When only the best will do…
The University of Florida in Gainesville, FL is home to one of the top college baseball stadiums in the nation. The Alfred A. McKethan Stadium at Perry Field has been an important ingredient to the success of Gator baseball for over two decades. Its 5,500 capacity includes 5,100 grandstand seats and 400 bleacher seats. The spacious theatre-like, field-level seating, quality concession areas and first class press box are so important to the program’s great success that only top quality contractors can do work there.
UF’s great success on the baseball diamond has led to strong fan support and record game attendance. When the Gators reached the College World Series for the fourth time in 1998, they attracted over 105,262 fans for the season and set then-school records for total attendance and per game average (2,631 fans). UF ranked eighth nationally in attendance that year for its third-consecutive year of ranking among the top 10 in the nation. This placed high demands on the college baseball stadium’s first-class facility, an important ingredient in UF’s selection to host the NCAA Regionals 11 times (through 2012), Southeastern Conference Tournaments and 5 NCAA Super Regionals.
Much has been invested in McKethan Stadium improvements, such as: the $350,000 plaza development project in 1996 that produced a new main entrance and a plaza/courtyard atmosphere for fans surrounding the main grandstand plus $300,000 press box improvements; playing field upgrades in 1997 plus capacity increase; new Gator skin outfield fence and padded backstop plus grading and more outfield drainage in 2003, etc. The $13 million expansion to McKethan Stadium and the Lemerand Athletic Center completed September 2006 enhanced the complex even more.
So is it any wonder when serious foundation problems were discovered that the University of Florida called on Central Florida’s premier foundation repair specialists at Foundation Services in Ocala? When the engineers recommended foundation underpinning, Foundation Services’ coveted “partner” relationship with Earth Contact Products enabled its expert crews to lift, stabilize and repair McKethan Stadium’s foundation with the strongest and most technologically advanced steel piers in the industry, ECP steel piers, for long-lasting support UF and its thousands of fans can rely on.
“Of everyone we talked to, they gave us the most reassuring feeling and walked us step by step through the process… Not only was the work performed efficiently and with the utmost care and concern for our home, but the crew was outstanding. They were polite, cordial and always careful in cleaning up after themselves, and we never felt intruded upon.”
