only one with this thought: See this post from late 2006 by Harry Tembenis (Harry T. I presume?) on Bill Randall's blog about Harry's idea of building a stadium on the Wyman-Gordon site for a Canadian Football League team. Also see this post from this summer on Paulie's blog about the Worcester World Cup event and David Z.'s comment "every time I drive by the former Wyman Gordon’s wasteland at Kelly Square, I think it would be a perfect location for a soccer only stadium for the New England Revolution."

I think the CFL expansion team is a great idea. Based on what Harry said in the 2006 post, the 20-25,000 seating capacity needed for the Revolution appears to work for a CFL team. I had suggested Holy Cross football could move it's games to Wyman-Gordon Field (the seating capacity also would appear to be the right size for this use too), but a Worcester based CFL team would be another great option instead of (or perhaps in addition to?) Holy Cross football. With Pats tickets almost impossible to get/too expensive for most, there may indeed be enough demand throughout New England to support a CFL team in Worcester. In the 2006 post Harry talked about the CFL possibly expanding with a few US franchises, I checked out the CFL website are there are still no US teams, does anyone know if the CFL still has plans to expand into the US?

The current lack of infrastructure in general and public transportation in particular was mentioned on Paulie's blog as a reason why the Revolution would not be interested in Worc. I would agree that there is not enough public transportation infrastructure in place today, but between the underway doubling of MBTA service between Worcester and Boston, the development of a bus rapid transit system connecting ORH and Union Station (with a Wyman-Gordon Field stop) and a tourist targeted trolley loop that would take visitors from Gateway Park to Union Station then through the Canal District and deliver them to the front door of Wyman-Gordon Field, I think we have the makings of a pretty good public transit infrastructure to support the stadium.

Of course, many will come by car, which leads to images of a gridlocked Kelley Square. Like any stadium in an urban area, traffic and parking plans will need to be studied closely. Parking in the Green Island residential neighborhoods should be limited to residents only during events. Event based street closings and select one-ways in Green Island might also be considered to keep non-residents out of this residential area. Looking at the image above, I think it's important to note that the stadium is located in an area I call the Junction District and not in Kelley Square itself. Those coming from Boston, SE MA and Providence will likely arrive at the stadium via 146 and Quinsigamond Ave, thus avoiding Kelley Square; those coming from Hartford, Springfield and points west will likely be entering via 290 E (though the 146 exit is a viable option from this direction in this case, old habits die hard - I speak from personal experience!) and could be directed to use Southbridge St., thus avoiding Kelley Square and those coming from Maine, NH and northeast and northcentral MA will be coming into the city by 290 W - these users would be the ones most likely to use the Kelley Square exit - but I would think that signage could encourage users to exit at either Lincoln St. or MLK Blvd. and either 1) park at Gateway Park (Lincoln St. exit) or City Square or Union Station (MLK Blvd. exit) and ride the trolley or Airline to the stadium, or 2) drive down the Major Taylor to Foster (the recent pedestrianization of Foster St. being a nice change to the car dominated design of most of Worcester's streets (Worcester slogan suggestion #215: "Worcester, a City that walks!")) to McGrath stretch and enter the stadium from the west, thus avoiding Kelley Square.

The Pitch at Wyman-Gordon Field

20,000 Seat Toyota Park (Home of the Chicago Fire) Superimposed on the Wyman-Gordon Site



Wyman-Gordon Field in Relation to the Proposed Junction District Stop on the AIRLINE and Kelley Square/Canal District

 The Wyman-Gordon parcel downtown has been for sale for some time now. It's a large parcel (or several parcels really) that total something like a dozen acres or so. Reportedly W-G wants to retain a few acres for some of their operations and is asking $1MM per acre for the balance.

Meanwhile, it's known that the Kraft's, owners of the New England Revolution, a soccer club member of Major League Soccer (MLS), are looking to build a soccer specific stadium to house their team. Apparently they would like an urban location (check) with good access to public transportation (check - new Junction District stop is 1st stop on line from Union Station - a mere 45 min. express train ride from Boston). So far they have been focusing on an area known as Brickbottom in Somerville, and I certainly don't blame them for focusing their efforts on the Boston area. But I think there are some merits to considering the W-G site in Worcester:

1. The current home of the Revolution is already outside of Boston - Moving from Foxboro to Worcester would likely be seen as a lateral move by Boston area residents - instead of driving/taking the T to Foxboro, they just drive or take the T to Worcester. South shore residents would have to trek further but Western MA, Hartford, CT area and VT and NH residents would all be closer. This would be much more challenging if the Revolution were already in Boston and we wanted to move them out of the city.
2. 6 MM people in a 50 mi. radius - Soccer plays something like 16 home games plus playoffs a year. With relatively few games, the idea of taking an hour or two ride to get to the game is not so imposing as for baseball, hockey or basketball where there are a lot more games and thus you need a large local population to draw from. This is the New England Revolution after all, why not put them in the center of New England?
3. A stadium of 20-25,000 seats could be supported in Worcester - If we were talking 60,000 seats it would not work, it's simply too big for Worcester. But a stadium in the low 20's seems like something Worcester could support. Other uses for the stadium include a new home field for Holy Cross football, summer concerts (Worcester has a strong concert scene and an outdoor venue like this does not exist in Central MA as far as I know. It seems to me that being able to offer this outdoor venue together with the DCU Center would be a great competitive advantage when looking to bring bigger acts to Worcester) and special events (graduations, World Cup soccer qualifying matches, international soccer exhibitions, and special events such as college lacrosse, field hockey and football games - maybe even a New Years Day outdoor hockey game featuring Holy Cross and a local rival?)
4. A multicultural sport for a multicultural city - Worcester is a diverse city and must remain so if it is going to continue to grow in the years to come. What better way to promote diversity then by hosting an MLS team?
5. MA Youth Soccer's fields are located in Lancaster, MA - MLS heavily promotes and support youth soccer in states/cities with teams and a number of teams have recently built youth facilities as part of their new facilities. Here in MA, MA Youth Soccer opened a world class facility in Lancaster, MA in 2007. The facility, with 11 natural grass and 5 synthetic turf fields on 130 acres is just 22 miles (less than a 30 minute drive along 190) as compared to 35 miles (approximately 1 hour assuming no traffic) to Somerville. If the Revolution want to build their relationship with MA Youth Soccer, they would do better choosing a Worcester location.
6. Opportunities for spin off development - Like Patriot Place in Foxboro, there could easily be opportunities to develop retail opportunities in the vacant land connecting the proposed stadium to Kelley Square. Ideally the Blackstone would be day lighted in this area (I hear the Kraft's did a similar day lighting operation in Foxboro?) providing a unique destination for shopping and dining that you could only experience in Worcester. Perhaps focusing on the entertainment idea may be a good focus, maybe a Kings Bowling Center (with a special Worcester only Candlepin Room?). We could have developers such as thee Cordish Co. out of Baltimore (Power Plant Live! in Baltimore and similar projects in numerous other cities) take a look and see what they can come up with. I think the ideal mix would be to have more of a corporate feel in and around the stadium blending into a more regional/local flavor in the Canal District with smaller shops, etc.
7. Soccer as a metaphor for Worcester's return to the national scene - Soccer, like Worcester, is known to most people in the US. Soccer, like Worcester, is not thought of as a top tier sport (mid-sized city) in the US. 25 years from now I think soccer will be thought of as a top tier sport and I believe, if Worcester continues to make smart decisions, it too will be thought of as a top tier mid-sized US city.

Game on!