Building Up the Big A

Even when the Angels are on the road, there is still plenty of activity at Anaheim Stadium.

Construction crews are in the middle of Phase II of the $100-million renovation of Anaheim Stadium, which began in April and is expected to be completed by October.

More than 80 workers are renovating the club-level suites, relocating the bullpens, building the outfield concourse and putting the finishing touches on the dugout-level suites, said Kevin Uhlich, director of stadium operations.

“Despite all the [completed] work you see on the outside, we do have our challenges,” he said. “You can do a paint-and-paper renovation, but we’re doing major structural changes on an existing framework. It’s created some interesting problems, and our engineers and architects have had to work extra hard.”

Uhlich added that when the team returns from its 11-game trip through New York, Boston and Cleveland, the fans probably won’t notice any dramatic changes to the stadium.

“Nothing will be finished,” he said. “Most of the suites on the first-base line will have their steel structural extensions complete. And the Jumbotron [scoreboard] will have the welding and bolting done to beef up its foundation. But the work is so intricate, people probably won’t notice.”

Phase I, which was completed in April, consisted of renovating the baseball press box, removing outfield seats, constructing dugout-level suites, tearing down the football press box and relocating the electronic scoreboard.

Phase III, which begins in October and is expected to continue until the 1998 season opener, includes building the stadium’s exterior plaza, stair and elevator towers, renovating the food-service facilities, building a new stadium club, an outfield “fun-zone”--waterfall, picnic area, band stage, food court--and installing new seats throughout the stadium.