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Softball Field- Not Finished

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400SOAVE

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Jan 24, 2009
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As of today, this is what the softball field looks like.

It's been more than two months. Essex County must be kidding. I'm sure the team wants to get in there to practice.

What's the excuse for this? The weather has been perfect. It has rained once in about the last seven weeks. If this was private property, I'm sure it would have been completed weeks ago.

Paige Smith ‏@CoachSmith2121 4h4 hours ago
End of day two @SHUSoftball

 
There must be something the Pirate faithful can do to help this along. Is there a contact at the County that we can respectfully, but frequently, reach out to concerning this?
 
400SOAVE said:
As of today, this is what the softball field looks like.

It's been more than two months. Essex County must be kidding. I'm sure the team wants to get in there to practice.

What's the excuse for this? The weather has been perfect. It has rained once in about the last seven weeks. If this was private property, I'm sure it would have been completed weeks ago.

Paige Smith ‏@CoachSmith2121 4h4 hours ago
End of day two @SHUSoftball

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Just did a Trove interview last night with Kevin Sponzo. Hopefully he'll shed light on this issue. If not (I'll get the story tomorrow) I'll reach out to him and ask what's happening.
 
If the contracts were let out by Essex County then you have to follow the lowest bidder rules on public contracts and in far too many cases you wind up with less then a competent contractor which often leads to construction delays and all that goes with it.
 
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hallgrad80 said:
If the contracts were let out by Essex County then you have to follow the lowest bidder rules on public contracts and in far too many cases you wind up with less then a competent contractor which often leads to construction delays and all that goes with it.
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Not to mention unions, in most cases, limitations in work hours, conditions, delays in shipping, etc etc etc.
 
just relocate it to the Essex County recreation Complex... and it'll get done lickety split
 
SHU Softball ‏@SHUSoftball Aug 27

Move-in Day at The Hall, plenty of movin' at the field as well! #HALLin



The picture above is from August 27. The picture below is 19 days later. That's all the work that was done in almost three weeks. I'm a nobody in these matters. However, this seems unacceptable to me.

SHU Softball ‏@SHUSoftball Sep 15

We have turf!! Left field looking
1f4af.png
right about now. #HALLin



 
They haven't even started with the bleachers/press box, and the batting cages and bullpens.

We all know about the dreaded bleacher shortage. China has cornered the market. Yeah. That's it.

It's interesting. I don't think I've seen such a dark infield. That was not the color on the rendering.

It will be awesome to celebrate the ribbon cutting with turkey and stuffing. Don't forget the yams. The Pirate will bring the pie.

Have they at least finished the tennis courts or are they saving that for the Christmas tree lighting?
 
Paragraph from our Trove story with Kevin Sponzo.

The softball field recently received a new turf surface and will soon feature bleachers that expand the seating capacity to approximately 700 spectators, up from the current number of 250. The field, which is expected to be completed by November, will also have a new closed in press box, fencing, dugouts, benches and equipment cubbies.
 
That looks like
400SOAVE said:
They haven't even started with the bleachers/press box, and the batting cages and bullpens.

We all know about the dreaded bleacher shortage. China has cornered the market. Yeah. That's it.

It's interesting. I don't think I've seen such a dark infield. That was not the color on the rendering.

It will be awesome to celebrate the ribbon cutting with turkey and stuffing. Don't forget the yams. The Pirate will bring the pie.

Have they at least finished the tennis courts or are they saving that for the Christmas tree lighting?
Click to expand...

Field looks great, not sure why people keep harping on them not being done yet. My understanding always was they would be completed in the fall. There are no games this time of year, these projects always run slightly behind, as long as fields are ready to go in the spring for games that is all that really matters. Was a pretty major project, total redo of the existing field, etc..
 
seton1996 said:
That looks like


Field looks great, not sure why people keep harping on them not being done yet. My understanding always was they would be completed in the fall. There are no games this time of year, these projects always run slightly behind, as long as fields are ready to go in the spring for games that is all that really matters. Was a pretty major project, total redo of the existing field, etc..
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From afar it looks great. Plus in speaking with Kevin Sponzo everything is on schedule.
No complaints here.
 
The initial announcement said it would be done in September.

According to the initial announcement on June 13, "Completion of both projects is expected to be in September." Now they say November.

http://www.shupirates.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/071315aaa.html

In his August newsletter, Patrick Lyons said the project "should be completed in September."

http://www.shupirates.com/sports/pirate-blue/spec-rel/seha-ad-newsletter-aug15.html

Contractors should honor contracts. If people here find this acceptable, they must work in government where completing projects late and over budget is standard.

Meanwhile, the softball team cannot practice and play their fall games on their new home field.

Don't get snippy with me because you're willing to cheerfully accept this.
 
I haven't followed the construction of the facility, but as a former minor league baseball stadium operations director, I can tell you its best to take your time and get it right the first time. Any small mistake can end up being a total disaster.
 
Imagine being 400SOAVE? After in the past talking shop re:TV & radio stuff on here, you now seem like the absolute worst. congratulations. what do you do for fun, wave your stick at passing cars and shake your fist?
 
I just feel bad for the coaches and the players. I'm sure they were looking forward to using it before the cold weather hit.

At least they can look forward to spring.
 
hbkmyr said:
I haven't followed the construction of the facility, but as a former minor league baseball stadium operations director, I can tell you its best to take your time and get it right the first time. Any small mistake can end up being a total disaster.
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Plus, there are construction delays. If something can't be delivered on time or a contractor isn't able to finish something, then that will delay other parts of the project. Something simple not being delivered may impact the rest of the schedule causing a snowball effect with the delays. For a project of this magnitude and involving so many parties (the "ownership" alone is split), it's pretty good that they have the actual field built (just the field, not the other items) by September.

