Baseball is Back in
Lancaster!
Eight hundred
tons of steel, 5,530 cubic yards of concrete, over 6,000 seats and
about 100,000 square feet of professional sports-turf grass to cover
the infield, outfield and foul territory, all on a 14+ acre site in
downtown Lancaster. Despite these impressive statistics, the
Clipper Magazine Stadium, home to the Atlantic League Lancaster
Barnstormers, is much more than the sum of its physical parts.
More
important than steel or concrete or turf or 22 luxury boxes or one
of the largest video boards in minor league baseball, was the
dedication, enthusiasm and hard work of a number of groups,
individuals and contractors. Foremost was the vision and
perseverance of the “Bring Baseball Back” committee, formed in 1989
and led by such
Lancaster
leaders as ex-mayors Gen. Richard Scott and Arthur Morris. This
30-person committee kept alive the dream of another minor-league
baseball team in
Lancaster,
to replace the Red Roses that last played at Stumpf Field in the
late summer of 1961.
In early April
2005, the outline of the baseball diamond is visible in the dirt of
the stadium field.
The financial pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place with the
awarding of a $10 million PA grant for the stadium project –
promised by then-Governor Tom Ridge in 1996 and hand delivered to
Lancaster
officials in 2003 by Governor Ed Rendell. Equally important was the
vote in November 2002 by the Lancaster
County
Redevelopment
Authority Board to apply for the $10 million grant to build the
proposed $24 million multi-use stadium. The gap in funds was covered
from various sources, including a $13.5 million bond issued by the
Authority, naming rights for the stadium and by
pre-selling
stadium skyboxes.
In the spring
of 2003 Warfel Construction Company negotiated a joint venture with
Barton Malow, a Michigan-based firm, to create a construction
management team that would assist the Authority to build the
stadium. Warfel Construction’s senior partner
Tim Peters
was an original member of the “Bring Baseball Back” committee.
Tracing its beginnings to 1911, Warfel has been involved in such
recent
Lancaster
projects as the
Roschel
Performing
Arts
Center
and Indoor Sports and
Fitness
Center
at
Franklin
&
Marshall
College,
the new Lancaster City Police Headquarters building, and the
Baugher
Student
Center
at
Elizabethtown
College.
The firm also does work in
Maryland,
Delaware,
New
Jersey
and
West Virginia.
Barton Malow,
a construction management and general contracting firm, got involved
with the stadium project due to its extensive experience building
sports venues for baseball, hockey, basketball and football
throughout the
U.S.
Since its first involvement in sports general contracting for the
Detroit Tigers at the old Nevin Field 70 years ago, the firm has
been part of such ball parks as
PNC
Park in Pittsburgh, Camden Yards in Baltimore, Coors Field in
Colorado,
The Baseball
Grounds of the
Jacksonville
(Florida)
Suns and the baseball facilities for the
Towson
(Maryland)
University Tigers.
By
mid-April, the professional sports-turf
grass
was
being installed on the playing field
In April of
2004, the same month that saw the groundbreaking ceremony for the
stadium at the
North Prince Street
site, Warfel Construction hired Jeff Smith to manage the stadium
project for the company. A
Penn
State
graduate, Smith got an early start in the construction business when
at age twelve, he began helping his father. In addition to various
hospital projects, Smith was involved in the Beaver Stadium
expansion for his alma mater and the
PNC
baseball stadium in
Pittsburgh.
When asked
about the biggest challenges that had to be met in the construction
of Clipper Magazine Stadium, Smith first mentioned that the soils of
the stadium site were not really suitable for the project, as there
was not a lot of loose soil or clay. To compensate for this,
columns of dense, crushed stones were used to give the stadium the
full support it needed. Nearly 1500 of these columns, averaging 15
feet in depth, were put into the ground at the stadium site. Smith
said that if these columns were stacked end-to-end, they would
measure more than three and-a-half miles in length.
Other
challenges in building the stadium revolved around the budget.
According to Smith, over $400,000 was able to be saved by using
alternative materials and
methods
of construction. Also, just managing the cost of the project was
difficult,
As
Lancaster’s
own “field of dreams” was watered on an early May Sunday afternoon,
a rainbow appeared
while
continuing to build the stadium at the fast pace that was needed to
meet the crucial target date of May 11, 2005
– the first scheduled home game for the Barnstormers. The project
was designed to be completed in 12 months, but the actual
construction was done in nine months. The first tree on the site
was cleared on
June 1, 2004,
and demolition of the buildings on the site was completed in July of
last year.
