MARINERS PARK HALFWAY DONE, AND ALMOST OUT OF MONEY

          Construction of the Mariners' new ballpark "is half
     done, but the project's reserve fund is nearing empty,"
     according to Ed Penhale of the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER. 
     The contingency fund, which was to be used for "unseen
     expenses" and once had $25M in it, is down to "just" $4M,
     and Penhale writes that the "trickiest" part of the project
     -- installing the retractable roof -- is yet to come. 
     Public Facilities District (PFD) Exec Dir Ken Johnson: "You
     always wish you had more contingencies, but I don't think
     anything is being spent that shouldn't have been spent." 
     The team will pay for any costs that run beyond the $417M
     budget, and if at any point the project "runs out of money,
     the PFD can draw up to" $5M from an "evergreen" line of
     credit set up by the Mariners as part of the arrangements
     between the team and the PFD (POST-INTELLIGENCER, 4/21).