Estimate Just A Ballpark Figure
The first detailed cost estimate for the new Mariners ballpark - with “all the bells and whistles” on the wish list - has come in at $48.3 million over its $320 million budget.
But members of the project’s oversight panel said they’ll have no problem scaling down their vision of the ultimate ballpark.
The stadium can be completed for $330 million by reducing the building’s size and amenities by 5 percent, downsizing the parking garage and taking advantage of state sales tax credits, project manager Tony Puma said Monday.
“This estimate is surprisingly close to where we hoped to be at this point,” he said.
“We’re really not as far out of whack as I would have expected us to be,” said Bob Wallace, a member of the oversight panel, the Washington State Major League Stadium Public Facilities District. “We have to remember this is very preliminary stuff.”
Board chairwoman Joan Enticknap compared the work ahead to a family paring down the showy details on their dream house after a contractor has given them an estimate.
“It’s not like we are turning this into a low-ball, crummy project,” Enticknap said. “We’re just looking at what we can realistically afford, and we can’t have every bell and whistle that was on our original wish list.”
The King County Council, which is determined not to approve any cost overruns, must approve the board’s financing plan for the stadium before construction bonds can be issued.
The board would have to find independent funding for any cost overruns, said Kevin Raymond, chief of staff for County Executive Gary Locke.
The construction estimate for the stadium was prepared by Huber Hunt and Nichols, the firm hired to manage construction. The firm estimated the cost of the ballpark would be $211 million, including a $50 million retractable roof. The remainder of the $330 million would go to buy land, pay architectural and engineering fees, relocate businesses, build parking garages and provide neighborhood amenities.
Puma said the stadium cost can be reduced to $185 million by reducing its size from 1.28 million square feet to about 1.21 million square feet. Part of that reduction can be accomplished by reducing the number of seats, he said.
The design by NBBJ, a Seattle architectural firm, called for about 48,000 seats.
But market surveys indicate a slightly smaller park - seating between 45,000 and 47,000 - would have a better chance of succeeding, Mariners vice president Paul Isaki said Monday.