Post by sader1970 on Sept 29, 2022 19:40:33 GMT -5
Strike out the band? Why Polar Park has yet to host big-time concerts
Craig S. Semon
Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER — When the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee was looking for the perfect venue to host a summer concert in honor of the city’s 300th anniversary, the venue of first choice was Polar Park.
But after checking all the logistics, the committee had to settle for the DCU Center.
According to “Ballpark Project Fast Facts,” a document posted to the city's website in summer 2018 that has since been removed, Polar Park "will" host "at least" 125 events per year, including 68 baseball games, "large-scale" events/concerts, road races, collegiate/high school sporting events, fireworks and other community events.
With the second season of the WooSox now finished, there has yet to be a single “large-scale” concert at the park, as originally promised.
The language on the city's website for Polar Park now reads that it is "anticipated" that the park will host 125 events per year, including "outdoor concerts."
In a September 2021 interview with the Telegram & Gazette, Dr. Charles Steinberg, the team president, said he would love for James Taylor to be Polar Park's inaugural concert headliner. He also gave enthusiastic approval to the Beach Boys, Dropkick Murphys, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, J. Geils Band, the Moody Blues, a Blake Shelton-Gwen Stefani double bill and a “Girls Night Out” bill with the Bangles, the Go-Gos and/or Joan Jett as potential concerts at the ballpark.
The center field door
“We looked at the facility [Polar Park] for the tercentennial concert,” Sandra L. Dunn, general manager of the DCU Center and a member of the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee, said last week. “We had a technical person [Jon Z. Rosbrook, owner of Boston-based Zema Production Design] hired by the committee who reviewed the park and said it was not going to work for Brian McKnight and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra due to technical issues.”
An overhead door allows access to the field at Polar Park.
After 40 years in the concert production field, Rosbrook — who worked for both Don Law Co. and Live Nation in Boston — retired as production manager of The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts two years ago.
Rosbrook said Polar Park was constructed as closely as possible to the dimensions of Fenway Park, from the players’ point of view.
“Polar Park replicated Fenway Park to some degree. And in Fenway Park, the only way to get to the center of the park is through a rolled-up doorway at center field that you can drive a vehicle into but, unfortunately, that is only 12 feet high, and large trucks that carry concert production are always 13 feet high or so,” Rosbrook said. “So, consequently, at Fenway Park, all the big equipment stays outside on Lansdowne Street and is either lifted by crane over the Green Monster onto the field, or small pieces can be put onto smaller trucks that can be pulled through that doorway and then unloaded closer to the stage.”
Furthermore, trucks driving through that sole entrance appear to be coming down at an angle, which could also make a 12-foot door a little more problematic, Rosbrook said.
According to a series of Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee emails dating to November, the then 5,500 to 6,000 concert capacity at Polar Park was “smaller than desired” for the tricentennial celebration and the “Fenway Model” was “not doable” at Polar Park because of not enough fire exits and field protection.
The reason why the tercentennial celebration committee's concert numbers are so much smaller than Polar Park's 9,508 ballgame capacity is because putting a stage in the outfield would eliminate the berm, the center-field and right-field setting, according to the team.
Logistical issues cited
Emails the Telegram & Gazette obtained through a public records request indicate that a number of logistical concerns prevented the city's $160 million ballpark from playing a prominent role in its 300th anniversary bash.
Despite there being “great excitement around holding a concert in the park,” according to the tercentennial celebration committee's "potential locations" emails, “staging” and “stage roof required for weather” at Polar Park were also cited as logistical issues.
In an Oct. 7, 2021, email titled “Fwd: Polar Park Drawings” sent to Amy Peterson, director of marketing for the City of Worcester, Dunn states, “Capacity for Polar Park for concert IF they can get equipment would be 5,500. That will reduce the potential artists unless there is an angel that wants to underwrite the whole thing ...”
In addition, Dunn’s email to Peterson states that she was told by an expert in the concert field that “... even James Taylor’s stage wouldn’t fit and that is one of the smallest.”
