Nationals Seek Damages Over Delays In Ballpark Construction

Nationals Owners Seeking Money From DC Over Delays In Ballpark Construction

The Nationals' owners are claiming that Nationals Park was "not completed in time for Opening Night" on March 30 and are "demanding that [DC] cough up $100,000 a day in damages," according to documents cited by Marc Fisher of the WASHINGTON POST. The documents indicate that Nationals attorneys earlier this year "began peppering" the DCSEC with "warnings that the ballpark would not be done on time, putting the city on notice that the team wanted the big-money damages that the construction contract allowed for if the stadium came in late." DC city attorneys two weeks before the ballpark's opening "accused the team of 'finger-pointing and windfall-seeking.'" Nationals attorney Irwin Raij said the team's "purpose was not to provoke a dispute," but Raij told the park's architects the Nationals were "concerned that in the frenzy to complete the stadium, industry standards may be disregarded and errors will be made exposing the team and its patrons to unnecessary risk." The Nationals are seeking punitive damages because, "among other items, the team offices at the new ballpark were not yet completely ready" by mid-April. And while the city "conceded that the offices weren't done as soon as the ballpark itself," DCSEC CEO Gregory O'Dell said that the offices "make up less than 3[%] of the stadium project." O'Dell "called that delay a 'minor inconvenience' and noted that the [city] allowed the team to stay at its old RFK Stadium offices rent-free." Raij would not comment on the issue, and Nationals President Stan Kasten said, "I'm not going to have anything to say ... about that" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/22).