With opening day less than four months away, the Miami Marlins ballpark construction is 90 percent complete and on-schedule, team officials said Tuesday.
"The project is on-time, on-budget and continues to exceed all local employment goals," said David Samson, Miami Marlins president.
November and December have also marked record-breaking ticket sales. The Marlins have had to add phone lines to accommodate the high call volume and have also had to extend their employee work hours, Samson said.
Several sections of the ballpark are sold out, including the MVP Suites, Diamond Club seats and Championship Suites. Only 20 of 296 seats still remain behind the first and third base areas, Perrina said.
The team said they expect to have their certificate of occupancy in a few weeks, and will be allowed to begin holding events at the ballpark when they get it.
On Tuesday, the media was invited to take a tour and check out the progress of the construction for the last time before Opening Day, slated for April 4.
The Marlins will also announce which food and beverage brands will be available at the ballpark through their Taste of Miami partners.
Sid Perkins, head of construction for the Marlins, led the tour and said the next step was to put a foot of sand and sod on the field, and then the baseball diamond would be ready.
Claude Delorme, the vice president of construction, said most people will come through the west entrance, where work has started.
The garages of the $650 million project have been a point of contention with the City of Miami because officials say they will have to foot the bill for the property taxes while the team profits.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission has sent subpoenas to the Marlins, the City of Miami, and Miami-Dade County, demanding all the records having to do with the financing deal hammered out between the parties to construct the stadium at the former Orange Bowl site in Little Havana.
When asked about the SEC investigation, Samson was tight-lipped and said a statement had already been issued on that. An aide standing nearby told reporters asking questions about the investigation that they were there just for a ball park tour.
