Adobe Acrobat (Adobe Web site) file shows details of ballpark progress. NOTE: This is a large file download (600K). (Mike Boyer graphics) | Open PDF Document |

        One year from today, Reds fans will watch Opening Day at the new, $330 million Great American Ball Park.

        Until then, they'll have to settle for Cinergy Field, while construction workers labor to get the job done on time.

        The site of the new ballpark is boxed in on all sides — by a river to the south, a highway to the north and arenas to the east and west. The site is barely large enough to hold the 1.2-million-square-foot facility, and has influenced everything from how the stadium is being put together to what it will look like.

        To build on the site, a 14,000-seat chunk of Cinergy Field was torn down. The flood wall of the new stadium comes to within 1 foot of Cinergy at its closest point, and actually touches the Firstar Center's plaza to the east.

        Cranes are erecting the steel in a counter-clockwise direction starting near Firstar, with crews trailing the cranes welding and attaching concrete seating risers.

        It's a game of chase that has, thus far, allowed crews to stay on a very demanding construction schedule.

        “The whole sequencing program is like a chess game,” said Project Manager Arnie Rosenberg. “Each piece has to move in a defined sequence, almost immediately behind the preceding movement.”

        The tight site also has influenced how the new stadium will look.

        Brick buildings outside of the stadium superstructure — namely the Reds' Hall of Fame, a “sponsorship zone” that features games and attractions for kids, and the Rose Garden — can't be completed until Cinergy Field is torn down. So architects decided to make the Reds' administration building on the northern edge detached as well.

        “It's meant to replicate the old warehouses that used to line the riverfront,” Mr. Rosenberg said.

        Since the work on the western fringe of the site can't be finished in time for Opening Day 2003, there will be a second grand opening for the stadium — in April 2004.

Lights, hammy, action SULLIVAN: Opening Day Fellowship of the swing Last Cinergy opener hardly nostalgic moment Major-league milestone for the Ol' Left-hander New park on track for Opening Day 2003 Opening Day parade map Out of the park Reds outlook is bright Cubs vs. Reds preview Reds notebook NL Central Preview NL East Preview NL West Preview AL Central Preview AL East Preview AL West Preview Colon blanks Angels Hope springs eternal on opening day

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