The Worcester Tercentennial Committee ultimately chose the DCU Center for the city’s anniversary concert, which attracted 8,000-plus attendees.
Team: 'No delay'
Larry Lucchino, chairman and principal owner of the WooSox, and Steinberg insist there is “no delay” in getting concerts at Polar Park, despite the city’s coveted tercentennial celebration concert slipping through their fingers.
“We’re looking for who’s the right act with the right stage at the right time,” Steinberg said. “The popularity of Polar Park is soaring and the name of Worcester is rising beautifully across the country. So all that works to our advantage trying to determine who would be the best concert to get us started.”
Robert Malone, vice president of ballpark facilities for the Worcester Red Sox, stands in the field access tunnel at Polar Park.
Alongside Mayor Joseph M. Petty, Edward M. Augustus Jr. — the former city manager who was considered instrumental in bringing the Pawtucket Red Sox to Worcester — served as the Tercentennial Celebration Committee chairs.
Last week, Augustus, who is now chancellor at Dean College in Franklin, said the “height thing” at Polar Park wasn’t “the end of the world.”
“I heard about the issue about the height thing. I definitely heard about that. Anything can be fixed or resolved. So I can’t imagine that’s a permanent problem. Something needs to be adjusted there. It should be adjusted,” Augustus said. “But I would defer to them because they are the ones who know the concert business. We’ve always talked about having concerts, other activities, because this [Polar Park] is supposed to be used as much as humanly possible.”
Acting City Manager Eric Batista, who took over for Augustus after the planning for the tercentennial concluded, told the T&G on Wednesday that he does not fault the WooSox for the logistical issues that prevented the event from taking place at the park.
Batista said he did not believe the team had originally envisioned hosting a concert as large as the one city officials contemplated, and noted that the ballpark in 2021 was still in its first year.
“We were just figuring ourselves out as a ballpark,” he said. For any event as big as the tercentennial, officials need to be confident in safety and emergency planning, he said, adding that it was an overall consideration of that aspect — not any one logistical issue — that shifted the event away from the ballpark.
He said the city and team, following the conversation started around the tercentennial, are working closely to work out any logistical issues regarding large outdoor concerts at Polar Park.
When asked about the entryway of the field access tunnel at Polar Park not being high enough, Lucchino said the ballpark can work around it, while Steinberg said the alleged deficiency doesn’t affect the park’s ability to host major concerts.
“We worked around it at Fenway. We can work around it here. Don’t fall victim to that simple-minded thing,” Lucchino said. “We do want to have a bigger entrance but we can make it work. … I think they’re talking about expanding it but that is not preventing concerts.”
Same concert specs as Fenway
Steinberg, who was one of four members of the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee affiliated with the WooSox, stresses that Polar Park was designed to the same concert specifications as Fenway Park.
The field access tunnel at Polar Park.
“It’s not that there’s a problem [in design]. It’s that our ballpark is designed to accommodate acts the same way that Fenway is. But at Fenway you usually bring big stages. So they come in pieces,” Steinberg said. “Now, we may not need as big a stage as Paul McCartney or the Rolling Stones do. The smaller stage comes in one piece and so that is a different design.
“But it’s nothing that can’t be surmounted. If you use the one-piece stage, then it gives you a logistical challenge that you have to figure out how to surmount, but we’re not doubting that it couldn’t be surmounted.”
When asked about the assessment made in Dunn’s email from Live Nation’s production director that the stage for James Taylor, who sang the national anthem on Polar Park’s inaugural opening day, wouldn’t be able to be get into the ballpark, Steinberg said, “That has not come up in any of our discussions with our management team.”
As to the question of whether it was a good idea to “mimic” Fenway Park’s design, Steinberg said, “It’s not hindering our pursuit of concerts.”
Lucchino and Steinberg insist that Robert Malone, vice president of ballpark facilities for the Worcester Red Sox, has explained to them that whether or not they are able to use the tunnel, Polar Park is all set for concerts.
