When Crew’s president and CEO, Tim Bezbatchenko, attended DeSales High School in the 1990s, the structure of the Nationwide Arena and the installation of the iconic red brick sidewalks in the downtown domain were just beginning.
More than two decades later, Bezbatchenko is one of many leaders running to supply his with a 20,000-seat low-structure stadium at the western end of the arena district, where the team will play their matches starting next July.
“It’s touching. The undeniable fact of seeing the city build a team and then be the first city to build its own stadium. Array… it’s a huge source of pride,” Bezbatchenko said this week as he examined what will be the penalty dominance of the northern goal.
“This is an example of the direction the city is taking: modern, innovative, evolving.”
Brian Mooney, vice president and assignment manager of Turner Construction, and Bezbatchenko took The Dispatch on an excursion to the new Crew Stadium, which is being built to upgrade the 21-year-old Mapfre Stadium, the first stadium built in the United States.
Since the team and its assets, Cleveland families Dee Browns and Jimmy Haslam and former team physician Pete Edwards, opened the new stadium on October 10, 2019, in front of more than 4,000 fans, the steel design from the south, east and West Bowls is about to be completed, with plans to finish north through September.
“At the end of the year, all the awning and design will be closed,” Mooney said. “You’ll see day-to-day adjustments.”
Construction of the amateur section, Nordecke, at the northern end begins in early September. Concrete to fill the south stands will be placed next week. Construction will begin this month in the canopy, which will cover all stadium seats opposite the elements, in theory, at least, unless the rain blows to one side.
“But it will stop the noise, ” said Bezbatchenko. “And it’s going to look great.”
During the tour, Mooney and Bezbatchenko noticed the two main access issues, the southeast and southwest corners, as well as the West Field Club, where enthusiasts with premium tickets can watch and with players when they enter and leave the box in the midbox. Training
In Mapfre, groups enter through a tunnel in the corner of the stadium, which is popular with Major League Soccer venues. The tunnel in the middle of the box is more for sites in Europe, one of the many facets that Bezbatchenko and designers have tried to integrate into the new $300 million stadium.
Bezbatchenko has told the director of the painters’ player corps, Issa Tall, to see other stadiums and retrieve concepts about what he could paint in Columbus. Borussia Dortmund in Germany, the Emirates Stadium in Arsenal, England and the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Real Madrid, Spain, are some of the stadiums that encouraged him.
“You don’t forget how it looks and how we can reflect that,” Bezbatchenko said, adding that enthusiasts would nevertheless give the new stadium their own characteristics.
At each of the stadium access points, enthusiasts will be able to see the field as they enter and descend into a corridor surrounding the site with surprising views of the field.
“You can go upstairs, have a drink and turn around and watch the game,” Mooney said. “You feel inside.”
The main front of the stadium on the southeast corner will be flanked by a square, a team shop and the Crew House pub. Back to the field, enthusiasts will have a view of downtown rooftops and will also be able to see Nationwide Boulevard as enthusiasts head to the stadium, giving a parade to the atmosphere of the day.
Mooney said the decreasing bowl can accommodate only 11,855 seats, with 8,558 seats in the top bowl. He and Bezbatchenko are under pressure for top bowl enthusiasts to sit close to the action, thanks to a 70% steeper angle than Mapfre’s top floor and seats suspended over the lower bowl.
“It’s such a different experience. It’s hard to compare ‘with Mapfre’, said Bezbatchenko.” I think it’s 50 to 100 feet closer (to the field) depending on your position in the stadium.”
The coronavirus pandemic has confusing things for Mooney, but the timing of the competitive structure remains punctual. 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Each and every day on Sunday, Mooney said 215 other people paint on the site.
“The first thing is to make sure everyone is Array,” Mooney said, adding that the owner organization focused on “everything we did was on the most productive interests of staff and it was an environment.”
The next main step will be the final touch of the Nordecke, the segment that will separate those who persuaded the government to keep the team in Columbus when there was a risk of moving the team to Austin just three years ago.
Mooney believes those enthusiasts will be rewarded with one of Columbus’s venues, and larger than the expansion of Austin FC’s new stadium, which will also open next year.
“We know it, ” he said, “and we know that ours will be the best.”
@_jcmyers