Bengals stadium site
to be announced this week
Between Central and Elm, or between Plum and Race
BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati EnquirerThe Bengals will know the location of their new home by Thursday, and it will be at one of two locations: north of Mehring Way between Central Avenue and Elm Street or between Plum and Race streets.
Hamilton County commissioners are working over the weekend to build a consensus with Cincinnati City Council members, team officials and local business leaders for a Bengals stadium site. County officials have narrowed their short list from four sites to two for the $180 million football-only complex.
Time is running out for the commissioners. They want to pick a site by Thursday because Guy Guckenberger is to leave his commissioner's post Friday to become a county municipal court judge. His replacement is to be announced by local Republicans on Wednesday.
Before Mr. Guckenberger leaves, commissioners want to wrap up negotiations and announce the Bengals' stadium site.
Sources say Mike Brown, the Bengals' general manager, and his son-in-law, Troy Blackburn, director of stadium operations for the team, met with local officials Saturday. At that session, the Bengals re-emphasized their desire to be at the eastern Race and Plum site.
''There has been no decision,'' Mr. Brown said from Indianapolis Saturday, where he is attending the NFL's annual scouting combine, after returning from meetings in Cincinnati. ''To say a decision has been made is premature.''
While progress has been made, Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, who has spearheaded stadium plans with Cincinnati's two pro teams, said Saturday a decision has not yet been made.
''I don't want to be coy, but nothing is firmed up yet,'' he said. ''It's a pretty sensitive time right now. We're getting down to making the decision. Our goal is to make a decision everybody's comfortable with, and we're moving along that path.''
Some council members said they understand the east site, or Plum Street, to be commissioners' top contender.
That could create a problem, because two city agencies - the Riverfront Advisory Committee and the City Planning Commission - have argued the stadium should sit as far west as possible to open more of the riverfront to new development.
''The Bengals would obviously prefer east, and the city would prefer west,'' said Councilwoman Bobbie Sterne, a member of a city-county stadium site steering committee.
Councilman Todd Portune, another member of that joint committee, said there is a struggle going on.
''I understand that some people were still making a run at moving it a block to the west (the Central Avenue site) over the weekend,'' he said.
The county commission has the final vote. But cooperation from the city could be key to getting the stadium built by the 2000 football season, which is promised in the Bengals' lease.
Technically, the county does not need city council's approval to forge a deal with the Bengals.
But earning the city's blessing is key because it owns much of the land, has rezoning authority and its traffic engineers would have to
approve a re-routing of Pete Rose Way to fit a football stadium.Mr. Portune said the city could play hardball over the Bengals' stadium location, but he predicted it would not.
''Nobody wants it to come to that,'' he said. ''We all want it to move forward in the best interest of the community.''
There are competing interests to consider.
The further east the stadium, at Plum Street, the better the chances that football parking spaces also will serve downtown workers.
The east or Plum Street option is less expensive, according to estimates by Urban Design Associates (UDA), a consultant to the city and county on stadium sites and riverfront improvement. UDA estimates a $58.9 million cost for the east or Plum Street site.
That does not include the $180 million price tag for the football stadium, simply the cost of developing the site: to buy land, demolish existing buildings, bring in utilities, re-route roads, build surface and structured parking and do landscaping.
The west site, or Central Avenue, cost is $63.4 million, UDA said.
At both sites, the lion's share of the cost is for parking. Either east or west, the structured parking alone is estimated at $32 million. UDA estimates were probably low, based on appraised land values, not what landowners will expect.
The Bengals' stadium site was roughly decided in mid-December, when consultants UDA presented three sites within a couple of blocks of each other on the western riverfront. Later, a fourth option was added.
Two sites fit between Central Avenue and Elm Street. One is north of Mehring Way, the other south of Pete Rose Way. The two remaining sites are between Race and Plum streets, again with north and south options.
Of the four sites UDA recommended, $58.9 million - the east or Plum Street site that is still on the table - was the lowest cost. Second lowest was $63.4 million. The top cost estimate reached $77.3 million.
Previous stories
Seat license sales pass $20M goal Published Feb. 7, 1997