Developers To Unveil Stadium Plans at Public Meeting

The developers behind a newly proposed $45 million minor league ballpark near Malden Center will present their concept and answer questions during a public meeting next Thursday.

The event, scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the third floor of , will unveil plans to convert a 6.6 acre National Grid-owned site at 100 Commercial Street into a 6,000-seat stadium.

The program will also be broadcast live on Channel 16 (Comcast) and Channel 26 (Verizon).

Residents are encouraged to submit questions for the presentation at maldenballpark@cityofmalden.info no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11.

The plan

Attorney Alexander Bok, founder and president of Boston Baseball Field of Dreams, said he had been trying to bring minor league baseball to the Boston-area for years, but had been waiting to find a parcel like the National Grid site.

“We started with a very tough set of criteria,” he said. “I wanted to be in a location very near a subway line, which had parking available (nearby) ...and to find that in the Greater Boston area...is very difficult criteria.”

include the establishment of a year-round restaurant, a turf field useable for games, as well as other events like summer concerts.

If the project is approved, the group would apply for a franchise in the Atlantic League, with a planned city-wide contest to name the new team.

“That will be a public process the year before we open,” he said. “There are a lot of names that people suggest and we'll take them all, run a contest and narrow it down.”

Following that, the stadium could open as early as April of 2014, Bok said.

Locals weigh in

While the project remains in its early, tentative stages, one citizen group - the Citizen's Association for the Responsible Development of Malden - said they would be working to scrutinize the process and keep residents informed, but had yet to take an outright position on the project.

“We're not opposed to it outright,” volunteer Lori Rittner said. “We don't know, we don't take a position; we're trying to get people more involved...People might hear about a stadium and think 'that's great' without thinking about (the impact).”

“We feel like we're on the cusp in Malden,” she added. “We have this National Grid site, the Superfitness site, the Dartmouth Street site and maybe...if (Christenson) moves city hall, we're going to have that site.

“We have all these prime sites that will never become vacant again, so I feel like we really need to know what we're going to be doing,” she said.

“I am proud that the City of Malden is being considered for such a major project and am looking forward to the presentation to hear what is being proposed and how it improves the quality of life here in Malden,” Mayor Gary Christenson wrote in a statement.

For more information, visit the project's website.