The WI stadium board voted "unanimously" Monday to set the
ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Brewers stadium for October
30, according to Kenneth R. Lamke of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
SENTINEL. However, the board "stopped short" of certifying that
the ballpark can be built for $250M, as required by law. The
opening of Miller Park has also been pushed back by one year to
2000. Lamke notes some "cautionary notes" were sounded. The
board "hopes" to certify the $250M figure and "plans" to
authorize the issuance of bonds at its November meeting. By law,
the board "must certify" the ballpark be built for $250M before
it can authorize the issuance of $160M in bonds for the project.
The $160M is the taxpayers' cost while the Brewers will supply
$90M (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/15). Kevin Keane, Press
Secretary for WI Gov. Tommy Thompson: "The governor's comfortable
that things will be in $250 (million) range" (Rinard & Williams,
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/15). From the standpoint of "cost
savings, the most significant redesign decision" made on the
stadium was the "15% reduction" in square footage of the
ballpark. Designers cut its size, not including the field, to
1.1 million square feet in June, after it "became apparent" the
ballpark "might" cost more than $250M. Bryan K. Trubey, VP/HKS
of Dallas, which will design the stadium, says Miller Park will
be "the smallest" of the ballparks built in recent years
(MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/15).
