Up Up And Away

Gandhi was right. The stadium is going to cost more than Mayor Tony said.

In announcing a long-sought pact with baseball officials two months ago, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) put the price tag of building a ballpark at South Capitol and N streets and renovating Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, for interim use, at $440 million, most of it to be financed with public funds.

But an analysis by The Washington Post -- based on interviews with city officials, internal memos and e-mail obtained under the D.C. Freedom of Information Act -- shows that the cost could rise to $614 million if the District were to undertake all the infrastructure projects that might be needed to accommodate a team playing in Washington.

Most of the additional money is the nearly $100 million it could cost to expand Metro's Navy Yard rail station and move a major Metro maintenance garage. Officials at the transit agency said the District would be expected to cover those expenses.

Oh, and would it be so difficult for the post to centralize all their DC coverage instead of scattering some in the Metro, some in the sports and some in the main section?