At a city council meeting Monday night, the city of Hartford announced a new plan to pay for the Rock Cats stadium. They city is taking more steps forward to making the stadium a reality. It said it would pay 8% of the cost of building the stadium for the first 5 years of a 25 years lease. That comes out to about $3.77 million annually.
This is the newest development in the plan to build a 220,000 square foot stadium at 1214 Main Street in Hartford. The goal is to have it built by April 2016 in time for that years season.
The estimated cost of building the stadium is over $47 million and Center Plan Development is the firm that will redevelop the land. Its plan also includes office space, residential units, retail space, and a brewery. Making the entire project cost $350 million.
After the first five years of the lease, the city would sublease the ball park to the New Britain Rock Cats to play in 2016. The Rock Cats would pay the city $500 thousand a year for the first 15 years of a 25 year sublease.
Residents spoke up at the meeting about their frustrations with how little transparency they think the city has had in regards to the stadium.
This is not finalized yet, a special meeting is set for Sept. 17 for the City Council to vote on the plan.