The developers of Hartford's stalled baseball stadium said they'll need more than twice as much money as the city has left to finish the park for the minor league Yard Goats.
Work stopped weeks ago at the more than $60 million stadium that is both overdue and over budget. The city now has roughly $4 million left for the project, and developer Bob Landino said he would need twice that to finish the job.
"Probably another four or five million dollars," Landino said.
Last week, Landino submitted a proposal to the city to settle the disputes between them. He said it included his firm paying the bills on the stadium, and letting a judge figure out later who is responsible. It's either that or file suit, which he said he doesn't want to do.
"I'd probably do much better financially by simply suing the city," Landino said.
But Mayor Luke Bronin rejected what Landino put on the table. He has also long rejected any notion that the city would pay more money toward the stadium. The two men even disagree about the meaning of the words the proposed settlement includes.
Meanwhile, Bronin says the only way forward is for Landino to show he's got enough money in the bank to finish the job. But that still hasn't happened.
"We never saw that willingness," Bronin said. "We never saw that commitment."
Absent that, he said, there will be no negotiations.
