Mayor A.J. Holloway signed on the dotted line – or steel beam – this afternoon, signaling a milestone in the construction of MGM Park, the downtown baseball stadium and entertainment venue.
Holloway signed his name to the last major steel beam being erected on the building, marking a topping-out point in the construction of the $36 million project, where a yet-do-be-named Double A minor league baseball team will play.
“It’s called ‘topping out,’ and what this means for this type building is that the last piece of structural steel has been installed,” said Jason Wold of Yates Construction Co., which is constructing the stadium. “This piece of steel marks one of the highest and last piece of major steel. It’s not the completion of all structural components, but it does complete the major steel beams of the building structure.”
Wold said the next milestone will be the installation of precast concrete, which is concrete that is cast off site and delivered to the site ready toi install “to speed up the process.”
At this point, construction of the stadium remains on schedule – a 365-day timeline that began Aug. 4.
Cold weather, Wold said, is not expected to delay construction.
Meantime, owners of the Double-A team, which will re-locate from Hunstville, Ala., have said they will announce the new name of the team on Monday, Nov. 24 in a public pep-rally-like gathering at the Saenger Theater in downtown Biloxi, blocks away from the stadium site. The team is currently playing as the Huntsville Stars.
See photos from the topping out
Visit the Biloxi baseball website
See the stadium cam
See the Southern League website
