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PHOENIX--The venue for this week's Major League Baseball meetings spoke volumes about one of the biggest obstacles Northern Virginia must overcome if it is to get the Montreal Expos.
Instead of meeting at a hotel, the sessions with delegations from Washington D.C., Portland, Ore., and Northern Virginia were held at Bank One Ballpark.
The Arizona Diamondbacks' stadium is in a bustling downtown area that exemplifies what Major League Baseball considers perfect for a new ballpark: views of city landmarks from the stands and plenty of nearby restaurants and bars. A prime example is Baltimore's Camden Yards and the Inner Harbor.
The Northern Virginia group said yesterday that it could deliver such a site and could put together public financing for a stadium.
"The issues were closing the finance gap [for a ballpark] and issues involved with site location," Michael Frey, chairman of the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority, said after the meeting.
Frey said one member of Major League Baseball's relocation committee "characterized it as a home run."
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and U.S. Rep. Tom Davis planned to attend the meeting, but stayed behind because of the war with Iraq. Both participated by telephone.
Frey was among a bipartisan contingent that included Gabe Paul Jr., the stadium authority executive director; Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; James Dyke, former chairman of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, and financial consultant Mitchell Ziets.
On the site issue, Frey said that elevated sites across the Potomac from Washington actually might offer better views of D.C.'s monuments than the city's proposed stadium locations.
"We think there are sites in Arlington that are as urban as anything in the District of Columbia," he said. "And we have sites that are closer to the monument district."
The Virginia delegation said its financing package was well received.
"Almost all of our financing is in place legislatively," Frey said. When Virginia chartered the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority under former Gov. George Allen, legislation was passed to cover one-third of the cost of building a ballpark and to require team owners to finance one-third themselves.
The question has been where the remaining third would come from, especially during tight budget times. Frey declined to go into specifics until a press conference in Northern Virginia next week.
"We have the great bulk of this financing package already on the books," Callahan said. The state budget includes language to allow the governor to "to fill in a very small hole" in the financing plan if baseball officials offer the Expos to Virginia.
Callahan said he worked out the language with state Sen. John Chichester of Stafford County. Callahan said he doesn't believe that the General Assembly would have to come back into session, but that would be possible.
Brian Hannigan, a spokesman for the stadium authority, said the annual gap in the cost to retire ballpark bonds is significantly less than the $10 million a year shortfall that existed before, even though the cost of the ballpark has gone above the original $300 million estimate.
Frey stressed that no one is asking the state for more money.
"We've said all along we're not asking for general fund dollars. We understand the economic situation and even in good economic times we never thought about asking for that."
He said the Virginia delegation told the baseball committee that the state would require a conditional award before putting the final pieces of the financing package in place.
"We think it's unreasonable in this day and age to expect that elected officials and that the legislature are gonna get out in front and put into place commitments until they know they have an commitment to bring a team to Virginia," Frey said.
Paul, director of the stadium authority, said baseball understands that is only a reasonable request.
Because Major League Baseball hasn't moved a franchise in 32 years, Paul said, "the conditional award concept comes from other sports that do have a greater history of moving clubs and more recent expansions and so on. The NFL, NBA, NHL--they've all used this and used it very successfully."
Washington offered Thursday to pay between 50 percent and 80 percent of the cost of a new ballpark for the Expos. Portland officials said after their presentation late Thursday that government financing would cover $300 million for a stadium if the team moves to Oregon, but that group's financing appears to be the most questionable.
Frey bristled at the idea that the District might have an easier time finalizing its proposed financial package. Washington officials say they hope $275 million will be a public contribution to a $430 million ballpark.
If such a plan gets through the District's City Council, "their plan still has to meet congressional approval," Frey said.
Aside from financing and site selection, the other wild card is what impact a team in the Washington area would have on the Baltimore Orioles.
"It's something to be taken into account," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said of the effect a team in the D.C. area would have on the Orioles.
The Orioles ballpark is 40 miles from downtown Washington.
Frey said, "We feel we'd have far less impact on Baltimore than a site in the District." He said that contention is backed up by a pair of marketing studies.
The D.C. delegation argued Thursday that the city is the center of the region, but Frey said that's an outdated notion.
"We've said all along that the District is an important part of our market, but the District isn't the center," he said. "Northern Virginia is the center. And if you look at growth, population, income, disposable income, jobs, businesses locating, clearly Northern Virginia has outstripped both the District and suburban Maryland in the last several years and all projections are that gap will continue to grow. We think it makes sense to put the team and the ballpark in the heart of the market."
Virginia officials declined to talk about specific locations for a ballpark. But sources say there are three sites in Arlington, one in Loudoun County and one in Springfield. Arlington seems to be the most likely place, unless proximity to the Orioles becomes an issue.
DuPuy said the committee would reconvene about a week after baseball's opening day to review the proposals.
He said the committee will likely make a recommendation to commissioner Bud Selig about where to relocate the team.
If they stick to that timetable, a decision on the Expos could be made by July and the team could move by April 2004.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.