Angels Ready to Turn It On

The lights were on, even if the Angels were not home . . . yet.

For three nights this week, team officials have been testing the new outfield lights to make sure they would be ready for Saturday’s Freeway Series game against the Dodgers. The game will be the first at Anaheim Stadium since work started on a renovation project that will continue until the start of the 1998 season.

“American League officials will do the final testing [Wednesday],” said Kevin Uhlich, director of stadium operations. “But we did a lot of testing and the lighting is better than it was last year.”

Old seats are stacked in the back of the parking lot. Construction equipment, behind a fence beyond center field, will remain for the season. The “football press entry” sign still hangs outside Gate 3, even though it has been awhile since the Rams left for St. Louis. But, on Saturday, the Angels will play at home.

Of course, the fanfare, Disney officials say, will come next year, after work is finished on the $100-million project they hope will make Anaheim Stadium among the best facilities in baseball.

The Angels began setting up shop at the stadium Wednesday morning, when equipment arrived from the team’s spring training complex in Tempe, Ariz. Still, the stadium was littered with wet paint signs and there were a few rough edges that needed smoothing over.

The results of the renovation project’s first phase--the razing of the outfield seats and football press box and the disheveled seating areas--will be evident Saturday night. But Disney officials are confident conditions for the fans will be tolerable.

Construction will continue through the season, mostly in the club level on the first base side and the Diamond Club and on 10 dugout suites that will be located behind home plate.

Angel officials were concerned about repeating the problems the A’s experienced with the Oakland Coliseum renovation, which forced the team to open last season in Las Vegas. Fans in Oakland were put off by the construction, which continued during batting practice.

“Construction crews will stop before batting practice,” Uhlich said. “People are coming here to see baseball, not hear jack hammers.”

Construction crews have worked around the clock at times since the start of the year. Now, all they are waiting on is approval on the lighting in the stadium from state safety inspectors, according to Uhlich.

“We are concerned for the fans’ experience,” Uhlich said.

Which, in Anaheim, means there will still be cinnamon rolls. Just where they can be purchased is unknown.The concession area directly behind home plate that featured the rolls has been closed.

Other fan comforts have been arranged. Originally, season-ticket holders on the third base side club level were to moved to the first base side at midseason to allow for more construction. They will remain on the third base side all season, while work is done on first-base side will be closed the entire season. The third base side will undergo its renovation after the season.

Still, most of the planned amenities will not be ready until next season. Those include the 10 dugout suites--which will have window views of the Angels’ batting cages underneath the stands--and the restaurants located behind home plate and on the club level in the right-field corner.