When David Beckham first visited Utah 21 months ago as a player for Real Madrid, he turned a shovel in the groundbreaking of Real Salt Lake's future soccer stadium.
On Friday afternoon, Beckham had an opportunity -- in company with a host of MLS officials and local government leaders -- to return to that same site and tour a facility, which is rapidly nearing the final stages of construction.
Beckham, who viewed the stadium blueprints at the time of the groundbreaking, came away impressed with how well RSL's vision of its stadium is unfolding.
"It looked special then, and it looks even more special now," Beckham said.
RSL conducted its first official press conference within the confines of the yet-to-be completed stadium on Friday. The conference was held in what will be the club restaurant.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Real Salt Lake investor-operator Dave Checketts, Beckham and Los Angeles Galaxy teammate Chris Klein, and current RSL players Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando all addressed the media. Each offered his thoughts on the stadium's progress and what it means to the league's long-term efforts to further soccer nationwide.
Beckerman sees the completed stadium as being something that will please both players and fans with what it has to offer.
"The stadium is going to be state of the art," Beckerman said. "It should really be something special for us players to play in every day. The grass is going to be great. The fans will be really close."
With the way the stadium is set up, Beckerman said he thinks it will create a loud and intense atmosphere -- giving RSL a strong home field advantage down the road.
Construction crews have finished installing distinctive canopy roofs, which will offer shade to seats on the east side and west side of stadium. The roof will be lit up during Saturday's match between RSL and the Galaxy to mark the milestone.
Next week, the field-surfacing crew will grade the field and a sub-air heating system will be installed, in preparation for laying down grass later this summer.
Next up after that will be drilling 80,000 holes to install chair-backed seats in the concrete rows circling the field. Checketts emphasized that the finished stadium would not feature benches in any section of its stands.
Construction of the stadium, he said, is currently about 70 percent complete.
For RSL and its fans, the move into a soccer-specific stadium can't come fast enough.
"I truly can say it's going to be one of the best stadiums in the States for sure," Rimando said. "As a team, we're really excited to call a place home."
John Coon is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
