Philadelphia Mayor John Street "stood by his plan" to
build a downtown ballpark for the Phillies at 12th and Vine
Streets yesterday "but declined to explain how he might
finance its cost," which he said had escalated to more than
$645M, according to Benson, Burton & Soteropoulos of the
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Instead of providing details on a
financing plan for the ballpark and a new stadium for the
Eagles, Street "simply declared" that it "will work," citing
a "series of feasibility studies conducted over the past
month." Street had "pledged" that he would reveal details
on financing the project by yesterday. Street, on building
the facilities: "It's going to be costly. But the costs
don't destroy the project." Street added that he "could not
release the cost figures or his proposal for financing" the
two facilities, estimated at around $1B, because he has yet
to brief "stakeholders," such as the teams, City Council and
members of the state legislature. Street's Stadium
Negotiating Committee released a financing proposal earlier
this week that "relied heavily on surcharges on tickets and
concessions," but it received a "chilly response" from team
officials. Sources said that the latest proposal "would
allow the teams to forgo some taxes and fees in order to
recoup some revenue." Phillies officials "declined to
comment" on Street's support of the downtown location for
their new ballpark, while Eagles officials could not be
reached (PHILA. INQUIRER, 6/16). Also in Philadelphia, Dave
Davies, on Street's decision not to release studies or
findings on the stadium issue: "It was a pretty big at-bat.
And he whiffed. ... Street stood in front of a roomful of
waiting reporters and said essentially nothing. In doing
so, [he] may have handed the initiative for the moment to
stadium critics" (DAILY NEWS, 6/16). The PHILADELPHIA DAILY
NEWS' Rich Hofmann writes Street "is about to embark upon
the sales job of his life. You could spend a day just
listing the questions. ... Can you pay for this thing
without dipping into the city's operating budget? Can you
come up with a scheme that won't cost you a cop on the beat
or a textbook in the classroom?" (PHILA. DAILY NEWS, 6/16).
