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Yard Goats Lay Off Four in Wake of Ballpark Breakdown

Hartford Yard GoatsThe Hartford Yard Goats (Class AA; Eastern League) are dealing with the nasty side effects of a developer failing to open Dunkin’ Donuts Park on time, as the team lays off four front-office workers.

With the ballpark padlocked and no immediate plans to finish construction, it’s starting to be a pretty safe bet that we won’t see any baseball at Dunkin’ Donuts Park this season. The Eastern League has no home games scheduled through July 20 (more on that later), and given the fact that there’s not much for the front office to do past make travel arrangements and prep for the 2017 season, the layoffs were probably inevitable.

“While it is our policy not to publicly discuss personnel matters, the delays in ballpark construction have forced the team to make difficult decisions,” General Manager Tim Restall said in a statement Friday.

On the heels of an email from Centerplan Cos. and DoNo LLC on June 5 stating that it would take at least another 60 days for the ballpark to be ready for occupancy, the stadium authority opted to terminate the construction contract. In his announcement, Hartford mayor Luke Bronin cited the city’s dissatisfaction with the development of the project. That opened the door to an insurance claim to finish work on the $63-million facility — but it also halted construction on the project, leaving the Yard Goats in limbo.

Meanwhile, the Eastern League has announced the shift of another Hartford-scheduled series to another venue. A July 18-20 series scheduled for Dunkin’ Donuts Park against the Altoona Curve will be played at the Curve’s home, Peoples Natural Gas Field. The two clubs will have an off day on Monday, July 18, play at 4 p.m. on July 19 and play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday, July 20.

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