Ballpark throws a curve

The mayor calls the stadium an albatross.
EASTLAKE, Ohio (AP) -- Auditors are determining whether a state-appointed committee should take control of this city's finances if it is unable to make payments on loans used to build a minor-league ballpark.
Eastlake, a Cleveland suburb, might have to use tax money to make up the difference.
"It would be unwise not to be nervous about it," said Thomas Chema, the city's stadium consultant.
George Spinner, the former councilman who on Saturday succeeded Dan DiLiberto as mayor, called the stadium an albatross around the city's neck.
"We have to get this thing resolved," he said.
Cost problem
DiLiberto threw out the first pitch last year at the home of the Class A Lake County Captains. The advertised price of $22 million covered only the land and stadium construction. It did not include a parking lot, a pedestrian bridge, a plaza and the stadium's architectural and engineering fees.
The total price tag is around $28 million. Eastlake borrowed $25.5 million for the project. The city expected grants and the proceeds of naming rights to pay some costs. Stadium-related revenues would cover the loan payments on the balance. But helpful funding has not arrived.
Eastlake ended 2003 with a $3.2 million budget deficit.
DiLiberto, who retired for health reasons Friday with 20 months left in his term, insists that everything will be fine once the city gets $4 million in federal funds for a park-and-ride facility at the stadium and money from the naming rights.
Chema said that the naming rights are worth at least $5 million but that he has no deals on the table.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, said Eastlake should get the $4 million in federal funding next year. The prospects of getting $1.8 million in state grants are less certain.
Casey Stump, general manager for the Captains, said team owners are not interested in buying the naming rights. The Captains appear to be the big winners in Eastlake's stadium deal. The team went from averaging 1,500 fans a game in Columbus, Ga., to 6,300 fans in Eastlake. The team keeps income from tickets, luxury boxes, concessions and ballpark advertising.
It will pay up to $75,000 a year into a fund for capital improvements and repairs. Eastlake receives $331,000 a year in rent from the team.