The price tag for Paul Brown Stadium is going up again. Building code problems and design modifications have pushed the stadium's budget beyond the $46.5 million in overruns reported in August, the Enquirer has learned.

        The only question: How much more?

        Hamilton County officials won't have a clear answer for at least a week — maybe a month — as construction managers pore over the budget, trying to figure out the stadium's bottom line.

        Suzanne Burke, the county's budget director, said she expects the additional cost to be “several million” dollars.

        “That wouldn't surprise me,” she said. “We haven't defined what the exact number will be, but we do expect it to be greater than $46 million.”

        County Administrator Dave Krings said the additional money needed to finish the job will probably come out of other contingency funds set up for construction of riverfront parking, the Reds ballpark or other development.

        “We think it's going to be a small amount, as opposed to tens of millions,” Mr. Krings said of the additional overruns. “Say it's $3 million or $5 million — that's not going to cause our entire financing plan to crash.”

        Project Director W. Shelby Reaves stated in a Nov. 2 memo that nearly $20 million in modifications still have to be considered. It is common, however, for savings from other areas of the project to be applied against those modifications to reduce the net cost.

        Mr. Reaves, who was unavailable for comment Friday, reported in August that only $1.5 million was left in the stadium contingency fund.

        He told commissioners at that time they should put an additional $1.2 million into the fund to carry through the end of the project — a move that would have pushed the cost of the stadium to $453.2 million, or more than $46 million over budget.

        No action was taken by commissioners, two of whom were up for re-election in November.

        Meantime, the construction auditing firm hired by the county to look at contract changes at the stadium is due to issue its final report at the end of the year. The auditor cited contract changes as the main cause of the overruns in a preliminary report Feb. 14.

Taking action
        Commissioner Tom Neyer said he's looking forward to the report, which will be used by county officials to try to recover — either through negotiation or litigation — a portion of the money spent on overruns.

        “This just didn't happen by itself,” Mr. Neyer said of the overruns. “We have to clearly and fairly evaluate the source of mistakes, then take appropriate action once that source is identified.”

        Dan Streyle, project manager at Paul Brown Stadium, declined to speculate how much the additional overruns will be. He said much of the new overage came about because of unexpected fire-safety equipment added to the stadium.

        More fire alarms, smoke detectors, emergency lighting and exit lights had a large impact on the budget, he said.

        “We were subject to a review by both the building department and the fire department, which is subjective,” Mr. Streyle said. “We may have everything to code, but it's the fire department's prerogative to say we need more.

        “That's not uncommon and, unfortunately, the way they operate, it never happens in the design phase.”

        Overruns at Paul Brown Stadium became a central issue in the two commission races last month.

        Stadium champion Bob Bedinghaus was defeated by Cincinnati Councilman Todd Portune in a historic vote. Mr. Bedinghaus became the first Republican to be voted off the commission since 1968.

        Commissioner John Dowlin, who opposed an increase in the sales tax to pay for the stadiums, retained his seat on the commission.

        As the football stadium project winds down, crews recently have broken ground on the Great American Ball Park. Already, there are signs of trouble.

        Contract bids for concrete and steel for the ballpark came in a combined $22 million higher than the estimate — so high that they had to be thrown out. Project managers at the ballpark say the stadium might still be ready for Opening Day 2003.

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