Call it sod wars.
Sarpy County’s new minor league ballpark has been manicuring and watering its thick field of new sod since mid-September. It looks ready for the umpire to yell “Play ball!” next April for the Omaha Royals.
Meanwhile, the new downtown Omaha stadium still features a field of dirt. The site destined to host Creighton University games in April and College World Series games next June still looks more like it’s ready for a rodeo.
And sod is a key step in a field’s construction, if you ask Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov, a major proponent of getting the Royals to the suburbs.
“After we laid the sod ... the momentum for us has changed,” Polikov said. “Our field and our stadium for the Omaha Royals looks very impressive. I’m very pleased we’re at the stage we are at.”
While the grass isn’t growing downtown, officials with the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority and contractors with Kiewit Building Group are confident that construction of the new 24,000-seat TD Ameritrade Park is on schedule.
“By all indications, we are where we need to be,” said Roger Dixon, president and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, which is overseeing construction and will run the stadium. “This stadium is very complex. Everything is happening as it’s supposed to.”
Although some work fell behind schedule this year, officials said the sod is expected to be in place by its November deadline.
Dixon said the stadium sod will arrive from a Colorado sod farm within a week to 10 days, barring setbacks such as rain. Kiewit officials said there is no urgency to lay the sod, as long as the ground is not frozen.
In preparation, an underground warming system has been installed.
The $570,000 cutting-edge technology will enable the field to be ready much earlier in the spring and keep the grass green much later into the fall, MECA officials said. The system is used at stadiums such as Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies; Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals; and Invesco Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos.
The system helps ward off turf damage between back-to-back events such as games and concerts, and helps siphon off moisture during rainy weather.
Several other stadium construction tasks did lag this year.
For example, the stadium schedule published in January called for steel erection to be completed in March. By April, the target completion date was pushed back to June.
Installation of underground utility work in the infield, originally slated for February, was postponed until April.
Among other delays:
Ÿ Roofing work slated to be done in August is now scheduled for December completion.
Ÿ Work on a street-level concrete slab had its target completion date moved from February to March.
Ÿ Installation of flag poles scheduled for this month is now pushed back to December.
Ÿ Concrete work in the lower level seating areas was moved from August to September.
Officials expressed confidence, however, that the stadium would be completed by deadline.
“The stadium is absolutely on time to open in mid-April 2011,” Kiewit spokesman Kent Grisham said. “Nothing we’ve encountered or faced has affected that mid-April completion.”
Creighton University’s baseball team is playing it safe, however. The Bluejays are hopeful they can play home games at the new stadium in mid-April, but athletic officials are making contingency plans.
“I just think it’s too early to tell,” Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen said. “My understanding is that they’re on schedule. We understand the situation. We would hope to be there in mid-April, but it could be May 1st. And if it’s not available, we will have alternate plans.
“But we would rather be at TD Ameritrade. It’s going to be an amazing stadium.”
Contact the writer:
444-1056, john.ferak@owh.com
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