Safeco Field's general ballpark contractor, a joint
venture of Huber Hunt & Nichols and Kiewit Construction,
"has offered to peg its final stadium contract" at $350.8M,
while the Mariners "countered by offering" $349M, according
to Alex Fryer of the SEATTLE TIMES, who wrote, "It wasn't
enough, and no settlement was reached." Fryer noted that
according to the Mariners, the Public Facilities District
(PFD) has "mismanaged the contractor's request." Fryer
added that the $1.8M "difference" means 28 subcontractors
"haven't been paid," and the "dispute ... highlights the
increasingly frayed relationship" between the team and the
PFD. The Mariners say that the $1.8M that "divides the team
and Hunt-Kiewit is pure profit for the contractor."
Mariners attorney Bart Waldman, in a letter to the PFD,
wrote, "The question is simply whether H-K earned the profit
it is seeking. The club doesn't think it did." The team
"offered to pay" the subcontractors, but "so far Hunt-Kiewit
has refused to sign off on the proposal." More Waldman: "If
H-K is holding back money from subcontractors, it is doing
so solely to protect its profit" (SEATTLE TIMES, 10/20).
ON THE RISE: The Mariners will raise ticket prices next
season by an average of 10% (Mariners). The increase will
impact all but the 1,837 bleacher seats in center field
(SEATTLE TIMES, 10/20). In Seattle, Steve Kelley reported
that the increases range from $4 per ticket for "many seats"
and $2 and $1 for "most others." Kelley criticized the
team's move and wrote, "This team has had two consecutive
losing seasons. It has had only four winning seasons in its
history" (SEATTLE TIMES, 10/20).
