More D.C. Stadium Spending Woes

The District's $611 million baseball stadium might be the most politically contentious project in recent memory. But as the ballpark's opening in early 2008 approaches, more and more city officials seem to be coming on board.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) was front and center today as city leaders and Washington Nationals officials broke ground on an expansion of the Navy Yard Metro station to handle stadium crowds. So were D.C. Council members Phil Mendelson and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1).

All three voted against the ballpark funding package several times, with Fenty among the fiercest opponents during his tenure on the council.

"I'm the only guy in the photo who voted yes on the stadium," laughed Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), after he was nearly squeezed out of the picture during the ceremonial dirt shoveling for the ground-breaking.

Fenty opened his remarks with a sarcastic reference to himself being a "big stadium supporter," which drew some awkward laughs from Nationals' front-office members, including co-owner Mark Lerner and team President Stan Kasten.

As the prepared comments from a host of city leaders went on, it was clear that bygones are bygones and the project is moving full-steam ahead. (David A. Catania, I-At Large, who voted against the satdium, and Marion Barry, D-Ward 8, were the only council members not in attendance.)

An expanded Navy Yard station, with an increase in capacity from 5,000 riders per hour to 15,000, would help soothe congestion on game days, as well as continue to spur on-going development of the neighborhood nearby, officials said.

"This project has to go forward on time, on budget and it has to be world-class," Fenty said.

Yet something was missing during all the talk from the politicians: $20 million in federal funds to pay for the Metro renovation.

During the two-year debate over stadium financing, city leaders had pledged to get the funding from the feds by making the case that the Navy Yard station serves the Southeast Federal Center and the new Department of Transportation headquarters being built nearby.

That money is included in Congress's fiscal 2007 budget, but Congress has yet to approve that budget. And with control of Congress changing hands to the Democrats, Metro and the District must make their case all over again, said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D).

"Our job, and I believe we will succeed, is to convince Congress that not only D.C. will pay the price if the $20 million is not reimbursed, but Uncle Sam himself will pay the price," Norton said.

So how is it that Metro can begin work on the renovation without the federal funds?

D.C., Maryland and Virginia, which jointly operate Metro, each have a pot of money reserved in Metro's budget that can be used for jurisdictional transportation needs. Last summer, Metro's Board of Directors authorized the Navy Yard station expansion to begin with funds drawn from the District's fund balance, explained Dan Tangherlini, the former Metro interim general manager who now serves as D.C. City Administrator.

In effect, Metro is loaning the money with the expectation that the federal funds will come through. And what happens if the federal money is not approved?

"Then a bunch of District transit priorities crumble," Tangherlini said.

Although Tangherlini remains confident the federal dollars will materialize, he acknowledged: "There's nothing normal about this. This is kind of a new project. There is a little bit of jurisdictional risk associated with it."

By David Nakamura |  January 16, 2007; 2:22 PM ET
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