As for the tunnel's height, Malone said the question was raised during construction.
“We’re actually taller than they are at Fenway. We’re 12 feet 1 inches and Fenway’s 12 feet,” Malone said. “We were comfortable that without incurring all the extra cost to make it much greater for who-knows-what reason, the judgement was made that we were good and we built it that way.”
Higher tunnel too costly
With over 45 years of construction experience under his belt, Malone said building the tunnel at the right height would have been an unnecessary added expense.
“Why would we spend a lot more of the taxpayers’ money to build something that we didn’t need?” Malone said. “If it’s a small stage for a small concert, it’s coming right through the tunnel.
Despite the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee ruling that Polar Park was unsuitable to host the city’s 300th anniversary concert, Malone said Polar Park has gone through every possible concert scenario imaginable and, he insists, they have found no impediments to prevent doing concerts at any level.
“If you were to bring something that was really big and, for some reason, we had a height restriction, Plymouth Street is totally open to the sky above. There’s no restriction there,” Malone said. “We’re going to set a crane in front of the scoreboard and we’re going to pick it off Plymouth Street, or we’re going to turn to the right towards the field and we’ll get it down on the field.”
Malone said the elevation from the ballfield to Plymouth Street is 13 feet.
“Certain stages of certain sizes, they drive right in with no problem. And if we wanted something really big, then all you do is place the crane on Plymouth Street and we lift it over the outfield wall, instead of onto the field,” Malone said. “It’s just what stage are you bringing in and what do we have to do, bring it in with a crane or we’re going to bring it right on the field or put it on a big articulated forklift and just drive it right in.”
If Polar Park sets up a very intimate stage at home plate that fans out with wings or stretches out to first and third base, Malone said, that could probably come through the tunnel.
“Having a concert here causes me no pause or worry whatsoever, just as long as they give me enough time to line up everything and get it done,” Malone said. “It will be great.”
More infield fire exits added
As for the matter, cited by the Worcester Tercentennial Committee in November, of the park not having enough fire exits coming off the field, Malone said that issue was addressed back in March.
Currently, there are seven fire exits on the field, not including the rollup door to the field access tunnel, Malone said.
Robert Malone, vice president of ballpark facilities for the Worcester Red Sox, calls attention to one of the extra infield fire exits at Polar Park.
"Polar Park has the capacity of 9,508 patrons in the ballpark without anyone on the field,” Malone said. “Now, with the added fire exits, Polar Park has an egress for 5,000 on the field but they would lose some of the stadium seating due to the stage being placed in the outfield.”
Lucchino and Steinberg said the fact that no concerts have been held at Polar Park has nothing to do with the tunnel not being built high enough, not having enough fire exits on the infield or the notion that its capacity for concerts is not big enough.
Instead, the two men said, the real reason is COVID.
“People have been in the hole since '20 and '21 with canceled concerts,” Lucchino said.
Added Steinberg: “COVID provides reasons one through nine of what we have to get through for the acts to fulfill their previously postponed obligations. You want your first act to be someone that Worcester is really proud of.”
While Lucchino and Steinberg love comparing Polar Park to Fenway Park in every way possible, Polar Park is batting .000 compared to Fenway’s winning season when it comes to hosting concerts.
This summer alone, Fenway Park hosted a dozen..
Previously, McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket hosted several concerts, starting with Bob Dylan on Aug. 24, 2006.
“Let’s not kid anybody that this is a Fenway Park, a 40,000-seat venue. This is like a 9,000-seat venue,” Malone said. “It’s the right size for the venue and we will work out all the logistics and how we have to set it in. But, yeah, I’m not worried. There are so many different-size stage setups and those things are mobile.”
Lucchino and Steinberg said the WooSox want to host a concert at Polar Park in 2023, which will be the third season of the ball club in Worcester.
“I see no reason that we wouldn’t get wonderful, first-class acts as soon as all schedules permit it,” Steinberg said.
“We want a concert here next year in '23 as much as we want our next breath,” Lucchino added.
