Wednesday, March 15, 2000
Advisory group sought for Reds ballpark
May delay hiring project manager
BY DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hamilton County administrators are ready to recommend the hiring of a project manager to oversee construction of the Reds ballpark, but at least one county commissioner wants to slow down the process.
Commission President Bob Bedinghaus said he is going to recommend today that a group of construction experts from private business be formed to advise the county on stadium construction issues.
The “construction advisory group” would be unpaid volunteers whose first job would be to look at whether the county needs a project manager on the job, or whether some other administrative structure would make more sense.
Mr. Bedinghaus said the leading candidate for project manager is Gilbane Building Co., which has managed projects such as the 1980 Winter Olympics sports facilities in Lake Placid, N.Y; the Orange County Downtown Arena and Convention Center; O'Hare International Terminal; and Or lando International Airport.
“What I'm going to suggest is that we take a deep breath here as we move forward on baseball and get some advice from the private sector,” Mr. Bedinghaus said. “Perhaps we can learn something.”
It was unclear Tuesday night how much support, if any, Mr. Bedinghaus' idea would have with the other two commissioners.
Getz Ventures, the project manager on Paul Brown Stadium, originally was going to be project manager on the baseball stadium as well.
But after it was revealed last month that Paul Brown Stadium is an estimated $45 million over budget, Getz said it would resign from the baseball project and concentrate on the football stadium.
Getz has been working on the baseball stadium in the interim, however, until a new firm is hired.
“I'd like the advisory group to sit with our staff and re-evaluate the project manager role and advise us on the proper way to move forward,” Mr. Bedinghaus said. “There is time for us to take a breath and make sure we get this project started off properly.”
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