Lawmakers receive petition against PawSox move

PROVIDENCE — A petition with thousands of signatures against moving the PawSox out of Pawtucket is now in the hands of lawmakers at the State House.

David Norton of Organizing for Pawtucket, which is a group that aims to keep the ballpark in the city, dropped off the petition this afternoon.

He said about 13,000 people have signed on in opposition a proposal to move the team to Providence.

The owners of the PawSox have been back and forth with lawmakers, looking to build a new ballpark in Providence.

"The people of Pawtucket are very upset about this," said Norton. "It's cultural; its social; but it's also economic."

The group left petitions for both the president of the House and the governor. But, the senate president got her request in person.

Afterward, in a one-on-one interview with NBC 10 News, Sen. M. Teresa Paiva Weed said hopes of keeping the team at McCoy Stadium may be a lost cause.

"Based upon the representations that have been made to us by the owners, it is their desire to move to Providence," said Paiva Weed. "Nonetheless, I have a tremendous amount of respect for all the work."

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House, Nicholas Mattiello, has said publicly that a proposal to build a stadium in downtown Providence won't be a part of Tuesday's state budget vote. It may be decided at a special session later this year

"The governor continues to negotiate, and I have promised both her and the speaker that I'll keep an open mind as we move forward," said Paiva Weed.

Red Sox president Larry Lucchino is leading the charge on the negotiations after his co-owner, James Skeffigton, died last month in May.