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Notfromcorporate t1_iy8bsdn wrote

Reply to comment by ThrillDr1 in Paying Polar Park’s debt: For the second year, underwhelming tax collections were saved by a public property sale by outb0undflight

Let’s not act like that area was thriving before the stadium arrived.

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saintsandopossums t1_iy8cs9n wrote

I think it was though. You had a bunch of shops and restaurants on Green St. and it was honestly the place in Worcester that felt most like an actual city block. When my cousin came to Worcester to look at colleges, I took them to Crompton/Smokestack/Dive Bar, because that was a good representation of the area. Now two of those 3 places are closed because of the ballpark

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The_Mahk t1_iy8j85x wrote

And the impact of the pandemic alongside increase cost of goods/energy.

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saintsandopossums t1_iy8k9dv wrote

Dive Bar closed specifically because the property's landlord wanted to make a "family baseball destination" that never ended up happening. And Smokestack closed because the building was sold, probably to become parking from what I've heard. COVID and inflation make for good scapegoats, and they definitely play a part, but most of the closures seem to be from greedy landlords thinking that they can make a quick buck before everyone wises up to the ballpark not really helping business in the area

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metacomet88 t1_iyen6tm wrote

So none of the places you mentioned closed due to a downturn in business because of the park…

New restaurants close all the time. Maddis was pretty mediocre. Hangover/broth had a bad reputation and were banking on fading food trends.

I’m not saying the park is all good, but looking at a few restaurants in the neighborhood closing within 6 months doesn’t necessarily say anything about the role the park is playing.

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985thesportshub t1_iya27zh wrote

Interesting you mention greed.

Since you clearly have some connection to these places, do tell, what's Smokestack Inc's plan with the $400,000 they got in PPP loans that were forgiven before they decided the big bad ballpark took all their customers? I'd love to hear it.

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