COLOSSAL BRICK ARCHWAYS: Iconic Views From Inside and Out

BY ERIN PINKERTON

At the conclusion of the Texas Rangers’ 2019 season, home plate was dug up at Globe Life Park, which had been the home of the Rangers since 1994, and then ceremoniously placed in the Rangers’ new ballpark, Globe Life Field. That home plate has seen more than 2,000 regular season games in front of thousands of Rangers fans, and its journey from one ballpark to the other demonstrates the importance of honoring a legacy and continuing traditions, even when they continue in a new place.

That nod to the past can also be felt in some of the architectural features at Globe Life Field, most notably the brick arches that run along the ballpark’s north façade. These arches are reminiscent of the exterior of Globe Life Park, which consists almost entirely of brick arches that face outward from the ballpark.

“Brick itself can lend a feeling of history to an otherwise modern structure, as masonry is a time-tested building profession,” said Bill Van Meter, project manager at DMG Masonry.

“Even before there was steel, there was a guy back in cave days who put one rock on top of two rocks to create a wall. I live that. It’s what we do,” Van Meter said.

Of course, brick masonry has come a long way since cavepeople roamed the earth, and the arches at Globe Life Field are a testament to the potential of masonry.

Unlike the Rangers’ old ballpark, the 18 arches at Globe Life Field are built so that the openings line up and create a tunnel effect. DMG Masonry designed, built and erected the brick arches, which also included granite and limestone at the bottom of the columns supporting the arches. Both the main concourse and the upper concourse thread through the 100-foot-tall archways.

“They’re all lined up over your head, when you’re walking down the upper concourse on the north track,” Van Meter said. “It’s a stunning feature.”

At the Rangers’ old home, the brick arches were an exterior feature, but the arches at Globe Life Field are central to the ballpark’s design, both inside and outside, and intersect the 1,000-foot-long glass curtain wall on the north façade.

Even right beside a sleek, modern glass curtain wall, brick archways, which have been around for centuries, acknowledge a history. Certainly, Rangers fans will notice the connection and the continuity from the team’s old stadium. Despite being in a brand-new ballpark, Rangers fans will feel like they’re home at Globe Life Field.

“That’s the cool part to me,” said Andy Patteson, senior superintendent at Manhattan Construction. “They’re wanting to incorporate some of the old ballpark features into the new ballpark and trying to carry on a tradition.

“I’m out here day in and day out watching it go up, and I bring in a fresh set of eyes and show them, and they’re wowed by it,” Patteson said.

To create that look, the structural steel columns were erected first, followed by precast panels. Getting the precast panels into place was difficult, Van Meter said.

Each arch consists of about 42 pieces that weigh between 800 and 1,200 pounds, he noted. But there was nothing to work from except the steel structural. DMG Masonry had to figure out how to build the arches using the precast panels and how to access the hardto-reach areas in order to lay roughly 650,000 bricks.

“The floor of the upper concourse is not designed for the weight of a forklift that was capable of reaching that high,” Van Meter said. “I had to come up with a way that we could do it off of scaffolding that made it quite a bit more challenging and more labor-intensive.”

Even though the process would take more time, the masons were at the mercy of the other trades to finish their work before they could start the hand-laid brick on the arches.

“Everything had to be finished before we could get in there to do the hand-laid brick on the steel columns. It was all framed — stud framing — with sheathing and water barrier, and you had to have all your water barrier intact and complete before we could start,” Van Meter recalled. “We’re the last of the process.”

DMG Masonry was also on-site in the earlier stages of construction, building some lower-level parts of the ballpark that most fans will never see.

Using about 533,000 concrete masonry units (CMUs) reinforced with rebar and grout, DMG Masonry worked with Manhattan and other subcontractors, including plumbers and electricians, to build elevator shafts and mechanical areas with piping, chillers and other equipment, Van Meter explained.

“We had to work hand in hand with everyone,” he said.

That cooperative effort is precisely what made the Globe Life Field project a success despite its engineering challenges. That level of cooperation comes from having a good team, a team Manhattan carefully selected based on experience and trust.

“As subs, we know that Manhattan has got a track record with the kinds of projects they do, and they will get it done. They’re going to do everything they can to help, but every day’s a challenge. It’s a challenge that I look forward to, that we all look forward to. Even as challenging as it is, I enjoy working with Manhattan — or we wouldn’t do it,” Van Meter laughed.

DMG Masonry has been working with Manhattan for Van Meter’s entire career, which spans almost 30 years, and in that time Van Meter has come to appreciate Manhattan’s professionalism.

WHEN YOU ENTER FROM THE NORTH, WALKING BENEATH THE HUGE BRICK ARCHES, IT’S AN ICONIC EXPERIENCE BECAUSE YOU HAVE SUCH A HEIGHTENED SENSE OF ARRIVAL.

–BRYAN TRUBEY, PRINCIPAL AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, HKS

Working together, Manhattan, DMG Masonry and the rest of Manhattan’s subcontractors have accomplished some impressive architectural feats. Among them are Globe Life Field’s 100-foot-tall brick archways with a design that harkens back to the history of Rangers baseball. The arches are an iconic feature that’s sure to be appreciated by Rangers fans in Arlington and everywhere.

“When you pull up, what you’ll notice are those arches — those 18 brick arches in a row,” Van Meter said. “When you watch a baseball game on TV when they hit a home run, you’re going to see my arches in that shot because that’s [where] they’re hitting the ball.”