Clearwater City Council will consider awarding a $1.63 million contract to stabilize a shifting berm wall at BayCare Ballpark, a repair city documents say is needed to prevent loss of use in part of a fan seating area.
The contract would go to Clearwater-based Creative Contractors Inc., the lowest responsive bidder. Its proposal came in at $1.63 million, about $500,000 below a competing bid.
The project targets the outfield berm, a sloped grassy area that wraps around much of the outfield and serves as general admission seating during Phillies spring training. The berm sits on an earthen wall reinforced with geotextile fabric that supports seating and pedestrian areas behind the outfield fence.
City engineering reports show the 22-year-old wall has begun to shift after more than a decade of monitoring. Continued movement could render the top of the berm and an adjacent sidewalk in center field unusable.
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The repair will replace the berm’s support system with a soil-nail and shotcrete wall designed to anchor the structure. Plans call for installing 225 soil nails, supported by more than 25,000 linear feet of reinforcing steel and 237 cubic yards of shotcrete.
Base construction costs total about $1.48 million, with a 10% contingency of $147,866 to address unknown conditions.
Work is scheduled to begin after Phillies spring training and is expected to take 90 days. The contract includes $1,000 per day in liquidated damages for delays.
City documents state the repairs are required regardless of any future stadium upgrades.
BayCare Ballpark is the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies and hosts events year-round, placing the work in a highly visible public area.
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