I don't think we will be seeing any peanuts or cracker jacks at Dunkin Donut's Park this year, and possibly for some time. Unfortunately we probably won't be seeing any of those related jobs for the Park that were promised to Hartford's residents (please put those home buying plans or college plans on hold until some real jobs come through) Hartford taxpayers are still footing the bill for this colossal mess. But, at least the lawyers will be kept busy and making money. Luckily very few Hartford contractors got work on the project , so we wont be bankrupting them at least.
I wonder how much longer Dunkin Donuts will honor their agreement and allow their good name to be associated with this mess? Right now, there is no benefit to them or any of the other corporate sponsors that were lined up for the season
STATEMENT: MAYOR BRONIN CALLS THE PERFORMANCE BOND ON DONO BASEBALL STADIUM DEVELOPER
CENTERPLAN CONSTRUCTION CO.“At this point, the developers have repeatedly missed deadlines
and, we believe, continue to run over-budget. We have no choice but to bring the surety to
the table to manage and finance completion of the ballpark.” — Mayor Luke Bronin Hartford, Conn. (May 27, 2016) — BACKGROUND: Today, Mayor Luke Bronin officially called
the $47,050,000 performance bond on DoNo baseball stadium developer Centerplan Construction
Company, asserting that they have defaulted on the Design Build Agreement they have with
the City (Click here to read the official letter sent to the surety: . Mayor Bronin also
made the following on-the-record statement regarding today’s action: “This afternoon, the City formally notified the surety, Arch Insurance Company, that the
developer has failed to perform their obligations, and that the surety has a duty to make
sure the project is completed at no further cost to the taxpayer of Hartford. Back in
January, when it became clear that the developers were far behind schedule and millions
over budget, we brought all parties to the table to finance the gap. That was the right
thing to do to keep things moving. At this point, however, the developers have repeatedly
missed deadlines and, we believe, continue to run over-budget. We have no choice but to
bring the surety to the table to manage and finance completion of the ballpark. The
developer has threatened to abandon the job if we call the bond, but to do that would
be another breach of contract. They have a clear obligation to keep working, and if they
believe that calling the bond wash¹t necessary, they can prove it by finishing the job
as soon as possible with the resources they’ve been given.”
41 comments:
I know that my remarks may seem like sour grapes. Actually, the are more like dried prunes. I knew shortly after doing some general research on other such developments around the country that this would not be a good use of publically funded projects. Hence, I want the whole shebang to flounder and fail. All of it. Let the nation see this as a testiment to foolhardy dreams of a politician. Let the thing remain dormant. Let Josh (heartburn) Soloman take his goats to another hillside to graze. With any luck, 60 minutes will come to town and do a story on it.
Happy Memorial Day, Centerplan and Hartford Don't Know.
4:45pm
It definitely is not sour grapes, more like common sense. If only our thick skilled idiots of politicians had listened to members of the public we wouldn't be in this mess now
Thick skulled I meant( auto correct)
Hartford residents said no to a Stadium.It was suppose to save Hartford. It did the exact opposite. Hartford the Rising Star! Go Hartford! Politicians at their BEST once again.
I keep reading in news articles about change orders/directives being issued even now. Why? For what purpose are they being issued as I would imagine each individual order has additional costs. In my view unless life safety or building code required there should be no change orders. At this point a want is beyond scope of the need to finish. More supposed television locations and fancy doors are wants and definitely not necessity.
Yet the Courant--particularly sportswriter Jeff Jacobs and editorial page editor Carolyn Lumsden--continue to tub-thump for this ugly, expensive mess that has raped the city's finances and has resulted in jobs and services cuts in order to pay for construction. They are a prime example of the worst that journalism has to offer, and I have to wonder what they were promised to continue their fruitless and futile efforts to put lipstick on this pig (or goat).
Yes, 6:14. I'm interested in those change orders too. Is the developer accurate when he said they continue to pour in, even through this month? Kevin, can your sources confirm or dispute that statement?
If it's not true, someone should be able to set the record straight. And if they are coming in, who the heck is authorizing them and why?
6:14 PM, sorry, but your imagination is not working well. You "would imagine each individual order has additional costs." Actually, many individual orders actually CUT costs. Remember that at one point they removed part of the roof, this way cutting costs by millions.
What's all that crap about Centerplan Construction Company LLC and DoNo Hartford LLC, these 2 companies are the same, owned and controlled by Robert Landino and his big mouth Jason Rudnick. The Stadium Authority must go after these 2 guys personally, go after their million dollars homes.
