The Price Tag On A D.C. Baseball Stadium. . . Just got a lot higher, according to a study released last night by District of Columbia officials:
Building a baseball stadium in Washington would cost $342 million to $542 million, depending on which of five sites was ultimately chosen, according to a report that city sports officials sent to Major League Baseball this week.
The 70-page report portrays a prosperous, baseball-hungry city ready to support a team in a 41,000-seat stadium with easy access to Metro and regional highways and views of the U.S. Capitol or Washington Monument.
But it also projects costs that are likely to run $100 million higher than estimated in a 1999 study, and opponents of the project quickly seized on those as evidence that the cash-strapped city cannot afford a new baseball stadium. City officials said the higher estimates, which account for inflation through 2005, resulted from rapidly rising land prices and a rigorous effort by the report's authors to include all expenses.
"It's expensive, there's no question about that," said John L. Richardson, chairman of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission. "But I don't think that will come as a surprise to Major League Baseball."
I'm sorry folks, but every time I read something more about this story, the more I feel that Major League Baseball is going to absolutely stick it to the District.
