Stadium's site not a barrier

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Architects, engineers review job

Tuesday, August 25, 1998

BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HOK Sport designed Camden Yards in Baltimore.

HKS Inc. designed Miller Park in Milwaukee.

Ellerbe Becket designed Turner Field in Atlanta.

NBBJ designed L.A.'s Pacific Northwest Baseball Park.

The nation's biggest names in stadium design and construction are competing to create a new home for Major League Baseball's oldest franchise.

The big question, of course, is where the Reds ballpark will be built.

Hamilton County has a deal with the team to build a stadium west of the Crown at a site known as Baseball on Main or the Wedge. Officials expect to hire an architect and construction manager next month for the riverfront site.

But supporters of the rival Broadway Commons site, at Broadway and Reading Road, have pushed to put the stadium question on the ballot Nov. 3. If the Broadway measure wins, Hamilton County voters could change where the ballpark is built.

Even so, firms that met a Monday deadline to express interest in creating a new home for the Reds don't seem worried about a possible site switch.

"No project is without these issues," said Dawn O'Malley, a spokesperson for HOK Sport, a Kansas City, Mo., firm that has designed many of the nation's new ballparks. "We've learned to work through them and work with the client."

Bryan Trubey, a design principal who heads the sports division of HKS Inc. of Dallas, characterized the siting as an "internal" Cincinnati debate.

"I think you could do a good ballpark in either site," he said. "I think they'd be two totally different ballparks."

WHO'S WHO

These firms want to design the new Reds stadium: Ellerbe Becket Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., and Michael Schuster Associates, a local firm. Ellerbe Becket designed the retrofit of the 1996 Olympic Stadium into Atlanta's Turner Field and Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix for the Arizona Diamondbacks. HKS Inc. of Dallas and Baxter Hodell Donnelly Preston Inc., a local firm. HKS designed the Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, and Miller Park in Milwaukee. HOK Sport of Kansas City, Mo., and GBBN Architects, a local firm. This team has been consulting the county on stadium design. NBBJ Sports and Entertainment of Los Angeles and Glaser Associates, a local firm. This team designed the Bengals' new Paul Brown Stadium. NBBJ also designed Seattle's Pacific Northwest Baseball Park. These firms want to serve as construction manager: Huber, Hunt & Nichols Inc. of Indianapolis. Huber, Hunt & Nichols was construction manager for Riverfront Stadium, now known as Cinergy Field, and has done stadium consulting work for the county. Messer - Beers - Acme. Frank Messer & Sons Construction Co., a local firm, was construction manager for Argosy Casino, the Aronoff Center and the Hamilton County Courthouse renovation. Turner - Barton-Mallow - DAG. Turner Construction, a local firm, is in partnership with Barton-Mallow of Baltimore, and DAG, a local minority-owned firm, as construction manager for the Bengals' new stadium.

Some of the initial design work will involve talking with representatives of the county and team to find out what they want in the ballpark. That's called developing the architectural program, and it might not be finished by Nov. 3.

Still, Mr. Trubey said often the design can take shape at the same time the architectural program is developed. But he said it was difficult to say how much work would have to be redone if the ballpark's site changed a couple months into the process.

HOK's Ms. O'Malley said such changes happen in projects as big as ballparks. "The design is a long process, and we go back to the drawing board many, many times," she said.

Four national sports facilities designers have paired with local firms and are competing to win the work: Ellerbe Becket Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., HKS, HOK Sport, and NBBJ Sports and Entertainment, of Los Angeles.

Hamilton County's selection committee will decide whether to interview all four or narrow the list, said Gary VanHart, the county's director of public works.

A recommendation is scheduled to go to county commissioners early next month, he said.

County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, a riverfront supporter, said if the site changes to Broadway Commons, the county might have to start over with the architect selection process.

The site matters less to the companies that want to oversee construction of the stadium.

Building a stadium at the so-called Wedge site would be tricky because part of Cinergy Field would have to be demolished while the Reds continued to play there so the new stadium could be built. County officials estimate a new riverfront ballpark will cost $297 million once partial demolition of Cinergy Field and site work are added to the cost of the stadium itself.

"It's a different set of challenges, but it's certainly going to be a challenge at either site," said Pete Strange, president of Frank Messer & Sons Construction Co., which is competing for the job.

Certainly, site is a bigger deal for the architects who design the stadium, agreed Ken Butler, vice president and general manager of Turner Construction, which also wants the job. "You tell us where it is," he said, "and we can build it."

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