10:31
I wouldn't be surprised if one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing. So inspections comes in and mandates a change or 100 changes. And frankly, the stadium is almost ready. But this is a perfect example of why there are contracts. The city may indeed be culpable in delays and cost overruns. Don't Know Hartford and Off-Centerplan may be unable to fulfill promises. Everyone is so damn F__ked up and I am now a happy camper. I want it to implode. Who cares about Josh Solomon. He had no business twisting the city to invest when he should have built and owned the stadium. Anything short of this is the result of his own greed. These types of reptiles prey upon stupid and corrupt politicians to invest and this idea bastardizes the concept of why government Functions. It has or should have nothing to do with building sports stadiums, in my humble opinion. Let's go to court. I can't wait to stand in line for a seat.
This stupid stadium is not "almost ready." There's still a lot to do there. We've heard for several months now that the stadiun is "95% ready."
In February it was 95% ready.
In March it was 95% ready.
In April it was 95% ready.
In May it was 95% ready.
Next month it'll be again 95% ready.
By the way, the other 5% are elevators, fences, rail, toilets and much more.
12:24 WHAT DO WE NEED TOILETS FOR. STADIUM COULD BE SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE WITH OR WITHOUT TOILETS. JUST MAKE SURE THERE'S TISSUE PAPER, WE'LL FIND TOILETS WHENEVER WE NEED IT.
Centerplan must complete installing the toilets in Segarra suite. I hope the construction agreement with Centerplan got a section dedicated to Segarra luxury suite.
I was walking around the unfinished stadium earlier tonight. The stadium was lit inside, but I didn't see even one single worker there, not even half a worker. Mr. Rudnick told the media that his people are there working 24/7. Is the "24" he's talking about hours or minutes? Will somebody be able to check his payroll to find out at least half of Centerplan's lies?
Please advise Mr Segarra to flush very hard...... It's a long way to his kitchen.
6:19 certainly, after all this project is Segarra graveyard
12:24am
I visit the stadium area almost every night and there's absolutely no activity in the area. I see a few workers from time to time, very few, but nothing big, nothing massive, nothing to be impressed about, nothing to call 24/7.
Anyone getting his hands on Centerplan payroll will notice that their employees are coming from everywhere, except Hartford.
What did the agreement with Centerplan say about local employees?
11:25am
I do as well, and I have noticed a real decrease in the number of workers on site. Let me just play devil's advocate for a moment. Possibly the lesser numbers are because the majority of the work has been done and the remaining work is more specialized and doesn't require the large numbers of workers. Also, yesterday there was only a handful of workers when I went by (and one of them was more interested in taking pictures of my license plate and vehicle than he was in construction) but it was also a holiday weekend and almost 100 degrees out. Tuesday will tell the story as to whether there is actually an intent by Centerplan for completion or will the site be a ghosttown
This is another waste of taxpayers money. Remember former Mayor Pedro Segarra did not listen to what the taxpayers wanted. There was strong opposition to the Baseball Stadium. Pedro's small group of cronies wanted this to go forward immediately and the hell with what Hartford citizens had to say. Well, Pedro Seggara did not get re-elected so here we are with a big, big mess on hand. Now, Pedro Seggara wants to become a JUDGE. What a joke!!!
Segarra HIMSELF is one big joke!
I talk d to Segarra before the council vote. I was dead set against it and I did my own risk/reward assessment. All indicators pointed to this development not working. As I spoke to Pedro, I could see that he lacked any sense of intelligent discourse. I was patient and let him ramble on. Finally, I interj cited and told him that I ne dead to speak my mind on it. But it was like talking to a kid playing in the sandbox.
Realizing how dense and stupid he really is, I reflected on who elected him to the position. The majority of voting citizens of Hartford. It finally dawned on residents that he had to go. But why did Cynthia Jennings manage to get reelected? And it is highly speculated that she doesn't even live in town? She was reelected because of her immediate community. We frequently vote ethnicity over intelligence. When the Irish were a major force, we voted in Irish. When the Italians were a large segment of the population, right. I personally never vote based on my ethnicity. I cast my vote based on vision and the vision that I am attracted to is minimalism of government. Government cannot do everything. It was never conditioned to care for everyone from womb to tomb. Folks, the chickens have returned home to roost. If you are lucky, you may catch one and cook it up.
"Mayor" Joke Segarra pushed hard for this "Done Deal" stadium. He miscalculated the entire project:
1. He believed Hartfordians would like it. He was wrong.
2. He believed the whole "thing" would cost $58 millions or so. He was wrong.
3. He believed that with pushing the construction to be completed in April, then by the primary in September and the general election in November, a significant portion would be completed, giving him some points. He was wrong again.
