Foreman says Arvest Ballpark on schedule for completion
Posted on Friday, October 5, 2007
SPRINGDALE — Construction of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals ’ Arvest Ballpark is on schedule to meet the Feb. 29, 2008 completion date, the project’s foreman said Thursday.
The Naturals, the double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, will play their first game in the new venue April 10 of next year. A tour of the construction site Thursday revealed the progress made since the city of Springdale awarded the $ 32. 1-million contract to Crossland Construction of Kansas in June.
The excavation and site work portion of the project has been completed, carving the facility’s foundation into the pastoral landscape at the intersection 56 th Street and Watching Avenue in Springdale. The process of building the 6, 500-seat venue is underway. Project foreman James Farmer estimated that 30 percent of the entire project is finished.
The park will be turned over to the city and the team March 1, said Patsy Christi, Springdale planning director. The $ 325, 000 in annual rent paid by the Naturals to the city will be forfeited if the park isn’t “ substantially completed” by then, obligating Crossland to compensate the city for that sum.
Farmer said “ substantial completion” entails having all emergency equipment in place to provide a safe environment for people to be inside the structure. A crew of 112 workers has logged between 50 and 70 hours a week to meet the timeline.
“ We’re not worried, ” Farmer said. “ We’re going to finish on time. ”
The structural steel framing for three of the park’s five freestanding buildings have been erected, and the park’s retaining wall is in place. A tractor pulled a laser grading device across the outfield Thursday, ensuring the field will be perfectly level. Athletic Fields of Tennessee will have the playing surface finished in the next several weeks, said Naturals general manager Eric Edelstein.
“ It will look like a baseball field at that point, ” he said.
Decco Contractors of Rogers is responsible for the parking lot, which will contain 1, 650 on-site spaces. The McClinton-Anchor Division of APAC Arkansas Inc., was contracted to make improvements to 56 th street. Christie said the street will be widened to four lanes with a 16-foot median and turn lanes at each intersection.
Traffic signals at the intersections of 56 th Street and Watkins Avenue and 48 th Street and Watkins Avenue will also be built. Christie said she expects the parking lot and street improvements to be finished by early December.
The total cost of for the ballpark and adjacent street and sewer improvements is $ 50 million, she said. Springdale voters approved a 1-cent sales tax increase last year to pay off the bond issue that will finance the project.
The project’s associate principal architect explained how the curvature of the park’s seating bowl improves the fans’ perspective of the field. He said the design was the first of its kind, giving spectators down the first- and third-base lines a view equal to the patrons situated behind home plate.
“ Everything’s oriented to the center of the park, ” said Martin DiNitto of HOK, the architectural firm contracted to design Arvest Ballpark. “ It’s a more comfortable seating position to orient the fan’s eye toward the action on the field. ”
He said the curved configuration provides fans a better view into the home and away dugouts. The seats behind home plate have to be built farther back to accommodate the curved design, but fans in those seats will be at field level with only a net standing between them and the action.
Natural stone extracted from nearby areas will comprise the facade of the park’s interior and exterior, which DiNitto said is another unique aspect of Arvest Ballpark.
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