Could Baseball Return to Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium After All?

Don't send in the wrecking ball just yet. A proposal is on the table to preserve Pawtucket, Rhode Island's fabled McCoy Stadium for minor league baseball.

The eulogies having been delivered, McCoy Stadium and its storied history as the legendary home to the former Pawtucket Red Sox, more affectionally known for years as the PawSox, are about to be reduced to mere dust.

The plan is to build a new unified high school where McCoy Stadium now stands. The idea is to combine Pawtucket's William E. Tolman High School with Charles E. Shea High School under one roof at 1 Columbus Avenue, where McCoy has stood since opening on July 4, 1942.

Not so fast. Billionaire Stefan Soloviev has a dream. Soloviev is pitching the idea of rehabbing McCoy for use by another minor league baseball team.

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The Valley Breeze reported that Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien "has told Soloviev that the city-owned site is not available for sale, but he is happy to work with the billionaire on other potential projects."

Soloviev cites a 2017 report suggesting renovating the stadium could cost $68 million.

Grace Voll, a spokesman for Grebien, told the Valley Breeze that officials gave people the opportunity to provide ideas for the stadium and site a few years ago, and nothing came of it, including for Soloviev.

The Pawtucket Red Sox, a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, called McCoy Stadium home from 1970-2020. The team moved to Worcester, built a new stadium, and changed the team name to WooSox.

Supporters say millions of dollars already invested in the project would be lost, and plans for a unified high school set back years if the city were to sell the stadium property.

I say nothing is in stone until it is in stone, especially when billionaire investors are involved. Stay tuned.