A little more than three years ago ground was broken Downtown on the site for the Padres’ new $294 million ballpark. After a 16-month delay to deal with lawsuits, the project started ramping up in February 2002 and by April was going full throttle. “That’s when we got the full crew back on site,” says Zach Davis, associate ballpark development director for the Padres. “It was all basically the same crew. We had a couple subs drop out but we have a very high retention rate.”

Today the ballpark is more than 80 percent complete. Milestones include construction reaching the halfway point in December 2002, the structure topping out in February 2003, the erection of the right and left field foul poles in June and July, respectively, and the installation of the field turf in August. Field lights were powered on in September and the final seat should be bolted in next month.

Completion is targeted for Feb. 15, leaving plenty of time to plan exhibition games and to work out any kinks before opening day in early April.

The ballpark project team is San Diego Ballpark Builders, a joint venture of Clark Construction Co., Douglas E. Barnhart and Roel Construction Co. Roel is a late addition to the lineup, having stepped up to the plate for Nielsen Dillingham Builders Inc. in January 2002, when it acquired the bulk of Nielsen’s assets. “It’s been a very smooth process,” Davis says. “They retained a lot of people from Nielsen and brought a few of their own. But really did a nice job in terms of transition in the work flow.”

These three general contractors oversee the 60 subs working on the project. “We’ve got close to 550 guys out here every day,” Davis says. “With all the different trades that are out here, thousands of people have come and worked on this project.”

Working on such a high-profile project is a thrill, says Doug Barnhart. “This is really a combined team effort and the process has been smooth,” he says. “Maybe lightning will strike twice and we will get to work on the Chargers’ stadium.” Barnhart is such a fan that his company, in partnership with two others, already has purchased a new box in the ballpark.

The $294 million price tag for the ballpark is “pretty good bang for your buck,” Davis says. “In terms of some of these other ballparks that have gone over budget, in terms of total cost of square footage, we’re doing really well.” Safeco Field in Seattle went $100 million over budget for a final cost of $517 million, making it the most expensive ballpark now in use, “But,” Davis says, “of course we don’t have a retractable roof.”