The cost of the Bengals' new Paul Brown Stadium, which
Hamilton County "assumed" would have a "guaranteed maximum
price" of $287M, "may go up" by at least $35-45M, according
to Dan Klepal in a front-page report in the CINCINNATI
ENQUIRER, who adds that even after a "detailed" two-month
audit by N.Y.-based PricewaterhouseCoopers, "no one can say
for certain what the final price tag will be." It is also
"unclear" whether the stadium will be ready in time for the
Bengals' first preseason game on August 19. If it's not,
local taxpayers "will take another hit in the wallet by
forfeiting" to the team $2M for each preseason game and $4M
for each regular season game not played in the new stadium.
County Commissioner Tom Neyer: "The project is in trouble,
but it's absolutely recoverable." It "appears the county
will have to put up the cash so the frantic pace of work
does not slow." County officials were told that "a hurried
construction schedule, lax oversight and poor record-keeping
contributed to the increased cost." Pricewaterhouse
Principal Consultant Howard Green attributed the cost
overruns to "nearly everyone associated with the project,"
including NBBJ Architects, construction manager Turner
Barton Mallow D.A.G. and stadium project manager Getz
Ventures. The overruns are expected to climb even higher
because the county will have to pay a premium in salaries
for weekend and overtime in the "rush to finish the project"
(CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 2/15). County officials "declined to
comment on the possibility of a lawsuit" against the
stadium's contractors, including NBBJ, which has been
accused of putting its drawings up for bid when they "needed
to be changed many times" (CINCINNATI POST, 2/15).
BENGALS SPEAK OUT: In a statement, the Bengals said,
"It is our understanding the report states that the
Cincinnati Bengals organization did not make changes to the
project that increased the Guaranteed Maximum Price. All
Bengals-requested changes were either paid for by the Team
or covered by offsetting cost reductions" (Bengals).
