The Lincoln Saltdogs and the American Association jointly announced that Haymarket Park was named the league’s ‘Best Playing Field’ for 2017.  Haymarket Park has been the Field of the Year for all 17 seasons of its history.

The award is decided by the votes of the league’s field managers and media personnel.

Jeremy J. is in his first season as Athletic Turf Manager at Haymarket Park after serving as the Assistant Athletic Turf Manager for several seasons. Johnson graduated with a degree in Turfgrass Management from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has served as an intern at Haymarket Park and with the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I am very pleased to continue the tradition of ‘Best Playing Field’ here at Haymarket Park,”Jeremy said. “This league features some great playing surfaces and terrific groundskeepers, and I am honored to receive this award.”

Haymarket Park has been the home of the Lincoln Saltdogs and Nebraska Cornhuskers since it opened in 2001. It is one of the anchors of the city’s Haymarket District.

“Jeremy and his staff do a wonderful job with the turf at Haymarket Park,” Saltdogs President/General Manager Charlie M. said. “This playing surface is one of the best in all of minor league baseball and it takes a team effort with the Stadium Operations staff to win this award for the 17th year in a row.”

Jeremy has a staff of comprised of full-time and intern workers.

“This award would not have been possible without the help and teamwork of the entire staff,” he said. “I would like to thank my assistant Jen R. Her assistance, and knowledge of this facility, was essential in managing two playing surfaces and the landscape to such a high standard. I would like to thank Marcus L., Mike M., and Blake T. for their hard work and ability to take on more responsibility; along with our entire grounds crew for their countless hours maintaining our standards. Finally, I would like to thank Josh K. and Charlie M. for ensuring that my transition into this position was as smooth as possible.”

Construction of a new Scheels “destination” store in Lincoln continues to progress. The store is located just to the east of its existing store at SouthPointe Pavilions in Lincoln.

Sampson Construction is working on the 220,000+ square-foot Scheels building, which when complete will be three times the size of the existing Lincoln store that opened in 2000. Upon completion in September 2018, the existing store will be removed for a new parking structure.

Ready Mixed Concrete in Lincoln has been working with Sampson from the beginning of the Southpointe Pavilions revamp to make enough space for the size of the new Scheels store. Ready Mixed has provided all the concrete for the project and has worked close with Sampson specifically on the Scheels project for design and quality control of the different concrete mixes from the aquatic concrete mix for the 16,000 gallon aquarium to the flowable fill used to incase the underground HVAC ducts. Quality control is an important part of this project and to date, there has been zero failed tests, which is reflective of the hard work the team of employees has put into the product provided. When completed, Ready Mixed will have supplied approximately 6,000 cubic yards.

Reimers Kaufman and Watkins have supplied masonry accessories to JM2 along with concrete block, while U-MIX Products will supply bulk bagged core fill masonry grout and bulk bagged Type-N Mortar.

Concrete Industries supplied concrete and manholes.

Costco will be opening the doors to their new 156,000 square-foot Lincoln store in October and NEBCO Companies will have played a large roll in the construction process.

The Washington based warehouse retailer is building their newest location in South Lincoln at 16th Street and Pine Lake Road.  Construction for the new store included the involvement of Ready Mixed Concrete, Reimers Kaufman, U-MIX Products, Concrete Industries, Constructors, Trafcon and Beatrice Sand & Gravel.

Ready Mixed Concrete is supplying a total of 6,000 CY of concrete for the project including 3,000 CY for the interior of the building and 2,800 CY for the rest of the project, including footings and other placements.  Lottman Carpenter out of Diller, NE is the Concrete Contractor for the project.

Constructors involvement includes all of the offsite paving while Trafcon handles the traffic control and offsite pavement marking.  Constructors is also doing the onsite asphalt drives and parking lot as well as the crushed rock base course, which was supplied by Beatrice Sand & Gravel’s Sietz Quarry.

