Tensions between the city of Hartford and the developer building a new publicly-funded minor league baseball stadium have never been higher. The city said it has lost confidence and is putting the developer's insurer on notice, and the developer says the city shares the blame.
Last September, then-Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra stood at the future home of the Hartford Yard Goats, and he said that the stadium would be complete a few months later. But bad attitudes weren’t helping anything.
"I commit to you that, April 7, we will be pitching the first ball at the first game," Segarra said. "You know, we, as a city, not just me, but as a city -- we all need to be more optimistic that things can actually happen."
But even optimism can't get this stadium built.
The Yard Goats have lost over half of their home schedule, and the relationship between the city and developer DoNo Hartford LLC and Centerplan Companies is frayed. Following a meeting of Hartford Stadium Authority, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said the city plans to formally put the developer’s insurance company on notice this week -- it's referred to as "calling the bond."
It's a big step, and it raises the question of whether the city’s legal move will affect construction. Bronin said it won't.
“We are not terminating Centerplan or terminating DoNo," Bronin said at a meeting of the authority Thursday. "They continue to have an obligation, a duty to complete the stadium.”
But developer Jason Rudnick disagreed. At a press conference at Dunkin' Donuts Stadium, the insurance company will likely tell him to stop working while it investigates.
“If you play it out, and you make the claims and you go against the surety, this project will be shut down for six to nine months," Rudnick said. "You ain’t playing baseball this year.”
Meanwhile, at that stadium authority meeting, Hartford resident Bill Katz brought his guitar and a homemade tune.
“The grandstand, who knows if it’s been built?” Katz sang, before I interviewed him and he said this: “It’s the biggest boondoggle I’ve ever seen a municipality make.”
As for the Yard Goats, they're scheduled to play another home series next week -- in Norwich.
