The New Stadium...
March 2002
remember, all photos are thumbnails - click on them to get the bigger version
When you see
you can click on it and get a really big, non-zoomed version of the day's photo!
Every Saturday I take an extra large photo and
every Sunday I replay the photo from the same day the year before.
Friday,
March 1, 1:30 p.m. - I caught them installing
something at the top on the other side of the big
scoreboard but I couldn't tell what it was. I did hear
today for a well place source that the rusty thingies (or
Falsework Towers) that were with us so long and served Safeco
before us have gone to scrapyard heaven. We were,
apparently, their last hurrah... May we have a
moment of silence, please. |
 Saturday,
March 2, 3 p.m. - You can see all the dirt I've been
talking about in today's XL photo. They have been
bringing it in by the truckloads. But, not today.
Today was a quiet day on the site. There was a soccer game
at Safeco Field, which, if they have it next year, I
suspect it will be at our new stadium. |
 Sunday,
March 3, 1:30 p.m. - I think the contrast between this
year and last year is one of the most dramatic yet.
We were just beginning to feel like it was a stadium this
time last year. Yet another new batch of pix at
First and Goal. |
Monday,
March 4, 5 p.m. - Well, we have the daily late
afternoon lineup of porta potties (see circle). The
dirt moving is taking shape. It's not real easy to
see in the photograph, but I put a couple of arrows where
they have created specific beds - I'm guessing for
plantings. This plaza is going to be so nice. |
Tuesday,
March 5, 3:15 p.m. - More dirt work and no late
afternoon porta potty line up today. Still no
painting but I can see - with my binoculars - through a
little hole beyond the grand scoreboard that they have
added some more seats into that lower (but not lowest)
tier of seats. |
Wednesday,
March 6, 10 a.m. - You should think cold and windy
when you look at this photo. The weather people
predicted snow which we did not get but we sure got the
cold and windy. Can't see where they did much today
except for more dirt pushing around. |
Thursday,
March 7, 10 a.m. - Generally, I take about 3 pictures
a day and then when I post the entry (generally about 5ish
in the afternoon), I pick the best photo of the day.
Usually I get one mid-morning, one at lunch and one just
before I post (if it's daylight still). For the last
two days, the mid-morning one is the only decent one of
the day. You are missing, with this scheme, however,
the now daily afternoon lineup of porta potties. I'm
just sure that they are sending them all back in shifts as
likely the real plumbing is all in place and working. |
Friday,
March 8, 10 a.m. - Yep, that's snow. And last
night we had lightening and thunder - very unusual for
Seattle. Wild weather. By noon the snow had
pretty much melted here. New pix and
First and Goal mainly of the field work going on
which, of course, we can't see at all. The First and
Goal folks have sure gotten better about putting up timely
photos. |
 Saturday,
March 9, 1:30 p.m. - Not a whole lot going on today
but it's not totally dead either. I saw a couple of
trucks moving around. I drove by the west side today
which is the part on Occidental and they have very nearly
finished all the sidewalks along the way. It's
looking very nice. |
 Sunday,
March 10, 12:30 p.m. - The lovely plaza is, today,
pretty much a mud field as we've had a slow steady rain
all day. For this day last year, I decided to go
back two years and grab one of the final Kingdome days.
It looks kind of sad, doesn't it? |
Monday,
March 11, 3:30 p.m. - More dirt and more porta
potties. Do you think we're in a rut here? The
shadows kind of hide it but we have a new dirt mound in
front of the grand staircase. I love how the dirt
moving machines all line up in their places at the end of
the day. |
Tuesday,
March 12, 5 p.m. - Today there was a lot of moving
around on the site - trucks and people, but I can't tell
what they did. There's some new stuff on the top of
the grand staircase but I think it's just waiting there
until it goes to where it's supposed to be and I can't
really tell what it is anyway. Still no painting of
that north tower. |
Wednesday,
March 13, 4 p.m. - Nothing much besides dirt moving
happened on our side today. BUT, on the south west
end of the stadium they placed the first of the artwork.
The
Seattle Post Intelligencer had a nice little photo of
it this morning. The also called the stadium the
Washington State Football/Soccer Stadium. No way,
that's going to stick. |
 Thursday,
March 14, 1:15 p.m. - You get a bonus picture today,
thanks to Greg. He spotted this on Dan
Sherbeck's webcam
this afternoon and you can't see it
in my pic. But, they laid a big 'pond' of what looks
(through my binoculars) like concrete! You can also
get a good look at today's porta potty line up. Also
on last night's tv news, I heard that the field turf will
start to go down on May 1 and the things they are
'staging' at the top of the grand staircase are more
bleachers! Now, that's not a bad day's report! |
Friday,
March 15, 3 p.m. - I went out to check today on the
cement pond and it is, indeed, cement - looks like the
Plaza is starting to take real shape. Rich found
this great link on the Seahawks site about the new
scoreboards. Interesting stuff. I've added a
link to Dan Sherbeck's webcam at the top of the page.
