John McHale Jr., the Tigers president and chief executive officer, said actual groundbreaking could start today or tomorrow, while a ceremonial groundbreaking is expected later this month.
Work done yesterday included the start of environmental studies, erecting fences, setting up a trailer to be used as an office and clearing land, said a Tigers spokesperson, who asked not to be identified.
The construction will be performed under a guaranteed maximum price contract and managed by Hunt-Turner-White, a group consisting of firms Huber, Hunt & Nichols, Inc., Turner Construction Inc. and White Construction Co.
"Hunt-Turner-White brings three enormously important qualities to this project: unmatched baseball stadium construction expertise, sensitivity to our budget and a commitment to all the development values that have been made a part of this effort from the beginning," McHale said in a news release.
The Tigers had to begin construction by tomorrow or risk losing $55 million in state funding, McHale has said in court documents.
"To be complete by March 1, 2000 (which leaves very little margin for delay), we have to have all out construction by Dec. 1 and start pouring the foundations in January of 1998," McHale had stated in a court affidavit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court.
The affidavit was in response to an order from Judge Cynthia Stephens to supply information about the stadium's plans to lawyers representing businesses located on the proposed site.
McHale had said the site must be completely fenced-in and excavation well under way by December. The team must have the stadium finished by August 2000 or lose $55 million given by the Michigan Strategic Fund, the affidavit said.
Detroit's Downtown Development Authority is providing $60 million. Tigers owner Mike Ilitch is putting up $145 million and will have to pay for any cost overruns.
Huber, Hunt & Nichols, based in Indianapolis, previously has worked on Jacobs Field in Cleveland. The firm is also working on stadium projects for the San Francisco Giants, the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners, the Tigers said.
Turner, a Detroit-based construction management firm, performed pre-construction and construction services for the recently opened Museum of African American History in Detroit. It also has worked on stadium projects for the Carolina Panthers, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trailblazers, the Tigers said.
White Construction, a minority-owned Detroit-based company, has worked on local projects including Detroit's IRS Building and Michigan National Bank headquarters, the team said.