Full Circle: From Klockner Stadium to the Baseball Expansion
Back in 1992, I was one of the foremen when we built Klockner Soccer Stadium for Bruce Arena and UVA. One of my tasks was running a backhoe with a breaker attachment to chip out rock for the footings and locker rooms, which were set lower than field level. If you know Copeley Hill, you know it has a reputation for being full of rock and a tough place to excavate.
When it came time for Martin Horn to submit a change order for the extra rock excavation, the UVA project manager told Mr. Horn she didn’t consider it rock and wouldn’t approve it. Without missing a beat, Mr. Horn replied, “Fine—then we’ll just use it for backfill.”
In the end, we decided to bury the rock on site rather than pay to haul it off. We chose a spot near the baseball diamond that seemed out of the way and buried it there.
Fast forward 25 years. Martin Horn was interviewing for the Baseball Expansion project at UVA, which included a fire lane and utility work designed right through the same area where we knew that buried rock was waiting. During the interview, we shared this story with UVA’s team—our little piece of “inside information.” It got a laugh or two, and it must not have hurt our chances, because we were awarded the project.
