Extra Costs May Reach $50 Million Retractable Roof Issues May Weigh Heavily On Expanded Budget For Seattle Ballpark
The Metropolitan King County Council has been warned that the Seattle Mariners’ new 45,000-seat ballpark faces cost overruns of up to $50 million.
Mainly because the retractable-roof design is not yet complete, completion of the stadium on budget and in 24 months is unlikely, a 14-member citizens’ review committee said.
Despite the warning, county officials are expected to accommodate the Mariners, who for six days said their team was up for sale because of a letter dated Dec. 12 from four County Council members suggesting the project be delayed.
The new stadium and a parking garage were estimated to cost $384.5 million, but the project budget grew nearly $20 million on Friday - when county and stadium officials indicated that they’ll agree to the Mariners’ demands to set aside more money - to bring the budget to $405 million.
The $50 million cost-overrun projection is on top of the $405 million.
Friday, the Mariners owners did an about-face and said the club won’t be sold if the stadium opens by spring 1999 and if county officials come up with a bigger cushion against cost overruns.
“We’re saving major-league baseball without raising any general taxes, and the county’s budget is absolutely protected,” said Chris Vance, the County Council budget chairman.
Bob Sutor, a construction-finance expert from Bellevue who led the review of the stadium costs, said the review committee’s cost subcommittee was concerned that Seattle was attempting to build a complex public project in 24 months.
“The thing that concerns us about the roof was that they still hadn’t figured out a lot of the factors, how they were going to construct it and how they were going to erect it,” Sutor said.
Although the Mariners have pledged to pay the cost overruns, the review committee said the Mariners may not be able to do that.
The committee fears a project sitting half finished amid a dispute over who will pay the bills.
Today, the board of directors of the Public Facilities District - which is overseeing the project - is expected to approve a 20-year lease for the Mariners. County Council members will follow suit on Jan. 6 by authorizing the sale of $310 million in stadium bonds and $26 million for a parking garage.
The review committee suggested to the County Council that the ballpark project should be delayed or the Mariners should be asked to provide a line of credit to cover any gaps.
xxxx Lease vote The board of directors of the Public Facilities District which is overseeing the project is expected to approve a 20-year lease for the Mariners. The vote is scheduled for today.