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-The Miami Herald
-Israel Gutierrez
-Sun Sentinel
-Palm Beach Post
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Roughly 33,500 of the 36,000 stadium’s seats have been installed — 1,000 standing-room-only tickets also will be available — and Samson said he and Delorme have sat in every seat to make sure each one has an unobstructed view of the game and video boards.
More than 95 percent of the interior walls have been constructed, and the crew is “starting to focus [its] attention on all the [white membrane] plaster — the last piece of the exterior finishes,” which should be completed by mid-November.
Delorme said the team anticipates laying sod for the field in the second or third week of January, a process that will take four days. The Marlins’ office staff is expected to move into the stadium in mid-March.
More than 95 percent of the interior walls have been constructed, and the crew is “starting to focus [its] attention on all the [white membrane] plaster — the last piece of the exterior finishes,” which should be completed by mid-November.
Delorme said the team anticipates laying sod for the field in the second or third week of January, a process that will take four days. The Marlins’ office staff is expected to move into the stadium in mid-March.
It’s hard to understand the appeal of the park until you experience it. It’s such a departure from the place the Marlins have called home since 1993, and it’s exactly what fans from other cities have been spoiled with for years.
Unless you have actually traveled to these parks in San Francisco or Cincinnati or Houston or San Diego, you wouldn’t understand the attraction of an amazing ballpark.
This place has it already, and there’s still six months of work to do.
Unless you have actually traveled to these parks in San Francisco or Cincinnati or Houston or San Diego, you wouldn’t understand the attraction of an amazing ballpark.
This place has it already, and there’s still six months of work to do.
"It's the most important offseason in the history of our franchise," Samson said. "We have to have a good year next year. So there's tremendous pressure … on all of us to do better. Because Miami deserves it. In this type of ballpark, you want a winning team."
Samson said the payroll has not been determined for 2012, but "I know it will be at levels previously unseen. … Given more flexibility it should increase our chances, but it doesn't always work. There are teams that raise their payroll and win fewer games."
Samson said the payroll has not been determined for 2012, but "I know it will be at levels previously unseen. … Given more flexibility it should increase our chances, but it doesn't always work. There are teams that raise their payroll and win fewer games."
The stadium, four parking garages and six surface lots have been plopped into a patch of Little Havana, and with the hope that tangential businesses - "bars, restaurants and retail shops" was how Samson put it - will spring forth in an area in need of rejuvenation.
The available parking around where the Orange Bowl once stood, though, will accommodate fewer than 6,000 vehicles, and mostly will be reserved for season-ticket holders. There are shuttle-bus routes planned from the remote lots, rail stations and downtown Miami, but it's not at all difficult to imagine traffic jams before and after games on residential streets as fans attempt to access or leave the stadium to get on or off the nearby highways.
But it was not the time to entertain such concerns with visitors in hard hats and reflective vests (we looked Halloween-costume ridiculous, by the way) being shown around.
The available parking around where the Orange Bowl once stood, though, will accommodate fewer than 6,000 vehicles, and mostly will be reserved for season-ticket holders. There are shuttle-bus routes planned from the remote lots, rail stations and downtown Miami, but it's not at all difficult to imagine traffic jams before and after games on residential streets as fans attempt to access or leave the stadium to get on or off the nearby highways.
But it was not the time to entertain such concerns with visitors in hard hats and reflective vests (we looked Halloween-costume ridiculous, by the way) being shown around.
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