A potential partnership between the city and the new owners of a large swath of land that formerly belonged to ExxonMobil could result in the building of a new complex for Riverside Little League.
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A potential partnership between the city and the new owners of a large swath of land that formerly belonged to ExxonMobil could result in the building of a new complex for Riverside Little League.
Mayor Bob DaSilva reportedly met on Monday with representatives from Global Partners LP — a Fortune 500 company out of Waltham, Mass. that operates more than 50 liquid energy terminals throughout the eastern United States — who purchased land that long belonged to ExxonMobile for nearly $27 million last fall.
The purpose of the meeting was, in part, to discuss a potential project that would relocate the hub of Riverside Little League from the former Forbes Field (now called the Ron Silva Baseball Complex) on Wampanoag Trail, and relocate the activity to the ball fields on Providence Avenue, behind the former Oldham Elementary School.
DaSilva said during an event on Tuesday that the company would be willing to pay for the creation of the new complex.
“They are still working out some plans and have a professional design firm on board,” he said. “But they are committed to investing not only in building a nice new complex on Providence Avenue, but they’re willing to put lights up, a new concession stand, and bathrooms.”
DaSilva said the plans haven’t been finalized, but the concept would involve creating a third ball field and reconfiguring one of the two existing ball fields on the existing grounds to create what would look like a three-leaf clover of fields, with lighting going up in between the fields to maximize their efficiency.
He said he that a priority in the project was to maintain the existing parking lot and preserve trees.
“I want to really prevent cutting down a bunch of trees,” he said. “This would be something that might work and meet all the needs of the league.”
According to DaSilva, the land where the current little league complex sits is privately owned by Global Partners, and they have no obligation to continue letting the league use the land. He said that the purchase agreement for the land included a clause that would permit the league to stay temporarily, but not indefinitely.
“This developer has been willing to pay for these upgrades,” DaSilva said. “We are in full support of trying to create additional little league space or facilities for Riverside Little League in partnership with this private development.”