Texas Rangers Players Mazara, Choo Help Install First Steel Column at Globe Life Field
By Susan Schrock
Posted on June 15, 2018, June 15, 2018

The Texas Rangers and the City of Arlington celebrated the installation of the first structural steel column for the future $1.1 billion, retractable roof Globe Life Field.

Texas Rangers outfielders Nomar Mazara and Shin Soo Choo took turns helping to bolt the 48-foot-tall, 9,200-pound column in place during a media event Friday, June 15, 2018, at the ballpark construction site. "This is not a baseball bat," a construction worker said jokingly as he handed Choo a hefty wrench for the job.

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Texas Rangers Players Mazara, Choo Help Install First Steel Column at Globe Life FieldTexas Rangers Players Mazara, Choo Help Install First Steel Column at Globe Life Field1Texas Rangers Players Mazara, Choo Help Install First Steel Column at Globe Life Field2Texas Rangers Players Mazara, Choo Help Install First Steel Column at Globe Life FieldTexas Rangers Players Mazara, Choo Help Install First Steel Column at Globe Life FieldTexas Rangers Players Mazara, Choo Help Install First Steel Column at Globe Life Field

Over the next eight months, Manhattan Construction Company will make more than 9,700 "picks," which refers to the number of times that the site's 12 cranes will pick up structural steel columns and beams to build the seating bowl. This number does not include the amount of structural steel that will be used to build the retractable roof.

In all, Globe Life Field will include about 35,000 tons of steel.

"It's a labor-intensive process. It's piece-by-piece construction," said Rob Matwick, Texas Rangers executive vice president of business operations. "There are some days when it seems like it's going to take forever but I know the next couple years will go very, very fast."

The official groundbreaking for Globe Life Field took place on September 28, 2017, with construction beginning the following week. The new 1.7-million-square-foot ballpark, which will be located on 13 acres just south of the current Globe Life Park in Arlington, will include a retractable roof for climate control and shelter for fans during the hot summer months. Seating capacity is approximately 40,000 for Globe Life Field, which will open in March 2020. HKS is the design architect for the project and Manhattan Construction Company is the Construction Manager.

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