Professional baseball would return to Utica, N.Y., under a development plan floated by the city: a $100-million cleanup and redevelopment of the Harbor Point area would include a marina, hotels, commercial buildings and new ballpark, all to be proposed under a new master plan for the former home of the Utica Blue Sox.
Professional baseball would return to Utica, N.Y., under a development plan floated by the city: a $100-million cleanup and redevelopment of the Harbor Point area would include a marina, hotels, commercial buildings and new ballpark, all to be proposed under a new master plan for the former home of the Utica Blue Sox.
The plan isn't formally public, but the local newspaper obtained a draft copy. In it, Murnane Field — the former home of the Utica Blue Sox (short season; NY-Penn League) — would be shut down and a new ballpark built on the cleaned-up industrial site. The goal, according to city officials, is to bring back affiliated baseball: ideally another NY-Penn League team. (Hello, Batavia and Jamestown owners.) The Blue Sox, as you'll recall, were sold to Cal Ripken Jr. and eventually became the Aberdeen IronBirds.
Of course, it's easy to commit plans to paper when there's not a clear funding source; National Grid, which is paying for remediation of the site, is being eyed as the possible financier of the ballpark. And we're not clear whether Utica really is big enough for short-season ball: the city has only 58,000 residents, but the NY-Penn League is clearly moving from quaint little villages (i.e., Oneonta) to bigger markets (i.e, Norwich). Still, the plan is audacious in its optimism, and we'll be eager to hear how city officials react.
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