Saying the Red Sox had reached "second base" to build a
new Fenway Park, MA Gov. Paul Cellucci yesterday signed a
bill "authorizing" up to $312M in public funds to pay for
the infrastructure and land needed for the $665M project,
according to Meg Vaillancourt of the BOSTON GLOBE. But
Cellucci "cautioned" that it "may take months to clear two
big remaining hurdles" -- Boston City Council approval "to
take the land" for the ballpark and the team securing $352M
in private financing. Cellucci: "When we get the City
Council [vote], we'll be on third base. And when the Red
Sox line up private financing, we'll be home." Vaillancourt
writes that a "close reading" of the bill Cellucci signed
shows that the City Council vote "may be less of a threat to
the project than anticipated," as the bill "appears to
require only a simple majority" of the 13 council members to
approve the land-takings, not the two-thirds vote that
ballpark opponents "had counted on." Vaillancourt adds that
the bill "was artfully written. Instead of calling for the
land-takings as a separate step, the city's eminent domain
proceedings are part of an 'Economic Development Plan' the
[Boston Mayor Thomas] Menino administration will draft over
the next few months." One source involved in "drafting" the
bill said, "It gives the mayor some leeway. He may still
seek the two-thirds vote anyway, because he has to do that
to win approval to use city bonds for the project. But the
development plan language makes it easier since most people
thought the land-takings would be the most controversial
aspect of the deal" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/11). In Boston, Scott
Van Voorhis writes that Cellucci's "choice of venue and the
absence of a number of key players stirred speculation that
the bill signing was being downplayed in light of the stiff
opposition still facing" Fenway plans. Cellucci said that
"scheduling problems were the only reason the event was held
in the cramped Governor's Council chamber and not in the
field at Fenway." Van Voorhis adds that "no-shows" at the
event included Red Sox CEO John Harrington, Mayor Thomas
Menino, House Speaker Thomas Finneran and Senate President
Thomas Birmingham (BOSTON HERALD, 8/11).
HITTING THE WALL: A BOSTON GLOBE editorial, on keeping
the left field "Green Monster" wall in a new ballpark,
states: "Fans will quickly discover that the new wall does
not serve any essential purpose. No longer would it
separate the ballpark from Lansdowne Street, but would
merely offer a barrier between the playing field and the
team administrative offices next door" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/11).
