The Mariners "have refused to authorize the final
payment on construction of Safeco Field, a surprise move
that leaves dozens of subcontractors in the lurch and begins
a new round of negotiations between the team and the public
agency in charge of building the stadium," according to Alex
Fryer of the SEATTLE TIMES. In recent weeks, the facility's
general contractors, Huber Hunt & Nichols and Kiewit
Construction, and "about" 20 subcontractors, "agreed to ask
for a final payment" of $4M. But the Public Facilities
District (PFD) board disclosed at a public meeting Monday
that the Mariners "had refused to submit a check for the
final" $4M. Mariners Dir of Public Information Rebecca Hale
"could not say whether keeping the door open for possible
legal action against the contractor played a part in their
decision to refuse final payment." Letters from the
Mariners to PFD last spring "indicated that the team was
prepared to blame part of the overruns on the architect and
contractor." Hunt-Kiewit "so far has received" about $346M
for building Safeco Field. To resolve the issue, the six-
member PFD board "voted to convene the Dispute Resolution
Board to hear both sides of the dispute" (SEATTLE TIMES,
10/19). In Seattle, Neil Modie writes that the "real issue"
suggested by PFD execs could be whether final payment "would
preclude the ball club from suing the PFD, the contractor or
other parties to recover part of the approximately" $100M in
cost overruns it has paid (SEATTLE P-I, 10/20).