Telegram & Gazette reporter Brad Petrishen contributed to this report.
Craig S. Semon
Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER — When the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee was looking for the perfect venue to host a summer concert in honor of the city’s 300th anniversary, the venue of first choice was Polar Park.
But after checking all the logistics, the committee had to settle for the DCU Center.
According to “Ballpark Project Fast Facts,” a document posted to the city's website in summer 2018 that has since been removed, Polar Park "will" host "at least" 125 events per year, including 68 baseball games, "large-scale" events/concerts, road races, collegiate/high school sporting events, fireworks and other community events.
With the second season of the WooSox now finished, there has yet to be a single “large-scale” concert at the park, as originally promised.
The language on the city's website for Polar Park now reads that it is "anticipated" that the park will host 125 events per year, including "outdoor concerts."
In a September 2021 interview with the Telegram & Gazette, Dr. Charles Steinberg, the team president, said he would love for James Taylor to be Polar Park's inaugural concert headliner. He also gave enthusiastic approval to the Beach Boys, Dropkick Murphys, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, J. Geils Band, the Moody Blues, a Blake Shelton-Gwen Stefani double bill and a “Girls Night Out” bill with the Bangles, the Go-Gos and/or Joan Jett as potential concerts at the ballpark.
The center field door
“We looked at the facility [Polar Park] for the tercentennial concert,” Sandra L. Dunn, general manager of the DCU Center and a member of the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee, said last week. “We had a technical person [Jon Z. Rosbrook, owner of Boston-based Zema Production Design] hired by the committee who reviewed the park and said it was not going to work for Brian McKnight and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra due to technical issues.”
An overhead door allows access to the field at Polar Park.
After 40 years in the concert production field, Rosbrook — who worked for both Don Law Co. and Live Nation in Boston — retired as production manager of The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts two years ago.
Rosbrook said Polar Park was constructed as closely as possible to the dimensions of Fenway Park, from the players’ point of view.
“Polar Park replicated Fenway Park to some degree. And in Fenway Park, the only way to get to the center of the park is through a rolled-up doorway at center field that you can drive a vehicle into but, unfortunately, that is only 12 feet high, and large trucks that carry concert production are always 13 feet high or so,” Rosbrook said. “So, consequently, at Fenway Park, all the big equipment stays outside on Lansdowne Street and is either lifted by crane over the Green Monster onto the field, or small pieces can be put onto smaller trucks that can be pulled through that doorway and then unloaded closer to the stage.”
Furthermore, trucks driving through that sole entrance appear to be coming down at an angle, which could also make a 12-foot door a little more problematic, Rosbrook said.
According to a series of Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee emails dating to November, the then 5,500 to 6,000 concert capacity at Polar Park was “smaller than desired” for the tricentennial celebration and the “Fenway Model” was “not doable” at Polar Park because of not enough fire exits and field protection.
The reason why the tercentennial celebration committee's concert numbers are so much smaller than Polar Park's 9,508 ballgame capacity is because putting a stage in the outfield would eliminate the berm, the center-field and right-field setting, according to the team.
Logistical issues cited
Emails the Telegram & Gazette obtained through a public records request indicate that a number of logistical concerns prevented the city's $160 million ballpark from playing a prominent role in its 300th anniversary bash.
Despite there being “great excitement around holding a concert in the park,” according to the tercentennial celebration committee's "potential locations" emails, “staging” and “stage roof required for weather” at Polar Park were also cited as logistical issues.
In an Oct. 7, 2021, email titled “Fwd: Polar Park Drawings” sent to Amy Peterson, director of marketing for the City of Worcester, Dunn states, “Capacity for Polar Park for concert IF they can get equipment would be 5,500. That will reduce the potential artists unless there is an angel that wants to underwrite the whole thing ...”
In addition, Dunn’s email to Peterson states that she was told by an expert in the concert field that “... even James Taylor’s stage wouldn’t fit and that is one of the smallest.”
