City of Pawtucket, RI

The legislature OK'd a bonding framework for an $83 million baseball stadium in Pawtucket as the team weighs a move to Worcester, Massachusetts.

A new Pawtucket Red Sox stadium financing plan unveiled by House leadership late Wednesday would use future tax revenue in a large area of the city's core to pay for a new ballpark and surrounding infrastructure. It would also give public officials the power seize land for the stadium by eminent domain.

Though they may sound as far apart as they ever were on public-financing of a new Pawtucket Red Sox stadium, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien appear to have found what one calls a "framework" and the other "a pathway" for a possible deal.

House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said he would hold hearings on the $83 million package.

The full Senate could vote next week on a financing package to replace 75-year-old McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket.

The Ocean State is divided over a deal to build a minor-league baseball stadium in Pawtucket.