When it comes to baseball stadiums in Omaha, Nebraska, Tnemec coating systems turned a hat trick by being specified on three different ballparks, including the new home of the Division I men’s championship series, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.“There were close to 6,500 gallons and 14 different Tnemec coatings used on the new stadium,” according to Ken Efferding of SGA Coating Consultants, “Most of the coating systems were specified for structural steel, block walls and overhead structures.”
Nearly 3,000 tons of structural steel was prepared by the fabricator in accordance with SSPC-SP 6/NACE No. 3 Commercial Blast Cleaning and primed with Series 90-97 Tneme-Zinc, an advanced technology zinc-rich urethane. “Zinc-rich primers are the best liquid-applied coatings you can get for protecting steel from rust,” Efferding said. “The owners didn’t want to deal with rust or color changes.”
A topcoat of Series 1075U Endura-Shield II, an acrylic polyurethane that is highly resistant to abrasion and exterior weathering, was also shop-applied by the fabricator. “Series 1075U contains ultraviolet light absorbers for extended color and gloss retention,” Efferding explained.
After the steel was erected, the field applicator spot primed welds with Series 90-97 and Series 1075 U as needed.
Surface voids in the stadium’s masonry block walls were filled with Series 1254 EpoxoBlock WB, a high-solids, water-based epoxy, then coated with Series 113 H.B. Tneme-Tufcoat, a waterborne acrylic epoxy. Overhead steel was coated with Series 115 Uni-Bond DF, an acrylic flash-rust and corrosion-resistant primer/finish.
Specifications called for several custom colors to complement the 24,000-seat stadium’s aesthetic design. “They would send us a piece of fabric and we would have to match it,” Efferding noted.
Over the years, Tnemec coatings were used on a variety of improvements to the city’s old baseball stadium built in the late 1940s and named for former Omaha mayor Johnny Rosenblatt. “The whole centerfield addition completed in 2001 used Tnemec coatings,” Efferding recalled. “Tnemec coatings were also used on structural steel at the entrance to that stadium, which has been demolished.”
A third 6,500-seat stadium dedicated in 2011 for Omaha’s Triple-A baseball team also used a variety of Tnemec coatings on structural steel and masonry surfaces.
TD Ameritrade Park Omaha was named The 28th Best Stadium Experience in 2011 by the Stadium Journey magazine, which compared the 24,000-seat venue to “a small MLB ballpark. You will not find another college baseball experience like this.”