Construction crews will use a wrecking ball — and maybe a butter knife — to cut a chunk out of Cinergy Field this summer.

        It'll cost between $4.5 million and $8.5 million for the work, which will change where fans park and how they move around Cinergy Field during the stadium's last two years.

        That's the range of bids opened Thursday from six companies that want to do the tricky job.

        A large piece of the stadium's outfield wall — from the left-field foul pole to right center field — must be removed after this baseball season so crews have enough room to begin building the Reds' new ballpark.

        But they can't just wreck Cinergy in the process, because baseball will continue being played in the stadium for two years after the wall is knocked down.

        “We'll use a wrecking ball on most of it, but when we get close to the expansion joints we'll have to be more careful,” said Arnold Rosenberg, an executive for project manager Parsons Brinckerhoff. “We'll break the welds on the precast concrete and lift them out.”

        So the wedge has to be taken out delicately — like using a butter knife to take a slice out of a very big concrete and steel pie.

        Mr. Rosenberg said about 20 percent of the stadium will be removed, and fans can watch the new ballpark come out of the ground while watching the Reds play ball in 2001 and 2002.

        Home plate and the home-run fence will be moved in 10 feet after the bite is taken out of the stadium.

        In addition, large chunks of Cinergy's plaza will be removed and a new bridge off the Roebling Suspension Bridge will provide an access point for fans looking to park at the stadium.

        A bridge linking the Fir star Center to Cinergy also will be ripped out.

        The new ballpark is scheduled to be ready for Opening Day, 2003.

        Mr. Rosenberg said the only comparable project he knows of is in Atlanta, where Olympic Stadium was built. Then seats were removed to make Turner Field for the Braves.

        “This is one of the most unique aspects of building the new stadium; part of the footprint is in the existing Cinergy footprint,” Mr. Rosenberg said. “From a construction standpoint, you couldn't get any tighter.”

        The overall budget for preparing to build the new ballpark is $49.9 million. Bids were opened Thursday from six companies that want to knock the wedge out of Cinergy and, two years later, tear the whole thing down.

        The wedge part of the project was estimated to cost $10.5 million — by far the largest and most difficult aspect of the project.

        All the bids came in well under that.

        Cincinnati's O'Rourke Wrecking Co. had the low bid of $3.9 million. Added to that will be another contract of at least $500,000 to pay for general trade contractors, bringing the total to about $4.5 million if the two lowest bidders get the work.

        Mr. Rosenberg said he was “astounded” when he heard how low the O'Rourke bid was.

        “That was a very pleasant surprise,” he said.

        Jackie Schurger, vice president of O'Rourke, said being local helps the company keep its costs down.

        O'Rourke has done several other large demolition projects, such as removing the top 20 decks of the Carew Tower parking garage and demolition of the 30-story Sander Hall at the University of Cincinnati.

        “Being here in town always gives us a little bit of help because all of our equipment is here and we have no housing expenses for our personnel,” Ms. Schurger said.

        Other bids for the demolition project include:

King Wrecking Co., Cincinnati, $7.5 million.

        ăCarl Bolander & Sons, St. Paul, Minn., $5 million.

        ăBianchi Trison Corp., Syracuse, N.Y., $5.9 million.

        ăDore & Associates, Bay City, Mich., $8.5 million.

        ăD.H. Griffin Wrecking Co., Greensboro, N.C., $7.2 million.

        Trade contractor bids ranged in price from $875,000 to $518,000.

       

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