The city of Hartford’s investment in the Downtown North development, which includes construction of the Dunkin’ Donuts Park baseball stadium, exceeds $102 million to date, according to an audit from Hartford’s Internal Audit Commission released publicly Friday.
Originally priced at $56 million for initial construction funding and bonded at $63.3 million, the unfinished stadium’s pricetag has now jumped to $71.7 million, the audit said.
For the overall Downtown North development, which includes road work, engineering and other infrastructure work, the total costs to the city are $102.5 million to date, the audit report said.
That $102 million does not include ongoing costs related to the shutdown of the project in June when the city fired the developer, such as security and legal, fire and police protection. The sum also does not include the final cost to finish the work on the stadium, which is being determined by the city’s surety bond carrier, or costs associated with pending litigation, the report states.
The audit is based on the economic investment for the Downtown North “DoNo” development from inception through August.
The report comes on the heels of a press conference Thursday in which the Eastern League President Joseph McEacharn and Yard Goats team owner Josh Solomon indicated that while they are committed to playing at the 6,600-seat stadium for the 2017 season, time is running out.
The audit report said the city currently has $4.4 million left to finish the stadium, but that doesn’t take into account a $5 million invoice the city hasn’t yet paid from the fired developer, Centerplan. That invoice was submitted in May 2016, the audit said.
Mayor Luke Bronin said in an emailed response that he was not surprised by audit results.
“There [are] not really any new numbers here,” he said, “and obviously, the total cost of the stadium won’t be known until it’s finished. What I’m trying to do is cap the cost that the taxpayers have to pay.”
Editor’s Note: This report originally said the cost of Dunkin’ Donuts Park exceeded $102 million. The costs of the Park has been revised to $71.7 million, but the city of Hartford’s overall investment in the broader Downtown North development, which the stadium is part of, is $102 million.