Council States Case for RFK Site

In Meeting, Official Says Baseball Has Not Dismissed Alternative Location

From left, Major League Baseball's Jonathan Mariner, D.C. Council member Jack Evans, Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and City Administrator Robert C. Bobb are all smiles after Reinsdorf met with the D.C. Council. (By Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post)

D.C. Council members lobbied a top Major League Baseball official yesterday to support building a baseball stadium near Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium as a cheaper alternative to the current site in Southeast along the Anacostia River.

Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Major League Baseball's chief negotiator on a stadium lease with the District, responded by saying the league has not ruled out the RFK location, council members said.

"When I asked him about RFK, he said, 'Can you deliver it?' I said, 'Just as easily as we can deliver the Southeast site,' " said David A. Catania (I-At Large), who opposes public financing for the stadium.

Reinsdorf declined to comment about the specifics of the 1 1/2 -hour meeting he had with the council, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and other city officials. But a spokesman for Williams stressed that Reinsdorf's comments should not be viewed as support for selecting another stadium site.

Reinsdorf was trying to tell the council that baseball has never ruled out the RFK site only because the league has solely focused on the Anacostia waterfront location, mayoral spokesman Vince Morris said. Several council members remain supportive of that plan, he added.

"We reiterated the point that the South Capitol site is the strongest economic development producer by far," Morris said. "Many of the council members understand that, too."

The discussion of where to build the $535 million stadium project was the main topic of the meeting, which marked the first time the council has met directly with a top baseball official during the tense lease negotiations.

Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D) said she remains hopeful that a deal can be reached between the city and baseball in the next few days. However, she added that she has asked city officials to produce an analysis on the costs of building a stadium near RFK.

Some city leaders said the council was using the threat of RFK to try to exert leverage over MLB in the lease negotiations, in hopes of winning a bigger contribution from the league.

After the meeting, Reinsdorf and Jonathan Mariner, baseball's executive vice president for finance, left the John A. Wilson Building to resume negotiations with city officials on the critical lease agreement that will outline the terms by which the Nationals rent the new stadium.

No deal was reached as of last night, and negotiations are expected to continue today, city officials said.

The city needs the lease to sell construction bonds on Wall Street, and baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has said the league will not sell the Nationals until the document is finalized.