The Yard Goats will be playing baseball on April 7 -- but, unless something changes, it's unclear where.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin has begun closed-door negotiating sessions with the stakeholders in the new, $56 million minor league baseball stadium that is neither on time nor on budget.
"The technical term for what we have on our hands is a mess," Bronin told WNPR. "[Wednesday] night was the first meeting that I have convened with both the developer and the team. We talked through some pretty tough issues and there are going to be further conversations coming soon."
The baseball stadium for the minor league Hartford Yard Goats was one of the signature projects for Bronin's predecessor, Pedro Segarra. The city-owned venue is supposed to be the anchor for a series of development projects just north of Hartford's downtown. They include a Hard Rock hotel and cafe, retail, apartments, and restaurants
But, last month, the developers at DoNo Hartford, LLC told the city that the project wouldn't be finished on time. They also said it would cost an extra $10 million to build the stadium the city wants. There's a lot of blame to go around. The developers say the city kept revising its plans and never gave it full control. The city says the developers signed a deal to build a stadium for $56 million and they have to stick to it. And the Yard Goats will be playing baseball on April 7 -- but, unless something changes, it's unclear where.
This poses a series of problems for everybody. The Yard Goats need a place to play, and minor league baseball needs stability. But an unfinished ballpark provides neither -- and that could mean the city could have a contractual issue with the team and its owner, Josh Solomon.
Meanwhile, the developers at DoNo Hartford -- Bob Landino and Jason Rudnick -- need not only this project, but the surrounding ones, to make money. A collapse of good faith with city hall could put those projects, and the profit they would generate, in jeopardy.
The city has problems of its own. First, Mayor Bronin has said he doesn't want to pay more for the stadium.
"I am not interested in putting additional burden on the taxpayers of the city of Hartford," Bronin said.
But the cost to build the stadium is only one of the burdens.
"What we have to recognize is, for the next 25 years, we've got an obligation to pay $4.5 million a year to pay off these bonds," Bronin said. "So we need to make sure that we get this stadium up and running and that we get the development around the stadium completed as promised."
That money was supposed to be paid out of revenue generated by activity at the stadium and its related projects. But that’s only if they get built. That's a reality Bronin didn't create, but it's one he can't avoid. And it could turn out that paying a few million more now to keep the project moving could cost less than having the stadium, and its related development, stall.
Bronin's office said the meeting also included for former Democratic House Speaker Tom Ritter. His firm represents Centerplan, which declined to comment. An effort to reach team owner Josh Solomon was unsuccessful.