The Worcester Tercentennial Committee ultimately chose the DCU Center for the city’s anniversary concert, which attracted 8,000-plus attendees.
Team: 'No delay'
Larry Lucchino, chairman and principal owner of the WooSox, and Steinberg insist there is “no delay” in getting concerts at Polar Park, despite the city’s coveted tercentennial celebration concert slipping through their fingers.
“We’re looking for who’s the right act with the right stage at the right time,” Steinberg said. “The popularity of Polar Park is soaring and the name of Worcester is rising beautifully across the country. So all that works to our advantage trying to determine who would be the best concert to get us started.”
Robert Malone, vice president of ballpark facilities for the Worcester Red Sox, stands in the field access tunnel at Polar Park.
Alongside Mayor Joseph M. Petty, Edward M. Augustus Jr. — the former city manager who was considered instrumental in bringing the Pawtucket Red Sox to Worcester — served as the Tercentennial Celebration Committee chairs.
Last week, Augustus, who is now chancellor at Dean College in Franklin, said the “height thing” at Polar Park wasn’t “the end of the world.”
“I heard about the issue about the height thing. I definitely heard about that. Anything can be fixed or resolved. So I can’t imagine that’s a permanent problem. Something needs to be adjusted there. It should be adjusted,” Augustus said. “But I would defer to them because they are the ones who know the concert business. We’ve always talked about having concerts, other activities, because this [Polar Park] is supposed to be used as much as humanly possible.”
Acting City Manager Eric Batista, who took over for Augustus after the planning for the tercentennial concluded, told the T&G on Wednesday that he does not fault the WooSox for the logistical issues that prevented the event from taking place at the park.
Batista said he did not believe the team had originally envisioned hosting a concert as large as the one city officials contemplated, and noted that the ballpark in 2021 was still in its first year.
“We were just figuring ourselves out as a ballpark,” he said. For any event as big as the tercentennial, officials need to be confident in safety and emergency planning, he said, adding that it was an overall consideration of that aspect — not any one logistical issue — that shifted the event away from the ballpark.
He said the city and team, following the conversation started around the tercentennial, are working closely to work out any logistical issues regarding large outdoor concerts at Polar Park.
When asked about the entryway of the field access tunnel at Polar Park not being high enough, Lucchino said the ballpark can work around it, while Steinberg said the alleged deficiency doesn’t affect the park’s ability to host major concerts.
“We worked around it at Fenway. We can work around it here. Don’t fall victim to that simple-minded thing,” Lucchino said. “We do want to have a bigger entrance but we can make it work. … I think they’re talking about expanding it but that is not preventing concerts.”
Same concert specs as Fenway
Steinberg, who was one of four members of the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee affiliated with the WooSox, stresses that Polar Park was designed to the same concert specifications as Fenway Park.
The field access tunnel at Polar Park.
“It’s not that there’s a problem [in design]. It’s that our ballpark is designed to accommodate acts the same way that Fenway is. But at Fenway you usually bring big stages. So they come in pieces,” Steinberg said. “Now, we may not need as big a stage as Paul McCartney or the Rolling Stones do. The smaller stage comes in one piece and so that is a different design.
“But it’s nothing that can’t be surmounted. If you use the one-piece stage, then it gives you a logistical challenge that you have to figure out how to surmount, but we’re not doubting that it couldn’t be surmounted.”
When asked about the assessment made in Dunn’s email from Live Nation’s production director that the stage for James Taylor, who sang the national anthem on Polar Park’s inaugural opening day, wouldn’t be able to be get into the ballpark, Steinberg said, “That has not come up in any of our discussions with our management team.”
As to the question of whether it was a good idea to “mimic” Fenway Park’s design, Steinberg said, “It’s not hindering our pursuit of concerts.”
Lucchino and Steinberg insist that Robert Malone, vice president of ballpark facilities for the Worcester Red Sox, has explained to them that whether or not they are able to use the tunnel, Polar Park is all set for concerts.
As for the tunnel's height, Malone said the question was raised during construction.
