July 20, 2009

Marlins stadium construction clock begins ticking

And they're off! The Florida Marlins broke ground on their $634 million stadium this weekend, with a projected completion date of March 31, 2012 — which the Miami Herald notes doesn't leave much wiggle room before that season's opening day. Most experts the Herald contacted, though, were of the opinion that that left plenty of time for completion of construction, especially in a good-weather climate like Florida where construction can continue year-round: "It sounds like 33 months is doable, unless they run into some bizarre technical difficulty," said some guy named Bob Trumpbour.

The bigger question isn't whether the Marlins will have to open the 2012 season in the Everglades, but rather whether the tight timetable could lead to rush charges and cost overruns. Team president David Samson promised that the Fish would pick up any emergency costs, or take out an insurance policy that would cover overruns caused by, say, a hurricane: "It would be exactly what people do when they get into a car accident. Whether you go through insurance or not, it depends if the car gets totaled or it's a scratch." Of course, we don't know what would be the case if a hurricane caused unanticipated capital costs instead.