A stadium or maybe the use of Muzzy Field(with some added seating) to help create a buzz a few days a week and guarantee to drive commerce into downtown restaurants,bars,coffeeshops, retail, etc.
Bring back the Bristol Red Sox! If not A, AA, AAA, then maybe Independent League like New Haven / Bridgeport.
Maybe even strike a deal to bring in several games from current teams in the area. Like the way the Celtics used to come to the Civic Center for pre-season games on occasion…Hartford Colonials, New Britain Rock Cats, College Baseball, etc…
this isn’t possible right now due to the ten mile radius of the Rock Cats stadium in NB……..
The man that owned the Red Sox farm team in Bristol asked for improvements to Muzzy and our smart leaders refused and the team left. Then the Rock Cat’s came into NB and we became unusable for a AA team…………
All the owner wanted (from what I understand) was more parking. Leaders balked, they walked. We were too fat and happy with ND and other manufacturers humming. Then they were gone. No team AND no more business. And, by the way, the parking was eventually built..a day late and a dollar short. I remember what a boom that team was to Bristol, on so many levels. We CAN,and should, get another minor league team there…befitting that historic landmark! We did it once, we can do it again.
I think this is a really great idea. Being a teenager and attending the high school sporting events at Muzzy, I can see how just being in that stadium makes people excited, and how the atmosphere just lures them in (if you’ve ever been to a Central/Eastern Friday night football game, you know what I’m talking about). If Bristol had a semi-pro sports team playing at Muzzy, specifically during the summer, I know teens would come out and be excited to support the team and be part of that sports culture, even more readily than they are in the fall with football games.
The days of watching the Red Sox play ball are long gone but not forgotten. I believe a minor league sports team would draw countless people into the city along with their spending money.