Here's a scaled-down, real-life example. A buddy of mine is building a garage and the wrong number of windows were delivered. The windows are custom and require three to four weeks for manufacturing and delivery. So something as minor as two missing windows triggered a huge delay because it impacted the interior and exterior construction schedule, which impacted the electrical and other items that needed to be completed by the inspection date, which delayed the inspection that is scheduled based on the construction plan and you go to the back of the line when the inspection is rescheduled.
 
400SOAVE said:
I just feel bad for the coaches and the players. I'm sure they were looking forward to using it before the cold weather hit.

At least they can look forward to spring.
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400SOAVE said:
The initial announcement said it would be done in September.

According to the initial announcement on June 13, "Completion of both projects is expected to be in September." Now they say November.

http://www.shupirates.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/071315aaa.html

In his August newsletter, Patrick Lyons said the project "should be completed in September."

http://www.shupirates.com/sports/pirate-blue/spec-rel/seha-ad-newsletter-aug15.html

Contractors should honor contracts. If people here find this acceptable, they must work in government where completing projects late and over budget is standard.

Meanwhile, the softball team cannot practice and play their fall games on their new home field.

Don't get snippy with me because you're willing to cheerfully accept this.
Click to expand...

First of all announcement was made July 13, not June 13th as you suggest. It said expected to be completed in September, not will be completed in September. Second, I believe at time of the announcement the project still had to go out for bid, etc. Seems like middle July announcement to September completion, was not realistic expectation.

Also, you do not know if SHU, Essex County or someone else made changes to the project? Other factors may have come in to play, delays with deliveries, problems during construction, discovers that cause plans to change.

I wish it was ready two months ago, but it was not.

Well it looks like the actual field portion is just about done, so hopefully the team can start practicing on the fields in the not too distance future. Things like the stands, press box, etc, are all bonuses, that really don't need to be done to practice or even play games.

Unfortunately, all estimates for construction are never on time, especially with public projects.
 
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Correct, the link I posted said July, not June. That was my error.

It's the completion date that's important.

And the Essex County release said, "Work is scheduled to be completed in September." It does not say anything about a portion of the work, or the field. There are no qualifications.

How do they go from September to November? That's a major miscalculation.

http://essexcountynj.org/essex-coun...essex-county-continues-partnership-with-seto/

The Setonian reported, "The projects, which are set to be completed in September – just in time for fall sports."

http://www.thesetonian.com/2015/07/15/softball-tennis-teams-beneficiaries-of-facilities-renovations/

The company doing the work is very experienced. There is no way a project like this should take so much longer than expected. You can post a thousand excuses on behalf of the county. It doesn't make it OK.

http://appliedlt.com

We'll have to agree to disagree. Meanwhile, the softball team's schedule says TBA about a game scheduled at home on Oct. 4

It's funny how construction companies that get incentives to finish on time or even EARLY, somehow seem to manage to hit those dates on time.
 
They don't need a home field for the fall season. I'm sure if they want it, they have full use of the turf county fields at Branch Brook Park in Newark (don't laugh... It's a very good softball facility and Seton Hall plays there in a one-day fall tournament every October).

The only date that maters is opening day in March. They can practice during the fall wherever they want. They can even use the other turf fields at Ivy Hill Park if they chose.

You probably care about this right now more than Paige Smith. What does that tell you?
 
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400SOAVE said:
How do they go from September to November? That's a major miscalculation.
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With a project of this size and scale, no it's not.

Look at my scenario above about my friend and his garage. Two windows not being delivered on time pushed his completion date back nearly a month.
 
Guys, let this go. It's becoming too personal about who is right and who is wrong.

Let's just be happy the field is close to completion.
 
Halldan1 said:
Guys, let this go. It's becoming too personal about who is right and who is wrong.

Let's just be happy the field is close to completion.
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I have not said anything personal about anybody.

There are, however, one or two people here who are incapable of debating anything without throwing out the old standy-bys, and getting very personal.

And, yes, I am very happy for the team. The new field will hopefully help with recruiting, enable more home games and allow SHU to host a tournament. Perhaps they can even attempt to host the BE Championship.
 
If there is one thing you should never believe it's the date when a construction project will be completed. That goes for massive public works projects , local construction projects, building a new house, adding an addition or just updating a kitchen or bathroom and why this even became an issue puzzles me. Work is progressing and as long as it meets its goal of being ready in the spring that's all that should matter.
 
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it's not an issue. 400SOAVE is obsessed. One guy posting about it on one message board does not make something an issue. 400, get a hobby or something. Maybe read some more books about Cuba.
 
Bobby you should have read Dan's post above before posting or do you have a reading comprehension problem? Great, now I've messed up too!
 
hallgrad80 said:
If there is one thing you should never believe it's the date when a construction project will be completed. That goes for massive public works projects , local construction projects, building a new house, adding an addition or just updating a kitchen or bathroom and why this even became an issue puzzles me. Work is progressing and as long as it meets its goal of being ready in the spring that's all that should matter.
Click to expand...

Well I dont know about that......where I work if construction projects are not done on time....they cost money, either simply due to the delays, or financial penalties for not "closing" the project timely, and incurring financing costs....so, our projects ARE done on time!

Having said that....I fail to see the big deal with the softball field; as someone noted, the real use begins in March, and if the field is ready soon, it may even look like they can have some Fall practices on it. No need for bleachers or press boxes for Fall practice. And, also as someone noted....you are going to live with this for a long time....get it right the first time.

Good for the girls....they deserve this nice upgrade
 
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