Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-07-29
STADIUM
Continued From Page Al

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Mr.. Mcleod to draft a bill for it
Literally hundreds of con-
ferenceS ensued between the
stadium's Capitol Hill hackers
and such prominent Washing
ton citizens as the late George
F. Shea. then Armory Board
chairman; Floyd Akers, auto
dealer, and John Reilly, banker,
who both later served on the
board, and Commissioner Nc
Laughlin.
In January. 1857, Mr.. Harris
introduced his stadium bill It
called for a stadium that could
seat $4,000 people and would
cost no more than So million.
1t authorized the Armory Board
to construct, maintain and
operate the stadium.
Study Completed
Meanwhile, the Board had
hired, for $27, 500, the New York
engineer-architect firm Of Prae-
ger = Kavanagh Waterbury to
make the study.
When its study was COM
pleted, the New York firm made
the following recommendations:
Finance the stadium with
bonds issued by the Armory
Board and guaranteed by the
Government;
Build at the East Capitol
street site, next to the Armory;
Have the land transferred to
the Armory Board on a 30-year
lease, after which the site would
revert to the Interior Depart
nIent along with the stadium.
The study indicated the
sCadium could pay for itself out
Of revenue from tenants, con-
cessions and parking.
After getting these rec
concentrations, Mr.. Harris
amended his stadium bill to
bring 1t into Substantial &C
cordance" with the report.
A significant amendment
eliminated the Sc million price
limit.
The Harris bill, with the
enthusiastic backing Of District
civic leaders and a reactivated
Stadium Commission, passed
the House despite opposition
from economy-minded Repre-
sentatives. A similar measure
passed the Senate. where its
sponsor was Senator Bible,
chairman of the Senate District
Committee.
Costs Start Rising
President Eisenhower signed
the bill into law on July %,
1858. The stadium was on its
way.
Somewhere along that way,
the old cost estimate Of So mil
lion just disappeared. Now the
ghesses were So million, $40
million and $12 million.
These went out the window,
too. when the construction bids
were opened. The low bid, from
McCloskey and Co. of Philadel-
phia, was SAP million.
But no one wanted to back
out. Things had gone too far
for that.
Ground was broken on July
3, 1860. The Redskins had al
ready signed a 30-year lease,
and Gen. Elwood (Pete) Que
sada signed a 10-year lease for
his Senators Baseball Club be-
fore the stadium opened.
The Redskins contract called
for completion by October !,
1861, when the team had a
game scheduled with the New
York Giants.
But bad weather and a too
tight building schedule COM
bined to delay the project
and put hundreds Of men on
overtime for several weeks
at a cost Of nearly $4,000.
Matthew McCloskey told the
Armory Board he spent $780,
900 Of his own money to get
the stadium built, because he
was so proud Of it,
Met the DeadIine
Five hundred men worked
right through the night before
the opening game and, al
though far from finished, the
stadium opened on schedule.
The first spectators were as
excited by the new stadium as
they were by the game.
The new arena covers 10
acres and can seat $4,000
patrons. Its cantilever con-
struction assures an unob-
structed view of the playing
field from any seat. The light
ing and scoreboard facilities
are the most modern in the
world, and its 80 acres of park
ing space can hold 1880 cars,
300 buses and 200 taxis.
1t was a fine stadium; there
was no question about that.
But it soon became apparent
that the one thing it lacked
was the solid financial foot
ing that had been promised.
Did this surprise the hackers
of the stadium project? Appar-
emily not.
Mai. Gen. w. H. Abendroth,
senior member of the Armory
Board, told The Star: "The
idea, was, do you want a sta
dunn or not?"
Gen. Abendroth said he re-
calls a meeting with some of
the Districts substantial tax
payers when it had become ap-
parent the stadium was going
to cost much more than antic,-
pated. This was at the time the
McClosky firm had turned IN
its low bid of SAP million.
Go-Ahead Given
"a decision had to be made,
whether to go on with the
project" the general recalled.
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