It's going to be good viewing from here on out since it's
showing the entrance to the entrance. |
  Saturday,
March 16, 11:30 a.m. - Bonus picture today because we
had some important action that doesn't show in the other
pictures. We lost offices! Circled are two
trailer offices being trucked out and the second circle
shows where they were (the one that's still there in the
photo is now gone, too!)... And, you can see that we
got more snow. In the regular photos it's still snowing
but it's way to warm to stick on the ground and it's
really just the occasional flake now. |
 Sunday,
March 17, 2 p.m. - No snow today! It's chilly
but the sun has been out all day. Tony from Olympia
got a tour of the stadium last week and picked up some
interesting info about the plaza. He reports that
the entrance where the tickets will be taken (and where
there will probably be a high iron gate) will be way out
where the large berm is. This will be just in front of
where the big dirt piles are now. He says the gates
will be open during the week so that the public can enjoy
the plaza and walk up the stairs to even see the field.
That will be very cool. |
Monday,
March 18, 4:45 p.m. - If you feel like you are
looking through a mist at today's photo, you are right.
It's been 'misty' all day. But, that didn't stop the
dirt moving or the Daily PPP (That's Porta Potty Parade).
Wonder how many of those things they had on site and how
many more they have to send back to the farm. Guess
I could have counted... |
Tuesday,
March 19, 2:15 p.m. - No PPP today! Wonder if
they've run out? It was kind of rainy all day so
mainly all I saw was more mud moving. Greg found a
really cool article about the bleachers in today's
Seattle Times. |
Wednesday,
March 20, 2:30 p.m. - Yep... snow... big big flakes.
It snowed most of the afternoon but melted as it hit the
ground. It stopped down here at sea level about 5
p.m. So far, this has been a wild March as far as
Seattle weather is concerned. They are still pushing
dirt around the site. It's really hard to see a
difference. I see a lot of dirt coming into the
site. They must just be packing it down. |
Thursday,
March 21, 3:45 p.m. - Yesterday snow - Today Spring.
Wild. The crane was putting something on the south
side of the scoreboard but I couldn't see what.
Anybody watching the counter? It's only 100 days
until the stadium will be finished. Hard to believe. |
Friday,
March 22, 2:30 p.m. - They filled in more of the
sidewalk today but unfortunately it missed both my shot
and Dan's web cam. But, they are really working on
the Plaza. |
 Saturday,
March 23, noon - There are a fair number (for a
Saturday) of hard-hatted people walking around the site
today. A few here and a few there. It's kind
of strange. In today's big picture you can see the
new sidewalk. It's along Occidental which is the
street between me and the stadium. |
 Sunday,
March 24, noon:30 - They have been testing out the
roof lights on the west side for at least the last two
nights. I didn't know it until someone told me
yesterday and, sure enough, they were on again last night.
The lighting is truly spectacular. And, speaking of
lighting, if you've checked Dan's
webcam
lately you can see the concrete section they have
poured is covered with little dots. I did some
recognizance work and each of those dots is an upside down
tin bucket. I'm thinking they might be covering some
kind of inlaid lighting. Oh, and, this day two years
ago was the day before the day before The implosion.
You can see the plastic they put up outside my terrace. |
Monday,
March 25, 4 p.m. - More porta potties today! And
more definition in the dirt piles. Just off the
lower right of my photo they are laying more new sidewalk
down every day. You can watch them do it on Dan's
web cam. And, thanks to Greg for reminding me
to look,
First and Goal has some new pix up - including one of
the plaza buckets, which actually do turn out to be
lights!! |
Tuesday,
March 26, 1:30 p.m. - I am getting worried that they
have totally forgotten to paint this northwest end.
It would make such a difference in our view. I
wonder what the hold up is? |
 Wednesday,
March 27, 4:15 p.m. - I missed a big one. On
Monday, apparently, they installed hand rails for the
bleacher seats! You can see them on that incline
leading up the grand scoreboard. Last night I went
over to check Dan's webcam and found this amazing shot on
the right. They had the roof lights on both sides
but you can really see them here on the west side. I
would imagine they make quite the spectacle if you are
flying over at night. |
Thursday,
March 28, 4:15 p.m. - It's been a while since we've
had a red circle... but, we've got one today. They
have some kind of a form built out there in the middle of
the Plaza area... maybe a little wall? This
morning's
Post Intelligencer had a stadium update story and two
good photos from inside. And, today is my 53rd
birthday! |
Friday,
March 29, 3:15 p.m. - there's another little wall
going up in the plaza but it's just outside this photo -
you can see it tomorrow. They are really getting
some definition to the dirt - you can see beds developing.
And they are laying more concrete every day. |
 Saturday,
March 30, 2:30 p.m. - Well, I've got some insider info
for you! The painting is about ready to begin.
They are waiting for things to warm up a bit. They
need a steady 40 degrees or more to get going.
Should be soon!! In today's big picture, I circled
the new little retaining wall. You can't really tell
that's what it is - you'll have to trust me. Oh and
I put an arrow on the new sidewalks which show up for the
first time in this week's XL shot. |
 Sunday,
March 31, noon - This time last year was a time when
the site was changing every day. Remember the dog
houses on the arch? And, the rusty thingies? Wow.
These days we really can't see a lot of the changes. They
have 62,000 seats in. When the sun is right, I can
see through the incline there and see that they still have
a lot of bleacher seats to be installed yet. Oh and
the field turf installation starts in mid-April. |
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