Retractable Roof to Be Topped Off on 3-25

[Party]

MIAMI - Approximately one year away from Opening day in Little Havana, the New Marlins Ballpark is reaching another milestone, the installation of the last major structural piece of steel to be installed on the retractable roof. Media is invited to the Topping Out Ceremony, which will be held on Friday, March 25, 2011 at 9:45 A.M. to celebrate this historic moment. The project remains on-time, on-budget and continues to exceed all local employment participation goals. (Media is advised to arrive no later than 9:30 A.M. and must park on 1694 NW 5 Street, Miami (Parking entrance is at the corner of NW 17 Avenue and NW 5th Street).

The topping out ceremony at the Marlins Ballpark will commemorate the last major structural piece of steel of the retractable roof. The steel piece will be signed by over 800 construction workers as well as Marlins Executives, Miami Dade County officials, and City of Miami officials.

After this steel beam is installed, the remaining infill steel will be added prior to decking the center panel of the retractable roof. The last steel beam weighs approximately 6,845 pounds and will measure approximately 38 feet long. The retractable roof is composed of 11,000 pieces of steel held together by welds and over 115,240 bolts. In all, the retractable roof weighs approximately 7,500 tons.

This 1000-year-old topping out tradition started in Scandinavia when workers would place an evergreen tree on the highest structural element of construction as a symbol of the workers' 'respect for nature's contribution to the building process.' This tradition continues as a sign of good faith and well wishes for the building and its inhabitants. The traditional topping out tree will be placed on the last piece of steel at the New Marlins Ballpark.

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/...=.jsp&c_id=fla

[Party]

Final roof beam installed in Marlins' new park

By David Villavicencio / Special to MLB.com

MIAMI -- As Opening Day 2011 approaches, the Marlins took a major step toward finishing the stadium that will host their Opening Day in 2012.
Workers installed the last major structural piece of steel in the retractable roof at the new Marlins Ballpark site Friday morning.

"This is one of the key milestones of the project," said Marlins executive vice president of ballpark development Claude Delorme. "When you look back to when we laid the foundation, and now you see the last piece of steel go up, you realize how amazing it is. Having this last piece of steel go up and you see guys working at 250 feet high, it's very satisfying to have that behind us."

Prior to the installation, the Marlins held a topping out ceremony in which the steel piece was signed by over 800 construction workers, as well as Marlins executives, Miami Dade County officials and City of Miami officials.

"Seeing the faces of the people signing the beam was very gratifying, not only for our executives but for the workers as well," Delorme said. "The work that they've done is second to none. I'm happy for them, because it's really been a team effort."

The topping out ceremony is a 1000-year-old Scandinavian tradition, during which workers would place an evergreen tree on the highest structural element of construction as a symbol of "respect for nature's contribution to the building process." This tradition continues as a sign of good faith and well wishes for the building and its inhabitants.

The traditional topping-out tree, along with an American flag, was on the 38-foot long beam as a crane hoisted all 6,845 pounds of steel to the top of the roof structure. The retractable roof is composed of 11,000 pieces of steel held together by welds and over 115,240 bolts. In all, the retractable roof weighs approximately 7,500 tons and is scheduled to be completed in mid-June.

The Marlins anticipate the roof to be closed for a majority of their home games. The team plans to work with weather expert Max Mayfield to develop a formula to help decide on whether the roof will be open or closed for each game.

"It's open 97 percent of the time in terms of real-world minutes, because we're growing grass," said team president David Samson. "In terms of number of games, I would say that our early indication from our weather formula would indicate that about 70 games it would be closed at a minimum, because you have to worry about heat, humidity and rain."

The new ballpark will have a comfortable environment when closed. Game-time temperature will be set at 75 degrees and the conditions will be ideal. It's that comfort zone that Samson feels will help the Marlins players deliver an optimal performance.

"The consistency of having batting practice and routine is something that we've never had at home at Sun Life, and we're going to have that here," Samson said. "That, to players, is very important, and that will help our home record."

The ability to create ideal conditions in the new ballpark will do more than just make it comfortable for the players and fans. It will also allow the Marlins to host more day games.

"More than we've ever had," Samson said. "We're going to have Sunday day games obviously, and we want to do getaway days in the afternoon, because this is the perfect setting for afternoon baseball."

The ballpark is expected to play fair to both pitchers and hitters. Delorme said the park's dimensions will be 344 feet down the left-field line and 335 feet down the right-field line. The center-field wall sits 422 feet from home plate, while it will be 386 feet in left-center and 392 feet in right-center.

Fan support for the stadium is strong, reflected in the amount of season-ticket plans sold for the 2012 season. While the Marlins will not release an official number of tickets sold, they are pleased with their fans' excitement toward the new ballpark and believe they will reach their goal of 15,000 season tickets sold for the stadium's inaugural season.

"We've only sold 81-game plans and we have more 81-game plan holders today here than we do total season-ticket holders in Sun Life," Samson said. "We only have 12 seats left in the Championship Suites. We only have 15 total suites left to sell out of 40. The Diamond Club is sold out. The Dugout Club has about 30 seats left."

Construction manager Sid Perkins says the project remains on time, on budget and continues to exceed all local employment participation goals. Perkins estimates that 80 percent of the lower bowl seats have been installed along with the scoreboards and ribbon boards. On April 1, the roof will be connected and the installation of the PVC roof membrane will begin.

"This is a fast-track project," Delorme said. "In a lot of areas, we've been able to move ahead of schedule, and in some, we're a little behind -- but globally, we're on track. We're putting in seats and the scoreboards and ribbon boards are all up. We like where we are at right now. There is still a lot of work but we're involved in the details now as far as furniture and fixtures. It's minute details that people will judge this project on, and we plan on delivering."

David Villavicencio is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/...s_fla&c_id=fla

0% chance the new ballpark plays fair.
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CBS 4 Report

[MiamiHomer]

[Fish Tank Frenzy]

Am I the only one that gets chub when looking at this stadium?

[Miamarlin21]

It's a fucking space craft!

[Party]

Am I the only one that gets chub when looking at this stadium?

Nope.

[FishFF]

how would this puppy do in a hurricane?

[MiamiHomer]

I'd be a shelter.

[Party]

Directly from someone who works on the project:

Tropical storm - Category 2 hurricane: Minimal damage to the structure itself--all cosmetic.

Category 3-4: Some structural damage to the roof but it's built to withstand the storm--think SuperDome.

Category 5: Roof will probably have extensive damage to it.

The big thing right now is completing the roof and facade so in case there is a hurricane, the building could be completely sealed and the inside is not exposed to the elements.

[Party]

A real one, yes.

[Omar]

Only if you bring your snorkeling gear