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Lawsuit Over Yard Goats Stadium Development Goes To Jury

Ryan Caron King
/
Connecticut Public Radio
The Yard Goats played their opening home game in April of 2017 after spending a year on the road due to stadium delays.

It’s been more than three years since the city of Hartford fired Centerplan Construction, the original developer of the Dunkin’ Donuts Park baseball stadium. The firing prompted Centerplan to sue the city, saying it was wrongfully terminated. Jurors heard closing arguments in the case Monday. 

Hartford said it fired Centerplan in 2016 because of missed deadlines and “shoddy” construction work.

But Centerplan contested that. For the past month, it argued that it was, in fact, the city that was dragging its feet and caused the project to miss key deadlines. 

The delays ended up causing the Yard Goats to play their entire first season on the road.

At stake in the civil case are potentially millions of dollars in damages, which the city could be forced to pay if a six-person jury finds in favor of the developer.

Meanwhile, ongoing legal issues have stalled development on several key parcels of land around the stadium, which was planned for mixed-use development and was a key selling point for the stadium when it was initially proposed.

Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. He can be reached at pskahill@ctpublic.org.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.