Checking In On the Linc Project

Chances are no matter what time of day or night you drive by Lincoln Financial Field this spring and summer, it will be filled with contractors busily working to complete a massive project on time.

The Eagles are in the midst of the second phase of the their $125 million stadium revitalization project which must be completed by August 1 — the day before a scheduled soccer match between A.S. Roma and Inter Milan. All the snow this winter slowed construction some. They are currently running double shifts (16-20 hours per day) Monday through Saturday to get the job done, and are prepared to go into 24/7 mode if need be.

“Not a panic or anything,” said president of facility operations Jason Miller. “This was scheduled and planned.”

During this phase of the project, new HD video boards are being installed, 1,600 seats are being added in the Northeast  and Southwest corners as well as parts of the lower bowl, and the club suites are being refurbished. The goal is to have the audio/video systems in place by early July so the operators can become familiar with them before the first event. The process of changing out the scoreboards is about 35 percent complete, says Miller, and the project overall is about 60 percent finished.

“We have about 200 contractors in there a day that are working all over place,” he said.

All of the steel has been installed and a pre-cast set on the open corners of the stadium that they are filling in. They are approximately 90 percent done changing out 1,185 televisions throughout the stadium.

The team is still working internally to figure out when they will hold open training camp practices at the Linc. It’s unlikely they would schedule anything prior to August 3, and must work around concerts slated for August 13, 14 and 15.

When Eagles fans do get a look at the refurbished stadium, Miller believes they will like what they see.

“It looks cool. It’s going to be a great feel, a different feel. The fans are going to walk in there and see a different thing. And we’re excited for the team and the coaching staff, too.”