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D.C. Council shows baseball some love; approves up to $630 million for ballpark in preliminary vote Date published: 12/1/2004 By MICHAEL ZITZ WASHINGTON--The nation's capital may have a new motto: First in war. First in peace. First in baseball stadium funding. If the Washington Nationals never win a pennant, they have no reason to ever doubt that D.C. loves them. Yesterday, the District City Council tentatively approved a tab for a publicly financed ballpark that could amount to as much as $630 million. That total, a displeased City Councilman David Catania said, is twice as much as any baseball stadium has ever cost. "The amount of money we're spending is incredible," he said. The ballpark initiative cleared its first legislative hurdle, 6-4, with three abstentions. It must be confirmed in a second council vote Dec. 14 or 21, but a change in direction is unlikely. Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp insisted on a "trigger" mechanism that would move the ballpark site within the city if estimates next spring put the cost at more than $630 million--$100 million over the most recent estimate by the city's chief financial officer. Mayor Anthony Williams said he'll gladly work with Major League Baseball "to put in a workable cap, to put in a workable trigger." The money is to come from taxes on revenues generated by the stadium, from a special tax on city businesses, and from ballpark rent paid by the team. Another Cropp amendment calls for the city to investigate the possibility of private investors contributing to ballpark construction costs. Williams was clearly pleased and relieved by the vote after two months of sometimes nasty debate. "There's a lot of room for improvement. There's a lot of room for progress," he said, agreeing with what was said yesterday about the ballpark deal during a contentious, seven-hour council meeting. "With the passage of this measure, we're doing just that--making progress in bringing baseball to our city," Williams said. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig probably never dreamed a financing package of this size would come out of a process begun in March 2002 when the game's relocation committee heard proposals from Washington, Northern Virginia and Portland, Ore., in Phoenix.
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