Maine firm to fix its seats in ballpark

CINCINNATI – Nearly half the seats in Great American Ball Park – about 20,000 – are to be replaced by the start of baseball season because of safety concerns.

Brackets that attach the bottom part of the seats to the frame have failed and caused a few minor injuries, Hamilton County commissioners said. The county owns the $280 million ballpark, which opened in 2003, and leases it to the Reds.

Hussey Seating of North Berwick, Maine, will supply new seat pans, and the county will install them by the April 3 opener against the Chicago Cubs.

The two sides have agreed to mediation to determine who will pay the replacement costs.

“They will replace 20,000 seat pans this year and probably all of them over time,” Eric Stuckey, assistant county administrator, said Wednesday.

Hussey won the contract to install the ballpark’s 42,059 seats in 2001 with a low bid of $3.4 million.

During the park’s first season, about 200 seats or the brackets holding the seats together, failed and two people reported minor injuries, commissioners said.

Hussey agreed to replace the brackets on about 39,000 seats at its own expense then, Hussey spokesman Chris Robinson said Thursday.

The county asked for more repairs after the second season.

“They’ve done different work each year on different problems,” Stuckey said. “We think total replacement of the seat pan is the better long-term solution.”

After last season, Hussey offered to inspect all the seats and make appropriate repairs. Commissioners insisted on new seats, and Hussey agreed to supply them and resolve the disputed costs later.

“We feel that we’ve offered the right solution,” Robinson said.

“Our company has been in business since 1835, and we realize it’s important how we deal with these issues.”

Robinson said Hussey has installed seats in several major league sports stadiums, and called the problem at Great American Ball Park unusual.