Reimers Kaufman supplied 6,800 Standard Gray Units, 13,077 Standard and Rockface Colored Units from Northfield/Oldcastle, and 17,682 Quick Brik 4″ high units from Miller Material/Oldcastle.

U-mix supplied 75 yards of bulk mortar and 125 yards of core-fill masonry grout.

Concrete Industries supplied approximately 3,000 LN FT of reinforced concrete pipe from 15” diameter through 48” diameter for storm water drainage.  CI also supplied 7 manholes totaling approximately 75 VF for sanitary sewer.

The Lincoln Saltdogs hosted the Gary Southshore RailCats on August 21 in front of nearly 7,000 fans at Haymarket Park.  The Saltdogs plated eight runs on eight hits and a walk in the fifth inning to secure the win, but the highlight of the day came during the 26-minute eclipse delay.

The Saltdogs wore special black and white eclipse jerseys and stopped the game after the completion of the top of the third inning, just before 1 p.m., to watch the eclipse darken the sky.  Spectators erupted in applause at 1:02 p.m. as the moon crawled in front of the sun until the whole sky looked like a late-evening sunset.  The air turned chilly and went still.

Tickets were sold to fans as far away as California, Florida, New York and even as far as the United Kingdom and Germany.  The first 3,500 fans through the gates received free eclipse viewing glasses courtesy of Kuglar Vision.

Saltdogs pitcher, J.R. Bunda whipped out his phone during the middle of the third inning and went live on Instagram so his family in Hawaii and friends around the world could experience the same thing as the 6,956 fans at Haymarket Park experienced.  “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all of us,” Bunda said. “To be one of the six professional baseball teams to be playing during this time and in a historic event where people all over the world are coming to this area. We all just tried to soak it in.”

Just outside of Haymarket Park several science departments from the University of Nebraska hosted a fair. Students and professors set up 3D models, telescopes, sunspotters and maps.

From flashing lights, to sirens and loud horns, kids got a chance to learn more about vehicles they see in the Kearney community and the people who drive them.  About 20 trucks of all shapes and sizes took part in the annual Roadway Heroes Touch-a-Truck event in Kearney on August 12.

Kearney Ready Mixed Concrete participated in the program allowing kids the chance to climb aboard a Concrete Truck.  Cody Fielding, Melissa Tyron and Jerry Stithem talked to the kids about safety around the truck, emphasizing that truck drivers can’t see them in certain areas as well as three points of contact.  The trio also handed out colored pencils and sheets for the kids to color.

The event is organized by the Kearney Area Children’s Museum.  More than 300 people participated in the annual event.

Work is well underway at the Concrete Industries Havelock complex on a new Wall Panel Finishing Facility. The 16,000 sq. ft. precast building being constructed by Concrete Industries will allow Concrete Industries’ Structural Division to handle and finish precast concrete wall panels year-round in a warm, dry environment. The Structural Division is planning to occupy the facility by Thanksgiving of this year.

A new U.S. 75/Nebraska Highway 2 interchange located on the south edge of Nebraska City that started last Spring is continuing to progress. Both Constructors, Inc. and Concrete Industries Nebraska City are involved with the project that is scheduled to be completed in the Fall of 2017. Constructors is completing the one-mile-long paving project, which will consist of constructing a new elevated interchange with Nebraska Highway 2 elevated over U.S. 75. The project includes grading, culverts, bridges, paving, seeding, landscaping and lighting.  The project is being built in phases to accommodate traffic, with traffic control being maintained by Trafcon. Traffic control for this project consist of signals, temporary traffic signals, flaggers and pilot cars to facilitate traffic flow.  In total, Constructors will pave 85,000+ CY of concrete and 20,000+ tons of asphalt. The concrete for the project is being supplied by Concrete Industries Nebraska City while the asphalt is being shipped out of Constructors’ 804 Plant in Lincoln. With over 15 subcontractors involved, project coordination by Brent Davis and Zach Yelkin of Constructors, Inc. have kept the project moving forward. Some of the major subcontractors involved include Pink Grading, United Contractors, and Linhart Construction.

