Saturday, May 22, 1999
Lindner has big plans for ballpark
'It's a dream' to think of the possibilities
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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Carl Lindner, left, and Reds Managing Executive John Allen applaud outgoing CEO Marge Schott at Friday's lease signing ceremony.
(Glenn Hartong photo)
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Cincinnati financier Carl H. Lindner didn't build his business empire by thinking small, and he already has big plans for his latest acquisition — the Cincinnati Reds.
In an interview Friday with The Cincinnati Enquirer, Mr. Lindner talked about his ideas for the team's new riverfront ballpark and for redeveloping the community's riverfront itself.
“The way I look at it, it's an entertainment center, not just a ballpark,” Mr. Lindner said. “And we will promote it that way.”
Sporting a tie covered with baseballs, Mr. Lindner stood in front of home plate at Cinergy Field on Friday to help announce the deal reached between Hamilton County and the Reds to build a new $297 million riverfront ballpark in time for Opening Day 2003.
Just last month, Mr. Lindner, American Laundry Machinery Corp. Chairman George Strike and Bill Reik, a Northern Kentucky native and Wall Street executive, signed an agreement to buy suspended CEO Marge Schott's controlling interest in the team for $67 million.
Messrs. Lindner, Strike and Reik are limited partners in the Reds. The Gannett Co., which owns the Enquirer, is also a limited partner.
The new ownership team is expected to be finalized next month by Major League Baseball. Mr. Lindner declined to discuss details of the new ownership structure.
But he made it clear he won't be directly involved in decisions that affect the price of tickets or hot dogs, as Mrs. Schott was during her tumultuous 15-year tenure.
“I wouldn't get into operations a lot,” he said. “We've got a bunch of management people to take care of that.”
Mr. Lindner said his involvement with the team will work the same way his involvement in his other companies works.
Managing Executive “John (Allen) or management people will be setting policies and things like that. I don't personally get into that generally with our companies,” he said, adding, “It's too early. We're just getting our feet wet. The next year or two, we'll just be getting our feet wet.”
The companies controlled by Mr. Lindner and his family include United Dairy Farmers, which grew from the family-owned dairy where Mr. Lindner got his start in business; American Financial Corp.; Chiquita Brands International; Great American Insurance; and Provident Financial Group Inc.
Mr. Allen, who is expected to continue to run the team's day-to-day operations after the new ownership is finalized, said the new ballpark must have all the family-entertainment amenities of other new ballparks while at the same time giving diehard baseball fans nothing but good seats.
Mr. Allen said Friday that the Reds are “looking to be that diamond in the crown of jewels that is Cincinnati's riverfront.”
And Mr. Lindner said the new Reds ownership hopes to “take a little more of a part in what goes around” the new ballpark.
“It's a dream, I think, to think of what might go in that total complex,” Mr. Lindner said.
“I eat lunch on the roof of our building when the weather is nice; and I kind of look down and I just envision, not the cars, but a bunch of people walking to different restaurants, the National Underground Rail road Freedom Center. On the riverfront, the aquarium has come alive.
“There's just a lot of opportunity, if everyone agrees on it. All this would make really an outstanding downtown.”
Mr. Lindner didn't offer any specific visions for the new ballpark, other than to say he wants “the very best facility” for fans.
While Mrs. Schott struggled to keep prices low for fans as the Reds lost millions, Mr. Lindner said the new owners will have to assess all those issues.
“As you've got the pressures of different factions, you have to go along with what other successful (ballparks) are doing,” he said.
Most of all, Mr. Lindner made it clear Friday that he wants Mrs. Schott to be remembered for more than the remarks that led to her suspensions from Major League Baseball.
At the Friday morning news conference announcing the 30-year lease deal between the county and team, he paid a public tribute to Mrs. Schott after she urged him to “say something” to answer questions from reporters.
“I've known Marge 30 years. I cannot think of anything except the kind things and the nice things that she has done for this city,” he said, mentioning her gifts to the zoo and the thousands of autographs she signs for fans.
“I'd like to get a little hand for Marge this morning,” he said, and he and the small group of team officials and politicians applauded her.
After the news conference, Mr. Lindner talked about having made business decisions he regrets.
“I've made a lot of mistakes,” the 80-year-old billionaire said. “That's why I thought I ought to stick up for Marge a little. I try to think of the nice things in life. She has done a lot of good for children, and that's what my family has worked at.”
Just as Mr. Lindner sang the praises of Mrs. Schott, Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus praised Mr. Lindner, a man who has faced criticism himself.
“The reason this thing came together,” Mr. Bedinghaus said of the lease, “is because Carl Lindner was involved in this.”
“He had been involved unofficially for some time. But once the ownership change became solidified, the whole thing came together.”
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