Cuts are being taken this off-season at U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox.

Rather than baseball bats, the implements being swung are construction tools, and the ballpark itself is taking the strikes.

The angled canopy and upper eight rows are being chopped from the South Side playing field formerly known as New Comiskey Park as part of a $28 million renovation. The park's Himalayan height - frequently knocked among fans since the facility originally opened in 1991 - will be reduced 20 ft. and 6,600 seats will be eliminated from the upper deck.

"The No. 1 challenge for us was to address fans' displeasure with the upper bowl - in particular the steepness of it and the perceived steepness of it," said Don Williams, vice president of Dallas-based HKS Architects, the designer. Indeed, the steepest part, at 36 degrees, will be removed, though the remaining part of the upper deck with 35-degree angle will be retained.

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Two other key elements include the addition of a truss-framed horizontal roof and the enclosure of the upper-deck concourse with 25-ft.-tall translucent panels, said Dan Polvere, director of development and facilities for the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, the Chicago-based landlord.

The roof, which will cover the back 13 of 21 rows, will help add intimacy and charm to the ballpark. And, the panels will cut down on wind, an important consideration in Chicago during the early and late parts of the baseball season.

"Another thing is we've backlit all those panels," Williams added. "That whole area will glow at night."

Construction is expected to be finished before Opening Day of the 2004 baseball campaign in early April.

The $68 million deal that gave away naming rights was structured to bring in $40 million for the project, Polvere said. The remaining payout will be distributed over 20 years.

The current project is the fourth of five phases, and the previous three stages - each completed in consecutive off-seasons starting in 2000-2001 - cost about $41 million, Polvere said. Highlights included adding about 2,000 seats along the foul lines in front of existing seating, relocating the moat-like bullpens in the outfield and building an elevated fan deck in center field for a patio atmosphere.

Several elements are expected for the $12 million final phase to come in the subsequent off-season, including the completion of interactive activities for kids and work on other items still in discussion.

"It's something we might flesh out in July or so and go out to bid at the end of summer," Polvere said.

When fully completed for the beginning of the 2005 season, the renovation is expected to have cost about $81 million. No taxes will have been assessed for the work on the publicly owned facility with capacity for 42,000 fans.

Park's Partial Dismantling

The renovation is more akin to a disassembly than a demolition, and this was done between mid-October and early December.

Holes were cut in the metal canopy so chains could be inserted for removal, said Gary Hill, project executive in Chicago with Turner Construction Co., the general contractor.
Making "Swiss cheese" out of the panels was also done to prevent them from becoming wind-catching sails during lowering, he added.

The light towers along each foul line were lowered via crane. The two on the left-field side went into a fenced area of 35th Street for disassembly, and those on the right-field side were stored in the parking lot between 35th and 37th streets.

"Some of the [old] lamps are going to high schools," Hill said.

The seats were detached from risers and removed. The concrete raker tips that previously held the risers were cut and lowered in about 40 different picks.

Precautions were taken to ensure worker safety, especially during the severing of the raker tips, Hill said. To guard against the tips from falling, scaffold towers were built below the tips with collars bolted on, and the saw and crane were hooked on the tips during cutting.

In mid-December, the earliest elements of the new construction had begun, including supports for the superstructure to come. About 2,000 tons of steel will be erected.

New columns will be placed about five rows from the back to support the roof and trusses, HKS' Williams said. About 300 seats will be obstructed.

Framing the roof will be 260 trusses, and a metal deck and rooftop will complete the cover. The replacement light towers and lamps will be installed and fed with power.

"The idea was to make it look like a traditional ballpark and less like a stadium," Williams said.

The existing precast concrete seating risers not removed were X-rayed with a ground-penetrating device to ensure nothing essential will be cored through.

Ballpark Logistics

Ensuring the proper placement of construction materials and machinery, such as the three cranes for demolition, was a key element of the project logistics.

Putting the largest crane outside the field for the demolition was always the plan, but the placement for steel erection was considered inside the park, Hill said.

"There was a certain draw for us to put the cranes in on the field, but we eventually let it go," he said. "To build a big, heavy crane-way - and then take it out and repair the field - was going to cause too much damage."

The decision resulted in a new issue because putting the machine on the outside required a long reach due in part to the park's ramps. A crane that had 120 ft. of vertical reach and 130 ft. of horizontal reach was selected.

Two lanes of 35th Street and the adjacent sidewalk were closed to ensure pedestrian safety during the movement of the crane around the ballpark perimeter. An interlocking plastic mat was laid to protect the ground against damage.

Doing major construction in an occupied building was also a matter. Offices for ISFA and the White Sox are in the park, and the stadium club is a rented for wedding receptions and other parties.

People were told, sometimes more than once a week, which parking lots and which specific entrances they could use.

Steeling the Schedule

Ensuring work is done before players take the field in April was the ownership's top concern, said ISFA's Polvere.

"Our biggest crowd is usually on the first day," he added.

The disassembly was done over two shifts to ensure a quick jump on the work, and one shift was later instituted. The timetable is being met partly because of the mild fall and early winter, though Sunday and late shifts under lights will be allowed if inclement weather causes missed days.

"I don't want to do that unless I have to because of shadows," Hill said. "Iron workers don't like to hang structure under lights unless you got great lights."

Even the approximately 1,000 sheets of structural-steel drawings were put on the fast track. The fabricator, structural engineer, architect and others have met face-to-face each Wednesday to go over drawings and requests-for-information, and individuals who reviewed drawings worked on Sundays.

"Everybody said if we want to get it done, this is the way it has to work," Hill said.