http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=200...a&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla

06/02/2008 3:30 PM ET
Marlins filing new stadium ideas
Samson visits Citi Field to glean concepts for Florida park
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com

ATLANTA -- Last week in New York, Marlins officials were treated to a tour of the Mets' new stadium, Citi Field, which is scheduled to open in 2009.

Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon escorted Marlins president David Samson and Florida's vice chairman Joel Mael around the impressive facility last Wednesday.

"The progress there has been terrific," Samson said.

Located right next to Shea Stadium, Citi Field has a throwback feel to it, with the exterior design inspired by Ebbets Field, the quaint former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

"The most exciting part of the field, we thought, was the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, which is the most glorious, grand entrance to any stadium I've ever seen," Samson said. "The other thing that was interesting was the locations of the dugouts. We learn something new on each tour, even positioning your dugouts in a certain way."

Marlins officials have already made two separate tours since Opening Day. In April, they visited Nationals Park in Washington.

With the Marlins in the planning stages of their new retractable-roof ballpark, which is scheduled to open in 2011, team officials are always exploring other stadiums, gathering ideas.

While the Robinson Rotunda is something that will be unique to New York, the Marlins are considering the layout of the dugouts that will be in the Mets' park.

"That's something we had not even looked at before, but we are looking at now," Samson said. "The dugouts are moved a little bit toward the outfield, which makes even better seats for the fans in between the dugouts."

In other words, positioning the dugout a little bit further up the first-base line will free up some additional prime seating for fans to watch the game.

"We also saw they've built a porch over right field, like the old Tiger Stadium," Samson said. "That is something we didn't look at. I don't think that we can do that, but it's going to be a signature area for the Mets.

"Overall, it was fascinating to see the progress that they've made."

The Mets' new ballpark has a corporate sponsor name. In time, the Marlins too will intensify their search for a naming-rights partner.

"We've been approached by a few companies, but we're going to systematically go through and figure out the best part of it, because we take the naming-rights partner very seriously," Samson said. "We want to choose a company whose name is going to stay the same through the entire life of the stadium. There are a lot of stadiums that change names, because that's part of the corporate world.

"But to find a partner that can basically brand itself with our stadium, and it will stay that way for good, we're looking at that, but it's going to take some time."

HOK Sport, the company that is designing the Marlins' ballpark on the Orange Bowl grounds in the Little Havana section of Miami, is in the process of designing the exterior of the new stadium. HOK has not yet started the "systematic designing" of the facility, which is specifically how every part of the park will look.

A number of ideas already are in the works, but time is running out on making any new adjustments, such as the repositioning of the dugouts.

To avoid overrun costs, Samson said, there are only a couple of months left to include any revisions.

"Once designs have been completed, there are no more changes," Samson said. "All these things that we've noted, we have to talk about now if they are to be incorporated. We have a couple of months [left], and that's it.

"HOK will tell us when we can no longer make changes without incurring overruns."

In recent weeks, progress has been made on which construction companies will actually build the stadium. The team is in the process of negotiating with Hunt/Moss, the companies that have been approved for the project.

Hunt Construction Group has plenty of experience building retractable-roof stadiums.

"The Marlins are now entering into negotiations with them to reach a contract," Samson said.

The hope continues that the Marlins will be breaking ground in November. Once that happens, construction projects to be an economic boon for the area.

"This construction project will bring thousands of jobs to Miami, both during construction and operations," Samson said.

Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.