NEW YORK (AP) – The bill for replacing parkland bulldozed to make way for the new Yankee Stadium has soared by almost 50 percent.
Unforeseen environmental problems and other hitches have raised the estimated cost from $128 million to $190 million, parks officials said at a City Council hearing Wednesday.
There are no plans to scale back the plan, though, which calls for creating 28 acres of new parkland and includes turning the old stadium into a children’s ballpark.
The Yankees’ new home is slated to open in 2009 on parkland across the street from their storied South Bronx ballpark. The deluxe stadium’s price tag also has risen – to $1.3 billion, up from a $1 billion estimate last year.
The Yankees have said the lost parkland would be replaced. That has proven more expensive than expected because of such surprises as an old, underground oil tank that had to be drained and removed, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe said.
But parks officials said the project was progressing. One small ball field at an elementary school is set to open next month, and some other facilities in June.
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