Reimers Kaufman Concrete Products Company recently completed major plant upgrades with the installation of new Tiger block equipment. The new state of the art Tiger equipment replaced the well-worn dual line system that has been in operation since 1995. The improved splitting and automation will reduce the need to hand chip and physically handle block on the cubing line. The computer controls are programmed to self-diagnose and trouble shoot equipment problems to aid in repairs. The superior design and performance of the Tiger equipment will ultimately provide a higher quality finished product for our customers and a safer, friendlier environment for our employees.

A special thanks to the Tiger Machine Company installation engineers, the NEBCO Electrical Department and the Reimers Kaufman Block Plant personnel for the long hours and numerous Saturdays that were needed for the timely completion of this project.

In South Lincoln a large project is underway. Baxter Automotive Dealership of Lincoln is expanding its Toyota and Lexus Dealerships with the construction of two expansive lots and buildings just off of 40th and Yankee Hill. Five NEBCO Companies; Reimers Kaufman, U-MIX Products, Ready Mixed Concrete, Concrete Industries and Constructors are contributing large amounts of materials and labor to complete the project.

“Our production crews were under the gun to have enough product completed before installation commenced. It was even difficult for our trucking division to have enough trucks to deliver the amount of product that was required each day to keep up with two cranes,” said Randy S. of Concrete Industries.

Concrete Industries is producing and erecting 139 precast wall, roof and floor panels to the Lexus of Lincoln dealership, and another 197 precast units to the Toyota of Lincoln dealership for an approximate total of 51,000 square feet of precast and prestressed panels ranging from 8″ to 10″ in thickness. Ready Mixed Concrete is supplying the General Contractor Boyd Jones with about 10,000 cubic yards of concrete. U-MIX is supplying bulk mortar. Reimers Kaufman is supplying Eldorado Stone to Midwest Masonry for the project. Constructors is paving access roads between both dealerships.

The Architect on the project is Carlson West Provonda Architects of Omaha.

For the 16th time in as many years, Haymarket Park – the home of the Saltdogs – was selected ‘Best Playing Field’ in the American Association, as voted by league managers and media.

Josh K. has been the Athletic Turf Manager at Haymarket Park since 2006. In addition to the 11 American Association titles, he also helped earn the ballpark ‘Baseball Field of the Year’ in the College/University division by the Sports Turf Management Association in 2007 – the second time Hawks Field at Haymarket Park earned that national award.

“Each year I appreciate this award more and more as each year brings a new set of challenges,” Josh said. “There are some really good playing surfaces in the league so we definitely don’t take this award for granted.”

As a member of the Northern League, Haymarket Park garnered the award from its inception in 2001 through 2005, and has continued the title reign through all 10 seasons of American Association play.

“Congratulations to Josh and his staff for another job well done,” Saltdogs President/GM Charlie M. said. “So many opposing players and coaches tell me this is one of the best playing surfaces they’ve ever played on.”

Prior to his time at Haymarket Park, Josh served as Athletic Turf Manager at the University of Oklahoma in 2005, Assistant Turf Manager for the Cleveland Indians minor-league affiliate in Lake County (Ohio) from 2003-2004, and as an intern with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002.

Josh added: “I can’t possibly thank my assistant Jeremy J. enough. His attention to detail and knowledge of this industry is top notch. It takes a team effort and I must also thank Marcus L., Mike M. and our interns this year: Logan L. and Robyn S.; along with our entire turf/landscape crew for their countless hours behind the scenes. The biggest challenge each year is the number of events on the field due to the sharing of the facility between University of Nebraska and Lincoln Saltdogs, but without their positive working relationship we would not be able to produce the best possible product for our players, nor achieve our goals each year.”

For more team and ticket information, please visit saltdogs.com.