Though he stopped short of calling this a victory lap, Tim Empkie, one of the leaders of the effort to keep the Pawtucket Red Sox in Pawtucket, prevent the use of public lands in Providence for a new stadium and prevent any public money from subsidizing a new stadium anywhere in the state, is optimistic that the battle is just about won…
…but the pressure needs to be kept on.
In a rally at the corner of Hope St and Doyle Avenue in Providence, 25 people turned out over the course of two hours to hold signs in an event that was described as not “a protest of any kind, just outreach the public!”
At least three anti-stadium groups, from a variety of political perspectives, were represented at the rally, spurring organizer David Norton to exclaim on Twitter, “Unite the Clans!!!”
A similar rally held last week had just five participants. Organizers hope for even more participation next Tuesday at 4:30. They see signs that Governor Gina Raimondo‘s position on the stadium is evolving, and at least one of the signs echoed a new talking point out of her office, “Take a fresh look at Pawtucket.”
“This effort goes beyond baseball,” said Tim Empkie. “It’s not about just one stadium. It’s about the use of public money for the public good.”
On Saturday morning over 75 people assembled outside McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket to sing a slightly altered version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” for a video planned to protest moving the Pawtucket Red Sox to a proposed new stadium in Providence. Director Murray Scott lead the crowd in singing the song, from cue cards, four times as volunteers stopped traffic. Surprisingly, none of the drivers of any of the cars evidenced anything but support for the effort, despite the inconvenience of being stopped. instead drivers honked horns, waved, or gave thumb’s up to the efforts of the singers.
Dr. Tim Empkie came to Rhode Island 30 years ago for a job at Brown University. In recent months, Empkie has become one of the most familiar and visible stalwarts in the ongoing campaign to prevent public funds being used in the construction of a new stadium in downtown Providence. He’s one of the driving forces in the voter initiative