The Los Angeles Dodgers still are working toward a groundbreaking date for their new spring training facility in Glendale, Ariz., but they may not reach their goal of beginning construction this month.

The Glendale City Council was set to vote late Tuesday to authorize entering into a contract with M.A. Mortenson Company — which built the Colorado Rockies' Coors Field — for the construction of the two-team facility the Los Angeles Dodgers will share with the Chicago White Sox. Glendale city officials were hoping to break ground in early October, but this step was another part of the process that had to be completed before that could happen.

"(M.A. Mortenson Company) had been selected and have been on board for a good month or so working on the designs and construction plans so as not to hold up the process, but once we have this contract, we are able to look at a groundbreaking," said Julie Frisoni, communications director for the city of Glendale.

Plans have taken longer than expected, Frisoni said, because of the large number of people involved in the project. However, Glendale officials are looking at the end of October or early November as the new target date to begin construction.

"We are confident in the 2009 date to open the facility, and everything seems to be well intact still," Frisoni said.

Indian River County administrator Joe Baird has said he is negotiating with a major league baseball team to replace the Los Angeles Dodgers in Vero Beach, but he said last week his hopes of making an announcement this month were partly based on the Los Angeles Dodgers' plans to break ground in October. The more construction is pushed back, the longer he likely will have to wait to get a final departure date from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 

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