Braves Exec VP/Business Operations Mike Plant said that with just over a year until Opening Day '17, construction of SunTrust Park "continues to move at an 'incredible speed' in order to make deadline," according to Ricky Leroux of the MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL. Even with construction crews working six-day weeks at the site, Plant said that the timeline for the project "is getting tight." He said, “We’re at a point now where the schedule and the sequencing of that schedule is critical on a daily basis because it’s the trickle-down effect: if something doesn’t get finished in one area, it has an impact, obviously, on another or even the guys coming behind them." Plant added that when the project’s timeline was set, the Braves "knew it was an 'aggressive' schedule to keep, but time was built in to allow for some degree of flexibility." Plant said that the move-in date for the team’s staff was moved from the end of November to Dec. 9 because of "changes made to the ballpark’s design, such as the addition of 10,000 square feet of office space that was not part of the stadium’s original drawings." Plant emphasized that this "wasn’t a delay and that no current specific plans for the ballpark in terms of openings -- including opening day and some soft openings for restaurants and special club sections -- will be affected by the shift in the Braves’ move-in date" (MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL, 3/6).
