Former Patriots linebacker Andre Tippett tries his hand fly-fish casting in front of what will be the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, to open at Gillette Stadium on Nov. 15. Tippett, Matt Light and some former players were on site.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy Mary Murphy

FOXBORO — The Kraft family yesterday gave an early peek into the shopping center and commercial park it is developing around Gillette Stadium, the home of its New England Patriots football franchise.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son, team president Jonathan Kraft, hosted Governor Patrick for a walk through the cavernous Bass Pro Shops store taking shape just south of the stadium on Route 1.

The building is not much more than a metal hulk at this point as workers piece together the 150,000-square-foot outdoor-gear store and its centerpiece 25,000-gallon aquarium.

The store, the first Bass Pro Shops in New England, will be one of the anchors for a sort of guy-centric commercial park the Krafts are developing around the stadium. The family is pouring about $500 million into the two-phase project as it adds a third element to its holdings. Besides the popular and profitable football team, the family also runs a corrugated-box and packaging business.

The family announced plans for Patriot Place in late 2005. It will include 1.3 million square feet of stores, entertainment venues and offices.

“We are going to go beyond what we originally planned to make this the number-one destination in New England,” Robert Kraft said.

The Bass Pro Shops anchors the South Plaza. Among the other tenants in that section will be Bed, Bath & Beyond, Christmas Tree Shops, Circuit City and Staples.

The North Plaza will have twin anchors: a Renaissance Hotel & Spa and a Partners Health Care ambulatory-care center and sports-medicine facility.

Also in the North Plaza will be Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret and American Eagle clothing stores. There will be at least three restaurants in this section, a 500-seat nightclub and a Cinema De Lux — a movie theater run by National Amusements. The football team will be well represented in the North Plaza as well, with plans for a Patriots Kid Zone Experience and “Hall at Patriot Place” — a team museum and Patriots Pro Shop.

Many of the venues at Patriot Place are familiar to New England residents. Bass Pro Shops comes from farther afield — Springfield, Mo. — and promises to bring in more visitors and more money than any of them.

“This will generate more sales tax than any other store in the state — more than $5 million,” said Jonathan Kraft, amid the clang of metal and whine of hydraulic motors.

Bass Pro Shops’ entertainment-laced venues are no secret to the people who keep their favorite fishing hole close to the vest.

The stores typically stock more than 200,000 products and can include life-size taxidermy displays, huge aquariums and other attractions.

Four million visitors a year travel to Bass Pro’s 300,000-square-foot flagship store in Springfield, Mo., where they wander along aisles of outdoor goods, hunting gear and boats, tour its museum, eat at in-store restaurants, and gawk at a four-story waterfall.

The company is on a development tear, opening about eight stores a year recently. Bass Pro opened its 40th store, in Kansas in January. The Foxboro store will be the 48th.

The Foxboro store is intended to create a gravitational pull that’s projected to draw shoppers away from L.L. Bean’s flagship store, which attracts 3.5 million visitors a year to Freeport, Maine. (L.L. Bean is building a smaller store in Mansfield, Mass.)

“The winner is the person in New England because they have choices,” said Martin MacDonald, a Bass Pro executive on hand for yesterday’s tour with the governor.

Aside from L.L. Bean, Bass Pro competes directly for business with Cabela’s Inc. and Gander Mountain Co. Wal-Mart, The Sports Authority, Dick’s Sporting Goods and other retailers who also sell tents, hiking boots, fishing gear, canoes and similar gear. Also in the sector are: Recreational Equipment Inc., which recently opened an outlet in Cranston, and Eastern Mountain Sports, of Peterborough, N.H.

In mid-July, Cabela’s broke ground for a store in Scarborough, Maine.

Governor Patrick cited the Krafts’ efforts as being good for the state’s economy, which he said “must be a key effort for all of us.”

Patrick mentioned his push to expand job opportunities in high-paying sectors such as life sciences and technology beyond the traditional corridor north and west of Boston but noted that “we need a whole variety of economic activity.”

The Bass Pro Shops store will employ about 300 workers, most part-time. The company is holding a job fair Aug. 27-29 at Gillette Stadium.

The store is set to open Nov. 15.

pgrimald@projo.com