UCI Taking Over Plans for Baseball Field

With the renovation of its baseball field four months behind schedule, UC Irvine has taken a do-it-yourself approach.

Irvine’s Design and Construction Services department has taken over plans for the $10-million project after open bids to complete the $3-million first stage of work, built atop the shell of the old 1,500-seat campus field, came in as much as 1 1/2 times over budget.

The first phase, which was expected to be finished by the end of summer, has been divided into smaller projects, and the school is hiring separate contractors to do the jobs. The approach is expected to save money and give Irvine more hands-on control over construction.

The savings will be important because Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said Irvine needs as much as $6 million more to complete the project.

The project’s first phase calls for the current field to be lowered three feet. The berm that rises to the outfield fence will be leveled and a playing surface will be installed. Dugouts, seats, restrooms, batting cages, landscaping and a grass knoll for spectators on the first-base side will be added.

When the final two phases are completed, perhaps by 2005 or 2006, the stadium will be lined by palm trees, expanded to seat 2,400 spectators, and include concession stands, clubhouses and coaches’ offices. School officials now say they are hoping the first phase can be completed by Thanksgiving.

“Getting it done by that time is very realistic,” Guerrero said. “The key thing for us is to get the field and landscaping done. We need to hit the ground running in the fall.”

Demolition of the old backstop and removal of aging light standards already has taken place, and grading of the playing surface is to begin in about two weeks.

Irvine is reviving baseball in 2002 after a 10-year hiatus. The Anteaters are scheduled to make their home debut Jan. 25 against San Diego. Coach John Savage has signed 19 recruits for his first team.

“We want to have the field in place so the team can practice there” when classes begin in late September, said Paul Hope, the assistant athletic director for facilities. “The stadium portion--batting cages and dugouts--will take us a little longer to build.”

This is not the first time Irvine has taken on its own building project. Hope said several years ago the school received high bids from contractors when it wanted to refurbish its track and soccer stadium. Design and Construction Services contractors and architects hired sub-contractors to do the work and saved approximately $1.2 million.

“You can get the job done significantly lower this way than if you hire a general contractor,” Hope said. The reason most campus projects aren’t done this way, he said, is most departments lack personnel familiar with what it takes to see the construction through.

Hope said money saved on landscaping for the field has resulted in an upgrade in the quality of sod for the playing surface. He believes additional savings will result in an increase in the number of stadium seats, from the 614 currently planned to as many as 870.