As its second spring training for the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals approaches, construction work is still taking place at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
When it opened for the two teams last spring, The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches was not completely finished. As our own Kevin Reichard wrote last year after his visit to the facility, the team spaces were functional and there were no big issues with the ballpark performance, but some concession stands were not up and running at the beginning of spring training and there were challenges with the parking and landscaping.
Over the next several months, work will be unfolding in some areas of the complex. While these projects are not expected to affect the fan experience over the upcoming spring training season, a final certificate of occupancy might not be issued by the city until June. More from The Palm Beach Post:
Over the next six weeks of spring training, players and fans shouldn’t notice too many signs of unfinished work, team officials said. In fact, fans watching practice sessions will enjoy a few upgrades, such as bleachers with new canopies offering shade at one Astros practice field and two Nationals practice fields.
But since the Astros and Nationals left town in April, construction crews have been busy fixing and replacing shoddy work from the hectic rush to open on time in January 2017.
Most of the major repairs have been done, including patched roof leaks, new turf in batting cages and the replacement of all windows in the complex. But other work such as repainting most of the steel and repairing concrete is continuing.
“Tremendous progress is being made and we are very close to the finish line,’’ Marc Taylor, the teams’ project manager, wrote Jan. 11 in a request to the city for a third extension of the facility’s temporary certificate of occupancy.
To this point, there have been some issues in regards to the ballpark’s construction process, as some subcontractors have issued complaints about not being paid while both teams have offered criticisms about general contractor Hunt Construction Group. Still, the ongoing work at the complex is expected to be finished before the extension for a certificate of occupancy expires on June 29.
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