Did we say $435 million? We meant $535 million. Or $589 million. Or $714 million, if you watch NBC4 ("
New Cost Estimate Jeopardizes Baseball Stadium Plan") or read this morning's
Post ("
D.C. Baseball Stadium Cost Could Exceed $700 Million") or
Washington Times ("
D.C. re-evaluates ballpark figure for higher costs"). Or is it really that high? "Officials stressed that the new estimates are preliminary and take into account all potential costs, including $41 million for underground parking, $20 million to upgrade the Navy Yard Metro station and $12 million to rebuild nearby roads. They added that some of the work might not have to be paid for by the city or done at all." Mayoral spokesman Vince Morris disputes the figure: "The $700 million doomsday budget is not ours and does not reflect reality." And as for the city's concession in the lease agreement, the city has agreed to give baseball one-third of parking revenue generated by a new stadium on non-game days. In the meantime,
David Catania continues to fight the stadium, by introducing two emergency measures at today's council session: One would slap a $535 million limit on spending to build the stadium, and the second would state that the stadium and related infrastructure improvements can only be paid for by city bonds.
UPDATE: AP is reporting that both of Catania's measures failed (votes were 8-5 in favor, but 9 votes are needed for emergency legislation).