From today's PiPress today:
Minneapolis' Warehouse District could soon be home to the most expensive open-air baseball park yet.
The Twins' plan exceeds price tags for baseball stadiums built in the past 15 years by tens of millions of dollars, even factoring for inflation, economists say. The average cost of a baseball stadium built between 1989 and 2004 — with or without a roof — was $345 million in today's dollars. The Twins' stadium is expected to cost $478 million.
Minneapolis' Warehouse District could soon be home to the most expensive open-air baseball park yet.
Based on my research, this is factually accurate but a wee bit misleading.
For sure, the Twins' stadium would cost more than any other open-air ballpark — mostly because it's the newest.
The story averages ballparks built since 1990 to get the $345 million average, but doesn't specifically mention the last two roofless parks: San Diego's PETCO Field and Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.
Both parks opened in 2004; PETCO cost $449 million and Citizens Bank cost $458 million. They were built from 2001 to 2004, so a $478 million Twins stadium built from 2006 to 2009 is right in line, cost-wise.
That's my only significant issue with the story. Otherwise, it's an excellent look at the staggering and questionable cost inflation in these things.
(Camden Yards cost $100 million in 1992 — or $137 million in 2005 dollars. I know steel, land and labor costs have all risen faster than standard CPI inflation, but I'll be darned if I can figure out where all that extra cost comes from. I haven't seen any amenities the Twins park would have that Camden doesn't.)
My point, though, is that such inflation isn't particular to the Twins — as the San Diego and Philadelphia examples show.
You can look at Skyway News' recent story — with detailed construction cost and ticket-price comparisons — here:
Story: http://www.skywaynews.net/articles/2005/05/02/news/news01.txt
Stadium costs: http://www.skywaynews.net/pdfs/stadiums.pdf
Ticket prices http://www.skywaynews.net/pdfs/tickets.pdf
Standard disclaimer: discussing facts and figures does not imply moral or political endorsement of the plan.
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