Mayor Dismisses Stadium Estimate

$700 Million Reached by Putting Too Much in Project Budget, Williams Says

Mayor Anthony A. Williams sought to assure D.C. Council members and residents yesterday that the city will spend no more than $535 million on a new baseball stadium complex along the Anacostia River in Southeast, dismissing reports that the projected price now exceeds $700 million.

"Under no circumstances will this stadium cost $700 million," Williams (D) said at a midday news conference at the John A. Wilson Building. Fears of higher costs, he added, are being generated by "a vocal minority who have been against baseball from day one."

Williams's comments came a day after city sources revealed that D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi had said in a private meeting with the mayor and other city leaders that the cost of the stadium, with infrastructure improvements and bond financing fees, could rise to as much as $714 million.

Gandhi's previous estimate was $535 million, with an additional $54 million in bond financing fees, for a total of $589 million. City officials acknowledged last month that $55 million of infrastructure projects originally part of the total cost had been taken out of the budget because the ballpark has become more expensive.

"Costs have soared, and we have not even put a shovel in the ground," D.C. Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4) said yesterday during a council discussion about the project's costs. "Wait until we start building this thing."

Although costs related to the project have increased, Williams said, it is misleading to assume that the city's costs will increase. Instead, Williams said, the city will seek funds from the federal government and developers to pay for all items -- including upgrades to roads and Metro facilities -- outside the $535 million the city has committed to the project.

"I never believed these costs should be borne completely by the baseball stadium budget," Williams said. "They never have been borne completely by other cities with stadiums."

He added that he does not consider the $54 million in financing fees to be part of the budget because those fees will be paid with revenue generated for the city by the Washington Nationals' first season and interest earned on the stadium bond funds before they are spent.

However, council members have disputed Williams's explanation, saying they believe that the financing fees were included in the original budget.

Gandhi is conducting a study that compares the costs of building at the Anacostia waterfront site to a location near Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and is expected to deliver his report to the mayor and council Friday. He has declined to comment publicly on his analysis.

The report could be critical to the project because the council, which is scheduled to vote Dec. 20 on a stadium lease agreement between the District and Major League Baseball, has grown increasingly concerned about costs.

Eight of the council's 13 members voted in favor yesterday of a bill offered by David A. Catania (I-At Large) that would force the mayor to pay for all infrastructure improvements within the $535 million budget. However, the measure, which needed nine supporters because it was offered as an emergency bill, failed by one vote. The mayor "thinks that if he says it enough, then it will be true that the stadium costs only $535 million," Catania said. "But it's a lie. It's patently untrue."