Globe Life Field Construction Nearing Completion; "We'll Get It Done"
The Rangers' new home has been officially branded.
Installation of the first exterior sign of Globe Life Field was completed on Thursday. The sign shines above the North Plaza Entrance of the new state-of-the-art ballpark. More exterior signs will be installed on all sides of the stadium during the next few weeks.
"Today marks a very important waypoint in that journey from naming rights partner deal to groundbreaking to the installation and lighting of our first permanent sign here at new Globe Life Field," Joe Januszewski announced, who is the Rangers VP of Business Partnerships and Development. "It's a banner day and it is soon to be baseball time in Texas again."
Construction of the ballpark is approximately at 91% completion. Work on the field surface is underway as 60% of the concrete work in complete with clay installation planning to be installed next week. 30,000 of the 40,300 seats have been installed.
Manhattan Construction Company is also working on installing the ETFE roof panels, which is about 40% complete. These panels will allow natural light into the ballpark. The planned deadline for completion is mid-February.
As Opening Day rapidly approaches, anxiety can build around whether the final deadline is met and the Rangers, HKS, and Manhattan Construction Company are not concerned about missing that deadline.
"Yes, we don't have a choice," Rob Matwick, Rangers EVP of Business Operations, told the media on Thursday. "There's not a fallback position. If you talk to the guys from Manhattan, who are in charge of building this, they haven't missed a deadline yet and we don't intend to now."
"We've got a great team behind it. In some cases, we're working 16 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week. If we have to shift to 24 hours-a-day, I know Manhattan is prepared to do that. We're relying on the construction experts, but we'll get it done."
The first event at Globe Life Field is set for March 14th, which features Chris Stapleton with Willie Nelson and Jamey Johnson in concert.
The Rangers first exhibition game at Globe Life Field is on March 23rd against the St. Louis Cardinals, while the regular season home opener is March 31st against the Los Angeles Angels.
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