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Time is ticking as the Portland Timbers prepare to play their 2019 home opener on June 1. Then the Portland Thorns play theirs the next day. Meanwhile, a team led by Turner Construction is working to finish an $85 million expansion project at Providence Park 鈥� the soccer teams’ home field. Crews started work in October 2017.

鈥淚 think we’re all ready to be done for sure,鈥� Turner Construction project manager Brian Sabom said Tuesday at the stadium. 鈥淲e’ve been doing this for 20 months now, and there’s a lot of hard effort that was put into it. We’ve had over 1,000 workers come through our safety orientation, so a lot of people in Portland have touched this project. We’re excited to turn it over.鈥�

The highlight of the project, designed by Allied Works Architecture, is an addition to the stadium’s east side that holds more than 4,000 new seats. The grandstand towers over the field-level seating built in 2011 and features three tiers.

Other improvements include: a large LED scoreboard mounted on the stadium’s west side, new locker rooms for both home and away teams, and a number of other features to improve the fan experience.

鈥淲e’re ready; we’re in good shape,鈥� said Mike Golub, the Timbers’ president of business. 鈥淎s you walk around you’ll see things that still need to get done and that’s not uncommon for where we are, 25, 26 days out. But the really key, critical milestones we’ve been hitting all the way, so we’ll be ready to go June 1 for Timbers and June 2 for the Thorns.鈥�

In terms of an improved spectator experience, the new scoreboard is just the start, Golub said. There will be an accompanying sound system installed, along with renovated concession stands, signage and lighting throughout the existing stadium concourse. Also, a new team store is being built on the stadium’s west side.

鈥淭he idea was for every fan, whether you’re sitting in these new stands here or in the old areas, when they come to the stadium on June 1, they’re going to hear, see and feel a lot of new things,鈥� Golub said.

Chelsea Grassinger, an Allied Works Architecture principal, said the overarching intent of the grandstand design was to fulfill original plans that called for a U-shaped venue. It wasn’t a complete horseshoe when it opened in 1926 as Multnomah Stadium because of a shortage of funding.

鈥淯ltimately what was built was the north side and the west side,鈥� Grassinger said. 鈥淪o what we’ve done here is to realize the original design vision for Providence Park.鈥�

On the outside, a glass fa莽ade now reveals the structure to passersby.

鈥淧art of our mission was to complete that original vision, but sort of enforce the visibility and lightness and connectivity to the city,鈥� Grassinger said. 鈥淧edestrians can also feel connected to the action and the activity in the stadium. And then creating that light, veil-like transparency of the fa莽ade and the whole height glass and visibility gives back to the city.鈥�

Construction crews have completed most of the big tasks. These days, tradespeople are scrambling around the stadium to take care of the smaller stuff.

鈥淲e have a lot of work to do 鈥� a lot of finish work that we’re still working on,鈥� Sabom said. 鈥淲e’re trying to complete the roof membrane on the new roof we’ve built and there are just a lot of finishing touches to put on the project from a finishing perspective.鈥�

Despite challenges, including a highly constrained job site, the project has remained on schedule throughout construction, Sabom said.

鈥淵eah, there have been challenges throughout,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut as of right now, everything that we expected of the project to be complete is going to be complete, and I think it’ll be a seamless (opening) for the fans and for the city of Portland.鈥