CINCINNATI The new stadium for the Cincinnati Bengals this seasonis to open as scheduled in 10 days and remains $45 million overbudget.
The Bengals start play in the stadium with an exhibition gameagainst the Chicago Bears on Aug. 19.
There will be temporary gates rather than permanent ones in somelocations, temporary bars in some club lounges and the team storewon't be ready to sell merchandise, but other sales outlets in thestadium will be operating, project managers told countycommissioners.
County taxpayers are to pay for cost overruns at the publiclyfinanced Paul Brown Stadium, named for the Bengals' founder.
County commissioners were warned in February that constructionmanagers expected $45 million in additional costs above the $407million original budget for building the stadium, relocating streetsand utilities, acquiring land and demolishing old structures.
The county's original agreement with the Bengals obligatedtaxpayers to pay the team late fees of $2 million for each exhibitiongame and $4 million per regular-season game if the stadium were notready on time.
The Bengals agreed in June to waive that requirement, however,after receiving assurances the stadium would be ready on schedule.
The Bengals completed play last season in 30-year-old CinergyField, the shared home with baseball's Cincinnati Reds. The county isalso starting construction of a new Reds ballpark that is to be readyfor the 2003 season.
Associated Press
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