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Ballpark workers find noose at construction site
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Related Topics: WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Workers at the District of Columbia’s baseball stadium have reported finding a noose on the site, potentially worsening already tense racial relations on the project.
The noose was discovered Tuesday afternoon, said Courtland Cox, an official with the D.C. sports commission, the semi-public group that is monitoring construction of the $670 million stadium. The noose was put together by a white electrician from Maryland who was fired Thursday, Cox said.
Commissioners met Thursday with officials from Truland Electric, the company that had hired the electrician, and the conglomerate that won the stadium contract, to discuss the incident, Cox told The Examiner.
Cox declined to elaborate, but this is not the first time workers from Truland have been accused of racism. Late last year, a group of African-American laborers told their union that they had been called “monkeys” by a Truland supervisor.
A Truland official hung up the phone when asked for comment.
Critics of the stadium project seized on the incident as proof of the bad faith involved in the stadium construction project.
“It’s absolutely stunning,” said Ted Trabue, executive director of the District Economic Empowerment Coalition. “It’s a shame that we’re struggling to hire even a few African-Americans down there and then the few District people down there have to deal with this.”
Trabue’s group has complained bitterly that the stadium construction deal locked out local African-American laborers by insisting that the contracts went to unionized companies. An agreement between the city and the unions required that at least half the labor hours spent on the site were worked by District residents; records show that not even one-third of the hours were worked by locals.
Cox, who once was a civil rights activist, bristled at the suggestion that he and his agency have lost control of the work site.
“Excuse me, we have been diligent, we have been active,” he said. “We have taken appropriate actions to make sure we have a productive work environment.”
Got a tip on the Nationals’ stadium? Call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956 or e-mail bmyers@dcexaminer.com.
Comments from Examiner Readers
6:43 PM MST on Thu., Feb. 28, 2008 re: "District to limit street parking for Nationals Stadium visitors"
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1:59 PM MST on Wed., Jan. 30, 2008
re: "Stadium $43M over budget"
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2:35 PM MST on Fri., Jan. 25, 2008
re: "Stadium $43M over budget"
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1:22 PM MST on Tue., Jan. 22, 2008
re: "Stadium $43M over budget"
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10:05 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 22, 2008
re: "Stadium $43M over budget"
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8:18 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 22, 2008
re: "Land costs push Nats stadium $43M over budget"
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5:50 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 22, 2008
re: "Land costs push Nats stadium $43M over budget"
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5:50 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 22, 2008
re: "Land costs push Nats stadium $43M over budget"
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5:26 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 22, 2008
re: "Land costs push Nats stadium $43M over budget"
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2:59 PM MST on Wed., Nov. 28, 2007
re: "Ballpark area contaminated"
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9:43 AM MST on Mon., Aug. 13, 2007
re: "Fenty shifts funds to get art for new Nats ballpark"
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8:45 AM MST on Mon., Aug. 13, 2007
re: "Fenty shifts funds to get art for new Nats ballpark"
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8:04 AM MST on Mon., Aug. 13, 2007
re: "Fenty shifts funds to get art for new Nats ballpark"
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7:19 AM MST on Tue., Jul. 31, 2007
re: "City considers "ballpark fare" for fans who may ride Metro to games"
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3:24 PM MST on Mon., Jul. 30, 2007
re: "City considers "ballpark fare" for fans who may ride Metro to games"
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Examiner Reader said:
any plans for motorcycle parking at the new park ? cycles do not take up much space and most can carry two fans
98 agree | 124 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The Md. stadium has nothing to do with any of this or do they?
126 agree | 127 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
DC runs 50 mill over, so what, the suckers will embrace the cost, after all the benefits are expansive though undefineable. Houston's sports entertainment knuckleheads revel in the fact that we can now 'chat over the water cooler' about the failings of our standard bearers, er, juice jack jocks.
177 agree | 180 disagree
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Robin Ficker, Broker Robin Realty said:
Let the steroid league foot the bill, not the taxpayers.
173 agree | 193 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Ghandi and Fenty could split the bill.
134 agree | 156 disagree
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GMU92 said:
Thank goodness we kept this mess out of Northern Virginia. These publicly financed ballparks, or even "public/private partnerships" invariably end up going over budget, grossly over budget, and the taxpayer gets the bill. And strong arming property owners through the use of eminent domain for the sake of a billion dollar baseball team's park is criminal.
197 agree | 313 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Train robbery! That simple!
188 agree | 153 disagree
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Joe Jena said:
With Gandhi making the financial predictions why is anyone surprised at his further incompetence. When will Mayor Fenty get the picture and do the right thing?
191 agree | 179 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Maryland got suckered into building a stadium for 8 Redskins day a year. DC will get 10 times as many events - just from baseball - and then even more events because of its central location.
187 agree | 171 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Your headline "Ballpark area contaminated" is highly misleading but not as misleading as your earlier headline of "Ballpark May Be Contaminated". Yes, the ballpark was contaminated before they started construction, but it was cleaned up and no longer contaminated. Additionally, your article is referring to one future development site in Capitol Riverfront / Near Southeast. Yes, your article may get clicks due to the over-exaggerated headline, but it is exactly what will keep readers like me from not reading your newspaper's material in the future.
365 agree | 301 disagree
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Mike Licht said:
The claim that stadium sculpture will be owned by the District and will eventually be moved elsewhere is absurd. The application for this Site-Specific Art included architectural drawings. Claiming this art is on loan is like saying you don't own your own dental work but have merely borrowed it. You don't see many used dental crowns on the market; the same with site-specific public art. This sort of pubic art is usually funded by the developer or tenant, and public arts agencies provide technical assistance. Well-know local examples include the Convention Center and Reagan National Airport. Construction of lighting and maintenance of the stadium art works, also provided by the District, are not included in the $700K. There goes your budget cap. Councilmembers: use the $700K to fund a competitive, peer-reviewed Capital Arts Grant Program for DC community arts organizations.
379 agree | 382 disagree
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What else said:
We build it, we decorate it, we will transport you to it and what else may we help you with the Nats ballpark? By the way could you please pay the cashier on your way out....Ooops I forgot we will take care of that too!!!
372 agree | 360 disagree
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ballparkcrazi said:
Shuld'nt the new owners who seem to be very rich put their own money for the art? this makes no sense to me and the countless others looking for funding daily
320 agree | 371 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The problem is the number of trains to carry fans. For fans that must make a connection at Metro Center, the wait can be grueling and hot in the summer.
328 agree | 504 disagree
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Mike Licht said:
DC Government must require high game-day parking fees at all facilities within strolling distance of the ballpark as a disincentive to drivers. Offering bargain train fares to casual Metro users is simply insane. Tinker with the Metro fare structure and you incur the well-deserved wrath of hundreds of thousands of regular commuters, steady Metro clients. This is the price citizens pay when government allows salesmen to conduct the planning process.
270 agree | 328 disagree
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