Home Plate Update September 2018 | Page 10

Q & A : globe life field

Rob Matwick Jack Hill
The Texas Rangers recently hosted a Question and Answer session for fans about construction of the future Globe Life Field in Arlington .
Rob Matwick , Texas Rangers Vice President of Business Operations , and Jack Hill , Senior Vice President of Project Development , answered these questions surrounding the construction of the ballpark , which is set to open just south of the current Globe Life Park in 2020 . The ballpark , which will have approximately 40,000 seats , will include a retractable roof for climate control and shelter for fans during the hot summer months .
The next Q & A session is set for 6 p . m . Saturday , Sept . 22 , on the Hilti Observation Deck on the upper right field concourse of Globe Life Park , behind section 341 . Participants must have a game ticket to attend .
Here ’ s a recap of fans ’ questions :
Q : What progress has been made in the past months ?
A : We ’ ve made a lot of progress . Last month ( July ), we put the first piece of steel over on the south side of the ballpark . As you can see now , that structure has now gone up four levels and is pretty much complete .
One of the biggest changes you can see since the last time we met , over on the far side , the rakers were in place , but now we ’ ve got actual pre-cast risers . That ’ s what the seats will go on once we start that phase of the project . You can start to see that on the first base side , where we ’ re a bit further along than on the right field side . That ’ s the way the structure has started to move . Now we ’ re actually behind home plate starting to make our way along the third base line .
What you ’ re starting to see now is what we call the super structure , the steel frame going up where the office is . We ’ ve been very pleased with the progress . We ’ re on schedule to be where we need to be at this point .
Q : What is the concrete structure that you can see ? Are those what you will actually be sitting on ?
A : Those are seating risers . When you go to your seat at Globe Life Park , those risers that your feet are on is what you ’ re seeing over at Globe Life Field right now . That is what the seats will be attached to .
Q : What big projects are coming up ?
A : This fall , one of our big milestones is that you ’ ll start to see the start of the roof . You ’ ll see a much larger crane coming out here , and they ’ ll start putting the roof together . It seems like that is pretty quick , which it is . It is a very fast-paced project .
Q : How will the roof open and close ?
A : The roof is one piece , and it will move from east to west . Some of the other retractable field ballparks are multiple pieces . There are different ways to do it , but we felt like we wanted to have one piece . We think that by having one solid piece we ’ ll have easier connections for when the roof is closed , and we ’ ll have a tighter roof up top to prevent any leaks .
Q : Who makes the determination on whether the roof is open or closed ?
A : That ’ s the determination of the home team in the regular season and MLB during the playoffs .
Q : How long will it take to open the roof ?
A : In our experience , it usually takes 10-12 minutes . It is hard to say until we actually have everything up and running .
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