Is Worcester Losing Its Identity as a Sports Town?

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

The First Perfect game. Ted Williams' first home run. Bob Cousy. Tom Heinsohn. The Ryder Cup. The U.S. Open. Jesse Burkett All-Stars. Major Taylor.

The City of Worcester has had its share of incredible athletes, world famous sporting events, and all-time great historical records.

And yet, in the past twelve months, the world of Worcester sports seems to be losing a bit of its luster. And it looks as if nobody's doing anything about it.

With the loss of the Worcester Sharks, the lack of interest in the Pawtucket Red Sox, and the recent transfer of the Newton Square tennis courts to the Worcester Tennis Club, is the city giving up on sports and recreation?

Over the past few weeks, a surprising discussion has emerged and is gaining momentum on the floor at Worcester’s City Council meetings.

The question, primarily driven by City Councilors Konnie Lukes and Gary Rosen, is: What should the city do with Green Hill golf course?

According to Lukes and Rosen, the city “should not be in the golf course business.” Lukes and Rosen believe it to be viable for the city to lease the city-owned public golf course to a private company.

Spend Millions or $150,000?

Just a few months ago, Rosen seemed willing to part with millions to lure the Pawtucket Red Sox into town.

“I think that the PawSox should leave the tiny state of Rhode Island altogether. That team will be lucky if its move to Providence, New England's 3rd largest city, falls through,” said Worcester City Councilor Gary Rosen. “I think that our City Manager, Mayor, Council and crackerjack Economic Development team should make a pitch for the PawSox. If Boston can go after the Olympics, Worcester can go after this fine Triple A Red Sox affiliate.”

As seen in Providence, the cost of moving the PawSox there would cost roughly $120 million to taxpayers. The same could easily be said about them moving to Worcester.

Lukes, on the other hand, voiced nearly the same opinion about the PawSox as she has about Green Hill. "We shouldn't be getting into the baseball business," said Lukes.

Rosen, along with Councilor Phil Palmieri, even went so far as requesting the city to pitch the idea to the PawSox owners.

Palmieri is one city councilor that supports the city holding on to Green Hill. Like City Manager Ed Augustus, Palmieri believes looking at alternatives to making Green Hill more profitable should be the city's focus.

Records indicate that the city earns over $1.23 million annually in revenue from the course, while paying out more than $1.37 million - a deficit of nearly $150,000 the city spends to subsidize running the course.

The city leases the restaurant at the course, the Grill on the Hill, for $30,000 annually along with a small percentage of the restaurant’s profits.

Where Can Worcester Look to Gain Momentum?

Luckily, the city still has an opportunity to look towards organizations already in the city. The Worcester Bravehearts, the 2014 Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) Champions in their inaugural season, have entered their second season as the only local sport team left in the city. Last season, they drew over 50,000 people to Fitton Field.

"We have a great product with the Bravehearts and they had a great inaugural season. The Bravehearts are locally owned and controlled, and they had a great product and strong attendance in their first year," Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Tim Murray said. "It plays on one of the advantages that Worcester does have that a lot of places don't, is the amount of colleges and universities around and the large number of student atheletes we have here."

The Worcester Rugby Club is well respected in the state and and currently competes in the New England Rugby Football Union.

As far as hockey is concerned, the time still may come for the city to replace the Worcester Sharks and Ice Cats. “I think there’s a pretty slim chance of another AHL team coming to Worcester. There’s just no teams available right now at all. Even the ones that are current, there are going to be more that are moving out west over the next couple years. They’ll probably be expanding the NHL and when they do expand they’ll be adding more AHL teams. Whether they come here or not is kind of up in the air," said Rich Lundin, President of the Sharks booster club.