“We’re actually taller than they are at Fenway. We’re 12 feet 1 inches and Fenway’s 12 feet,” Malone said. “We were comfortable that without incurring all the extra cost to make it much greater for who-knows-what reason, the judgement was made that we were good and we built it that way.”
Higher tunnel too costly
With over 45 years of construction experience under his belt, Malone said building the tunnel at the right height would have been an unnecessary added expense.
“Why would we spend a lot more of the taxpayers’ money to build something that we didn’t need?” Malone said. “If it’s a small stage for a small concert, it’s coming right through the tunnel.
Despite the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee ruling that Polar Park was unsuitable to host the city’s 300th anniversary concert, Malone said Polar Park has gone through every possible concert scenario imaginable and, he insists, they have found no impediments to prevent doing concerts at any level.
“If you were to bring something that was really big and, for some reason, we had a height restriction, Plymouth Street is totally open to the sky above. There’s no restriction there,” Malone said. “We’re going to set a crane in front of the scoreboard and we’re going to pick it off Plymouth Street, or we’re going to turn to the right towards the field and we’ll get it down on the field.”
Malone said the elevation from the ballfield to Plymouth Street is 13 feet.
“Certain stages of certain sizes, they drive right in with no problem. And if we wanted something really big, then all you do is place the crane on Plymouth Street and we lift it over the outfield wall, instead of onto the field,” Malone said. “It’s just what stage are you bringing in and what do we have to do, bring it in with a crane or we’re going to bring it right on the field or put it on a big articulated forklift and just drive it right in.”
If Polar Park sets up a very intimate stage at home plate that fans out with wings or stretches out to first and third base, Malone said, that could probably come through the tunnel.
“Having a concert here causes me no pause or worry whatsoever, just as long as they give me enough time to line up everything and get it done,” Malone said. “It will be great.”
More infield fire exits added
As for the matter, cited by the Worcester Tercentennial Committee in November, of the park not having enough fire exits coming off the field, Malone said that issue was addressed back in March.
Currently, there are seven fire exits on the field, not including the rollup door to the field access tunnel, Malone said.
Robert Malone, vice president of ballpark facilities for the Worcester Red Sox, calls attention to one of the extra infield fire exits at Polar Park.
"Polar Park has the capacity of 9,508 patrons in the ballpark without anyone on the field,” Malone said. “Now, with the added fire exits, Polar Park has an egress for 5,000 on the field but they would lose some of the stadium seating due to the stage being placed in the outfield.”
Lucchino and Steinberg said the fact that no concerts have been held at Polar Park has nothing to do with the tunnel not being built high enough, not having enough fire exits on the infield or the notion that its capacity for concerts is not big enough.
Instead, the two men said, the real reason is COVID.
“People have been in the hole since '20 and '21 with canceled concerts,” Lucchino said.
Added Steinberg: “COVID provides reasons one through nine of what we have to get through for the acts to fulfill their previously postponed obligations. You want your first act to be someone that Worcester is really proud of.”
While Lucchino and Steinberg love comparing Polar Park to Fenway Park in every way possible, Polar Park is batting .000 compared to Fenway’s winning season when it comes to hosting concerts.
This summer alone, Fenway Park hosted a dozen..
Previously, McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket hosted several concerts, starting with Bob Dylan on Aug. 24, 2006.
“Let’s not kid anybody that this is a Fenway Park, a 40,000-seat venue. This is like a 9,000-seat venue,” Malone said. “It’s the right size for the venue and we will work out all the logistics and how we have to set it in. But, yeah, I’m not worried. There are so many different-size stage setups and those things are mobile.”
Lucchino and Steinberg said the WooSox want to host a concert at Polar Park in 2023, which will be the third season of the ball club in Worcester.
“I see no reason that we wouldn’t get wonderful, first-class acts as soon as all schedules permit it,” Steinberg said.
“We want a concert here next year in '23 as much as we want our next breath,” Lucchino added.
Telegram & Gazette reporter Brad Petrishen contributed to this report.
