Phillies Digging a Hole for Themselves

PHILADELPHIA-Heavy equipment rolled into the Veteran Stadium North Parking Lot here last week and excavation is now under way for the new Phillies stadium.

The 43,000-seat, natural-grass-and-dirt field venue will be built just east of Veterans Stadium on the north side of Pattison Avenue, between 11th and Darien streets, on a 21-acre site in South Philly. A hole will be dug 23 ft. below street level for the recessed seating bowl at the new baseball-only park, which is scheduled to open in 2004.

The ballpark is being designed by local architecture firm Ewing Cole Cherry Brott and Kansas City-based HOK Sport & Venue & Event. A joint venture between Philadelphia-based builder L.F. Driscoll and Hunt Construction Group, headquartered in Indianapolis, will serve as construction managers on the project.