Orlando City stadium construction coming down to the wire

ORLANDO, Fla. — With the first game of the season at Orlando City’s new soccer stadium scheduled for Sunday, construction crews have been working around the clock and officials say it will be ready in time.

Orlando City CEO Alex Leitao has asked for fans to be patient for the first game because there will likely be areas of the stadium that are not completely finished.

The time crunch was something Leitao knew about when Major League Soccer moved up the opening game of the season by several weeks.

“We had a meeting with our partners here and the construction company, and then we knew it’s going to take us until the very last moment to be ready,” he said.

Hundreds of workers will be at the facility working 24 hours a day to finish the work needed to allow the stadium to open.

City inspectors are expected to give the stadium a temporary certificate of occupancy and the fire marshal has been a part of meetings to make sure the fire code was followed correctly.

The sidewalks around the stadium are expected to be finished by Thursday for the Kids vs. Pros event.

Cox Media Group