Not only was
the stadium completed within this tight schedule but with Warfel
supervising 13 prime contractors putting in over 200,000 hours on
the project, the company managed to maintain “zero lost time
accidents” throughout the entire construction period. This means
that no one on the project lost any days of work due to an injury
from a work-related accident.
On opening night
of their inaugural home stand, the starting Barnstormers’ roster,
along with the team’s mascot Cylo,
were introduced to the
sold-out
crowd.
The final
construction cost of the stadium was $17 million, with the total
cost of Clipper Magazine Stadium coming in at around $27 million.
The Lancaster Barnstormers took the field against the Atlantic City
Surf the evening of
May 11, 2005,
with 7,348 baseball fans and curious onlookers in attendance.
Despite a loss by the hometown team, the atmosphere was festive,
with both the nostalgia of a pre-game Corvette parade of local
baseball legends and the affirmation of a new beginning of a new
tradition of the game in
Lancaster.
All that and fireworks, too!
We would like
to express our gratitude to all the companies, organizations and
individuals that were involved in the construction of the stadium:
Construction Management:
Warfel-Barton Malow, a joint venture
Architectural:
Tetra Tech, Inc.
Engineering:
Herbert, Rowland and Grubic, Inc.
Mechanicals:
Barton Associates
Prime
Contractors:
Sitework/Demolition:
Horst Excavating Company
Stone Column Foundations:
DGI-Menard, Inc.
General Trades:
Quandel
Structural Steel:
SteelFab, Inc.
Masonry:
Caretti, Inc.
Plumbing:
W. G. Tomko, Inc.
HVAC:
Frey Lutz, Inc.
Electrical:
Pagoda Electrical
Structural Precast
Concrete:
Concrete
Building
Systems
Fire Protection:
S.A. Communale, Inc.
Elevators:
Otis Elevator
Playing Field: Comer
Construction, Inc., Sportsturf Services and
Creative Exteriors, Inc.
Landscaping:
C.E. Pontz & Sons
Environmental Services:
Assessment Services:
Synergy Environmental, Inc.
Asbestos Testing:
EHC Associates
Environmental Clean-up:
Environmental Products and Services of Vermont
PDG, Inc.
An aerial
view of the stadium on the day of the Barnstormers’
first
home game – May 11, 2005.
Furniture,
Fixtures & Equipment:
American Seating Company
(stadium seats) Wee Bee Audio
Daktronics, Inc. (scoreboards, video board)
Benjamin Roberts, Inc.
Centerplate
(concessions) Work
Place Solutions
Clair Brothers Sound Systems (sound system) Contract
Furniture Company
D&E (for
cabling)
W.J. Stickler Signs
Seating Constructors USA, Inc.
Perey Turnstiles
Clark Mechanical Services,
Inc. Venue1, Inc
Morefield Communications (telephones) C.B.
Dombach
Richard James
Woodworking POSWorld
Diversified
Systems
BOCA Systems, Inc.
Yarnell Security
Systems
POSMicro
Galen's of
Ephrata
Clarin
Dell, Inc.
Comcast
Compass Network Group,
Inc. PAC Industries,
Inc.
Balloons were released against the bright sinking sun, in
celebration of the very first pitch
thrown in an actual game in Clipper Magazine Stadium.
Services:
Legal:
Stevens and Lee
Lamb
McErlane PC
Financial Advisor:
Fairmount Capital Advisors
Bonds:
RBC
Dain Rauscher
Arthurs,
Lestrange & Company, Inc.
Legg Mason Wood Walker, Inc.
Trustee:
Fulton
Financial Advisors, NA
Construction Loan:
Fulton Bank
Insurance:
Horst Insurance
Appraisals:
Scott Ulrich
Title Work:
Conestoga Title Insurance Company
Parking
Partners:
Ed Drogaris
Armstrong World Industries Inc.
Lancaster
General
Hospital
Our
appreciation also extends to the James Street Improvement District,
the Economic Development Finance Company, the Lancaster Chamber of
Commerce, and the Lancaster Alliance for their support and
assistance.
Finally, our
thanks to Senator Gib Armstrong, Representative Mike Sturla, the
Lancaster County Commissioners, Mayor Smithgall and the Lancaster
City Council, the Lancaster Industrial Development Authority and the
Lancaster Baseball Club for their financial support.
Our apologies
if we have missed anyone. This gives everyone an insight on the
significant number of contractors and companies that made the
stadium a success.
