Real Salt Lake: For stadium GM Steele, hard work has paid off

SANDY — Mike Steele has been at Rio Tinto Stadium to witness every big and small construction moment during the past 15 months.

Even with the birth of his third daughter, Heather, eight weeks ago he was only able to take one day off from work. That's reality for a construction manager whose project is on a tight Oct. 9 deadline, and 20,000 people along with a nationally televised ESPN2 audience are counting on you.

The rewards of his hard work and sacrifice are starting to come to fruition. No longer is satisfaction simply measured in cubic yards of concrete or drywall; the results are tangible. This Thursday, Real Salt Lake will officially open its gates to the public for the first time, and it will most definitely be a proud day for Steele, who has been there every step of the way.

"To me, it fits together very well, much better than I thought. Obviously the architects knew what they were doing from the Home Depot Center and Chicago's (Toyota Park) and other venues they've designed," said Steele. "They did a great job. I'm very pleased."

Gates open two hours early, at 6 p.m. this Thursday, and Steele encourages everyone to arrive early to take themselves on self-guided tours of the 20,000-seat, first-class facility.

Steele's responsibilities have changed throughout the construction process. He was originally hired last June to be the construction manager for Icon Construction, basically the owner's on-site representative. He served in that capacity for 12 months and recently made the transition to Real Salt Lake's payroll; his official title is now Rio Tinto Stadium general manager.

There were moments throughout the process that definitely were a headache — thanks largely to the tight deadline so RSL could play its final two games of the 2008 season in the new stadium.

"There always seems to be something that goes wrong, and some fire that needs to be put out, but the team has worked hard," said Steele. "Layton (Construction) and Turner (Construction) have been a great partner, an unbelievable level of detail they've paid attention to."

This is actually Steele's second stint in Utah. Back in 1997 he helped open up the E Center as the facilities director of operations and then served as director of events until 2000. He then moved back East and worked for a year as the operations manager at the University of Massachusetts arena, followed by five years at the Madison Square Garden Training Center in Tarrytown, N.Y.

Managing that 105,000-square-foot facility that housed the New York Knicks, Rangers and Liberty prepared him for the past 14 months and the months that lie ahead. With Dave Checketts' aggressive plan of hosting concerts and other events at Rio Tinto Stadium, Steele will surely continue to be a busy man.

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