Save Fenway Park!

January 7, 2009 05:01 AM

Renovation Plans

Future Fenway Plans (8/2000)

The Hagenah Proposal (5/1999)

The Cannon Proposal (1994)

The Fenway Factor

Contact Information

Links

Home

The Fenway Neighborhood

SFP NOTE: This position paper was written in 1999 in conjunction with the Haganagh Plan for renovation. While much of the discussion would apply to most any renovation plan, several of the details are specific to the Haganagh Plan, and are not necessarily part of the more recent Future Fenway proposals.

FENWAY PARK AND THE FENWAY NEIGHBORHOOD:

Renovation and Neighborhood Opportunities
A renovated and expanded Fenway Park offers a number of benefits to the Fenway community. It strengthens existing businesses and provides opportunities for further commercial activity within the retail and entertainment cores of the area. It respects and protects the residential nature of the neighborhood and provides an opportunity for the neighborhood to continue planning and implementing many long-desired improvements.

Residential Area Protected from Impacts
Clearly, the major impacts on the Fenway residential community in the event of a renovated or new stadium are related to the influx of additional fans attending games. Renovation would result in lesser impacts because the existing "buffer" from Boylston to Van Ness Streets would remain. Also, a renovation may not require the addition of as many seats because up-front construction costs are less than those for a new stadium.

The renovation plan also proposes to create a tighter connection between Fenway Park and Kenmore Square. The park will become more identified as an extension of Kenmore's hub of activity and transportation. Nightclubs and other entertainment-related businesses will be encouraged to remain on this side of the neighborhood, as will MBTA access and new parking structures. Improvements to the Kenmore subway station and Yawkey station would be a logical and important by-product of renovation because a renovated Fenway Park is closer to these transportation facilities than the proposed new stadium. Parking facilities have been recommended and designed to direct traffic to egress the city with minimal adverse impacts on the residential areas of the Fenway.

Conversely, the Red Sox proposed new stadium can be expected to bring a host of bars, clubs, and other entertainment-related enterprises right into the Boylston Street area, squeezing out those that serve residents' needs. This will bring crowds and businesses similar to those found in the North Station area south of Boylston Street and into the neighborhood's residential zone.

Urban Village Realized
The renovation master plan includes provisions for many of the Fenway neighborhood's expressed needs and desires. It recommends adding housing and neighborhood parks at various locations in the community and encourages year-round community services along Boylston Street. This growth and strengthening of the neighborhood will result in a revitalized Boylston Street where an "urban village," often identified as a goal for this area, could become a reality. Contrast this to the prospect of a parking structure and monolithic stadium forming the north edge of Boylston Street, extending from the current site of Staples all the way to Kilmarnock Street.

Benefits to Existing Businesses
Renovating Fenway Park allows the existing range of stable neighborhood businesses north of Boylston Street to remain, and the recent rebirth of, and investment in, the area to continue. Mr. Hagenah's plan envisions entertainment and baseball-related businesses primarily centered in the area between Boylston and Brookline Avenue (with most of these north of Van Ness Street) and neighborhood-related services located along Boylston Street. Both Boylston Street and Brookline Avenue have been identified as "Study Areas" in the IPOD planning process, and many businesses along these streets feed off the activity in and around the baseball park. They will undoubtedly see their revenues enhanced if Fenway Park is upgraded.

Neighborhood-Related Businesses for Boylston Street
The renovation of Fenway Park on its current site allows the appropriate development of businesses that serve the residential community year-round along both sides of Boylston Street. It would be expected that office and residential uses would prevail on the upper floors of the commercial buildings along this corridor. This would further strengthen local businesses, providing them with a larger customer base. This in turn will result in less turnover and the development of steady, long-term establishments.

Connections-Not Barriers
Hagenah's master plan for renovation also benefits local businesses and residents by suggesting improvements in the pedestrian connections between the residential area south of Boylston Street and Kenmore Square. Strengthening the pedestrian ties between the residential streets and the commercial and transportation center in Kenmore Square creates a meaningful and valuable link for year-round economic and community revitalization. By contrast, the new stadium would lead to a high-rise barrier along the entire north edge of the Fenway - the Millennium Tower, towers on the current site of Fenway Park, the Stadium, the Landmark Center.

Linkage Funds Available
It is likely that the neighborhood's negotiations with the Boston Red Sox over Fenway Park will result in "linkage" benefits to the community in the form of financial support for affordable housing and residential services. Because the renovated park will offer the team the same level of revenue as a new stadium and require less up-front costs, the amount of linkage requirements placed on the developer should be at least the same.

Less Corporate Welfare Means More Funds for City Services and Housing
In order to build their new stadium, the Red Sox have requested that the city of Boston spend $65 million to purchase the parcels needed for the stadium. Experts indicate that the true cost of those parcels will be closer to $100 million. This practice of "corporate welfare" to support sports stadiums in other cities has brought on serious local funding deficiencies. School systems in particular have been devastated. Cleveland's now ranks among the worst in the country in terms of quality and per capita funding. Baltimore has the lowest high school graduation rate in the country.

Significantly, affordable housing is one of the usual casualties when governments redirect funds to prop up sports franchises. In San Diego, a planned new stadium for the Padres has led directly to the cancellation of 2,400 units of low- to moderate-income housing. Baltimore's Camden Yards is also among those stadiums where construction led to the abandonment of planned affordable housing construction. The lower cost of renovation will minimize the need for public moneys and will not lead to the pillaging of affordable housing funds to pay for the land needed for the Red Sox' proposed new stadium.

Less Corporate Welfare Means More Funds for Infrastructure and Transit Improvements
With the large public subsidy sought by the Red Sox (probably three times the subsidy given to the Patriots) there is reason to believe that there will not be much public money left for transit improvements and other infrastructure items that create environmental benefits which enhance the daily lives of people in the community. Indeed, the Red Sox transit improvement plan is very simplistic and thoroughly inadequate. Mostly they point to items already being done by others, e.g., refurbishing Fenway Park station (being done by Landmark Center) and the Kenmore station (being done by the City).

Since renovating Fenway Park would save well over a $100 million in public funds, for the same subsidy the Red Sox could get the revenue enhancing features they need in a refurbished Fenway Park and Boston could enjoy tens of millions of dollars in transit improvements. The result of the Red Sox' alternative is to place these millions into the sale value of the franchise.