Lehigh County May Spend $322,800 on Coca-Cola Park That Was Allocated to the County Jail

June 29, 2026

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

Lehigh County may take $322,800 that was budgeted for work at the county jail and spend it on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning work at Coca-Cola Park.

The county has spent lots of money on the east Allentown stadium, and on July 8, the county commissioners will vote on taking money from paving at the prison for HVAC work at the home of the Iron Pigs, the Triple A farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies.

From the county website: “due to unanticipated increased costs for HVAC system maintenance/upgrades and other general maintenance items for Project #144 (spending at the stadium), the amount budgeted is not sufficient to cover the expenses… “

That’s fairly vague and while there are lots of interior spaces at what is for now called Coca-Cola Park, it is an outdoor stadium.

The county commissioners will vote July 8 on the budget transfer. These financial moves are fairly common and don’t necessarily indicate any problems, but this one raises two questions:

1-Why was the HVAC work at the stadium underestimated by more than $300,000?

2-How about the work at the prison? Was the estimate off or was the work not needed?

Even these days, $322,800 is a fair amount of money and the public deserves some answers, particularly when professional sports are involved.

Baseball has an appetite for money. When the federal government opened firehoses of cash during the Covid-19 pandemic, Major League Baseball realized it was a good time to demand improvements at minor-league parks, with the implied threat to move teams if they didn’t get everything they wanted. Baseball got what it wanted.

Having the Iron Pigs is a good thing for the region, but they are a privately owned business that benefits from government spending at the publicly owned stadium.

I hope the commissioners ask for an explanation of the budget transfer before approving it. Were mistakes made earlier?

Here’s an abbreviated cut-and-paste version:

COUNTY OF LEHIGH, PENNSYLVANIA
COMMISSIONERS BILL 2026 – 32
SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER PINEDA
REQUESTED DATE: JUNE 17, 2026
ORDINANCE NO. 2026 –
AMENDING THE 2026 LEHIGH COUNTY BUDGET TO TRANSFER FUNDS
TO THE BASEBALL STADIUM MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT

WHEREAS, by Ordinance No. 2025-161, the Board of Commissioners of Lehigh County adopted the 2026 Lehigh County budget; and
WHEREAS, the 2026 Lehigh County budget, as adopted, includes funding for baseball stadium major improvements; and
WHEREAS, the 2026-2030 Capital Plan Project includes Project #144 Minor League Ballpark; and
WHEREAS, due to unanticipated increased costs for HVAC system maintenance/upgrades and other general maintenance items for Project #144, the amount budgeted is not sufficient to cover the expenses; and
WHEREAS, the County Executive and the Director of General Services have proposed the transfer of $322,800.00 from the Jail paving project to the baseball stadium major improvements project; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 706 of the Lehigh County Home Rule Charter, changes to the budget must be proposed by the County Executive and approved by the Board of Commissioners via Ordinance.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ENACTED AND ORDAINED BY
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE COUNTY OF LEHIGH,
PENNSYLVANIA, THAT:

1. 
   their entirety.
2. 
   The foregoing Whereas clauses are incorporated herein as if set forth in
   The County Executive is hereby authorized to move the sum of
   $322,800.00 from line items 240801.522.47231 and 240801.523.47231, Jail paving
   project, to line item 240624.144.47217, Baseball stadium major improvements project.
   This transfer shall occur immediately.
3. 
   The proper officers and other personnel of Lehigh County are hereby
   authorized and empowered to take all such further action, including any necessary
   transfers of funds, and execute additional documents as they may deem appropriate to
   carry out the purposes of this Ordinance.
4. 
   The County Executive shall distribute copies of this Ordinance to the
   proper officers and other personnel of Lehigh County whose further action is required to
   achieve the purposes of this Ordinance.
5. 
   Any Ordinance or part of any Ordinance conflicting with the provisions of
   this Ordinance is hereby repealed insofar as the same affects this Ordinance.
6. 
   This Ordinance shall become effective in ten (10) days after enactment.
   2
   Page 74 of 75
   ADOPTED this _ day of ________________, 2026, by the