Segarra is a complete moron, has no knowledge in business and finance (just look at his unsuccessful history as a private attorney/small business owner, and his personal bankruptcy), and knows nothing about construction (he maybe good in the interior design - curtains, upholstery and such - in his 760 Prospect Ave property).
The real big joke about the stadium is not the finances or construction. The real joke is getting civilized people to bring their families for a big day of baseball in the North End. When they are afraid to come, then who will pay to support the team? Many people in Hartford have no money of their own for food, let alone baseball.
I think I will buy the house, raise it and turn the fallow parcel into a mini soft ball dimond and invite Pedro and Charlie to play a round or two.
Anonymous and 3:50 and 5:54
Pedro Caviar was indeed a joke and stupid. Therefore: PEDRO CAVIAR = STUPID JOKE.
Problem is he left Hartford residents with debts of tens of millions, or well over $100 million if we add his fantasy stadium.
Former Mayor Pedro Seggara and his fake smile ruled that there would be a Baseball Stadium. Pedro never had his ears cleaned. He did not respect that Hartford taxpayers stated that they did not want a Stadium. Pedro and Charlie Ortiz loved being in command. They lead Hartford down a dark and dirty road.
Pedro should get an award for his hair style. His hair was perfect every day.
Beyond that he was a complete idiot, a total failure.
The city just cleared another $600k in payments that were marked "pending" last week to Centerplan for May. You can see it here (http://checkbook.hartford.gov/#/). The Segarra and Bronin administrations have been consistent, no matter how many times the developer fails to meet budget, construction or city employment goals, keep the money flowing!
Now here this! Now Here This.
There will be no Yard Goat games this year. I wonder how bald-headed Solomon feels know? Come on Josh, that your stupid team and leave Hartdord. We don't want you here. Don't you get the message?
JASON RUDNICK:
You filthy liar, when will you stop feeding the media with lies?
Enough already, you dirty crook.
I heard Jamal de Dios (former IPAD holder for Peter-Pedro) is still working at City Hall, maybe he is writing the checks indiscriminately ? Since it is not his money, just make those checks like no tomorrow!
@ 10:16
"Red Neck" not Rudnick" and now Red Faceed.
Janal de Dios did a remarkable job as the sole carrier of Pedro's iPad WITH the iPad cover. Cost the city of Hartford around $50,000 every year.
Was charging the iPad battery his responsibility?
Who is the idiot who kept him at city hall? What's his title and how much is his current burden on the taxpayers?
According to reporting on NBC30, the stadium is substantially unfinished.
More Breaking News at 11.
Oh, this future broadcast will be televised in 2017.
NEWS BROADCAST: HARTFORD APPLIES FOR RECEIVERSHIP.
5:13pm
You must have heard that wrong. Hasn't Centerplan been saying for weeks "it is 95% complete".
I won't believe anything on the progress unless I hear it from I Charles Matthews directly, all of his estimates so far have been right on the mark
Kevin, do I sense some sarcasm? 😀
Of course not😊 I am am stil clicking my heels chanting "I want to believe" I Charles will lead us to the promised land of Yardgoats and honey , or is that the Promise Zone, I get confused
Jason Rudnick, president of Centerplan and principal with DoNo Hartford LLC, which is building the ballpark, said on Tuesday: "every single day we are closer to finishing" and that the ballpark is MORE than 95 percent complete.
The owner of the Hartford Yard Goats on Wednesday released a list of work that remains to be finished at the Dunkin' Donuts Park.
The report was designed to highlight the number of incomplete areas of the ballpark in light of the developer's saying that the stadium is now 95 percent complete.
"They have a lot of work to do and very few people working. That concerns me," he said.
RUDNICK THE LIAR: YOU DID NOT FINISH 95% OF THE JOB AND YOU KNOW IT.
@6:46
Everyone is chawing on sarcasm. How about a tee shirt,"Dunkin Donuts:95% Complete.
Would you buy a few if I made them? How about 50?
Question Kevin and all you Brookman Bots:
When the stadium is finally finished, are ya'll gonna jump up and down? Because I deduct that this complaint of incompleteness signifies that when finished, ya'll will jump up and down.
As for me, the day I hear that it is completed, I will pay a visit to the ball park and let loose another honker on the building. The first one was sent when I paid a nighttime visit and walked inside while risking arrest. I won't do that again. They probably saved my DNA from the spit.
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