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CRYSTAL CITY--The Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority yesterday unveiled design, site and financing plans for an intimate, retro-style ballpark it hopes will become the new home for the Montreal Expos.
Northern Virginia is competing with Washington, D.C., and Portland, Ore., for the Expos, which Major League Baseball wants to move by next season. Baseball plans to make a decision on a new home for the team by its All-Star Game break in July.
The cozy red-brick ballpark has a traditional design reminiscent of the ones that have helped attract large numbers of fans to San Francisco's Pac Bell Park and Baltimore's Camden Yards. It features a clock tower and a large lawn area overlooking the bullpens beyond the outfield fence where families could picnic. It also would incorporate a youth field where kids could be tutored in baseball prior to and following big-league games.
Stadium Authority officials said yesterday that they have 92 percent of the financing for the $400 million ballpark in place.
Officials said that they have worked out public financing for $285 million of the $400 million construction cost. Team ownership is to pay one-third of the cost. The state and locality chosen to host the stadium would pay the remaining 8 percent of the cost with revenues generated by baseball. The locality selected as host for the ballpark will be asked to fill in the gap, possibly with taxes on hotel rooms, rental cars and spirits in a special tax district around the stadium.
Authority adviser Ron Tillett, a former state secretary of finance, said, "Thanks to the consistent support of the General Assembly and three consecutive governors, funding provisions already in law are expected to cover all but a very small portion of the annual debt-service requirements."
The authority was charged in 1997 by Gov. George Allen with selecting a site and stadium design and bringing Major League Baseball to Virginia.
Repayment of the 30-year stadium bond is expected to cost $16.2 million a year initially and grow to $25.4 million annually. According to the financing plan, increased revenues would cover the payments.
The Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority is empowered to borrow money for the ballpark by issuing bonds, but it's likely that financing would be handled by the Virginia Resources Authority. The Resources Authority has a track record financing infrastructure for local governments.
Gabe Paul Jr., executive director of the Stadium Authority, said having so much of the funding for a ballpark in place gives Northern Virginia a considerable edge over its competitors for the team.
"I believe that Major League Baseball understands our readiness to get this job done," Paul said.
Bill Collins, the chairman of the Virginia Baseball Club, a private investor group seeking to buy the Expos and move them to Northern Virginia, agreed that "Virginia has the clear advantage over any competing jurisdiction in all selection criteria."
Authority architect Bryan Trubey of HKS Inc. identified five potential sites for the ballpark--three near the Potomac River in Arlington County, one at the former U.S. Army Proving Ground off Interstate 95 in Springfield and one north of Dulles International Airport on the Fairfax-Loudoun county line.
"These are world-class sites befitting America's national pastime in its national capital area," Trubey said.
The Arlington sites--at Pentagon City, the Costco warehouse site and River Place--offer views of monuments on the National Mall. All three Arlington sites have been identified as preferred sites for a potential county-developed conference center. Building a conference center along with a ballpark has been discussed with Arlington County officials, according to Stadium Authority spokesman Brian Hannigan. Complementary development could result in significant savings in construction and operations costs, he said.
Officials acknowledged traffic will be an issue at all the sites, but believe public transportation will help alleviate congestion.
Paul said no announcement on a site will be made unless Major League Baseball makes a conditional award of the Expos to Northern Virginia.
But he said the Stadium Authority has had talks with local jurisdictions and property owners at all the possible sites and will continue those discussions.
Hannigan cited a recent George Mason University economic and fiscal impact study which says that over 30 years, Baseball would have a total direct and indirect economic impact on Northern Virginia of $11.18 billion and would bring in $538 million in state taxes and another $281 million in local taxes.
Paul said that Virginia, which is the 12th-largest state but does not have a major-league team in any sport, cannot afford to allow more sports-entertainment revenues to slip away across the Potomac along with the money taken out of the state by fans going to see the Washington Redskins, Wizards and Capitals and the Baltimore Orioles.
"We think we have laid in place the foundation to bring Major League Baseball to Northern Virginia," said Michael R. Frey, chairman of the Stadium Authority and a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.