ABC-7 cameras get an inside look at ballpark progress

There’s a tremendous amount of the ballpark project that you can’t see from the street.

Sunday afternoon city and El Paso Chihuahuas officials took ABC-7 up-down and underground to give us an inside look at the ballpark.

“We’re seventy something days away from opening day April. Every week there’s something happening here,” said Chihuahuas general manager Brad Taylor. He says there will be a little something for everyone.

“This is not area just to see a sports event, there are going to be cultural elements to this ballpark which I think everybody will be able to appreciate, with arts, stained glass windows, different historical pieces, some of it from the baseball history and heritage of El Paso,” said Taylor.

As constructions crews zipped by with ladders Sunday afternoon, tour-guides showed ABC-7 the view from one of the twenty-four suites overlooking the soon-to-be field.

Talyor said the suites are all booked for the season, except the party rooms.

Project engineer Alan Shubert showed ABC-7 the metal work that alludes to the work at El Paso’s historic train station.

Elements of the historic Kress building will also be built into the tower.

Even the bricks laid were picked out to resemble bricks used at St. Patricks Cathedral.

They say the idea’s to make the building belong to the city.

What some people might find most surprising are the underground tunnels below the stadium.

They’ll house engineering offices and the clubhouse.

Taylor says the clubhouse be equipped with the latest amenities.

“We’ll also have a weight room, we’ll have a hydro therapy room that the trainers can use. So there’s a lot of things that will be in place so that the players can come here and worry about nothing more than getting better everyday so that they can play for the padres,” said Taylor.

The underground facilities will also include a batting tunnel.

On the ground, it doesn’t look much like a ball field but a complex plumbing system is already installed.

It will keep the natural turf green but also dry when the players make it out onto the field.

Larry Diaz general super intendant for Jordan Hunt tells ABC-7 at this point

90 percent of the workers on this site are from El Paso

and there working feverishly to get this project done.

They also want to enjoy the ballpark with there family’s.