BETHESDA, MARYLAND - Clark Construction Group, LLC of Bethesda, Md., Hunt Construction Group of Indianapolis and Smoot Construction of Washington, D.C., three of the nation's leading general contractors, have formed a joint venture to compete for the contract to build the new baseball stadium that will be home to Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals.

"We believe our commitment to the city, knowledge of the local subcontracting community and our unparalleled sports facility expertise make our team uniquely qualified to build this ballpark," said Gregory Colevas, Senior Vice President at Clark.

The team members have a 30-year history of working together on large public projects throughout the United States and their combined experience in building sports facilities includes 15 major league ballparks:

• Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles)
• PETCO Park (San Diego Padres)
• Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers)
• Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia Phillies)
• Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Devil Rays)
• Pro Player (Joe Robbie) Stadium (Florida Marlins)
• Three Rivers Stadiums (Pittsburgh Pirates)
• Jacobs Field (Cleveland Indians)
• Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers)
• New Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals)
• Riverfront Stadium and Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati Reds)
• AT&T (Pac Bell) Park (San Francisco Giants)
• Safeco Field (Seattle Mariners)
• Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks)

Founded in Washington, D.C. in 1906, Clark (www.clarkconstruction.com) is the metro area's largest contractor with $2.3 billion in revenue and has built many of the region's landmark projects. Clark and Smoot successfully completed the $650 million, 2.3 million-square-foot Washington Convention Center - the largest public project in the history of the District - on time and on budget without any claims. More than 75% of contract dollars were awarded to local, small and disadvantaged business enterprises (LSDBE's). Working in partnership with the Washington Convention Center Authority, the District of Columbia government and the community, the team's goal was to award at least $171 million in subcontracts to these businesses. This goal was exceeded with LSDBE subcontracts totaling over $250 million.

Clark's sports portfolio features Oriole Park at Camden Yards and PETCO Park, as well as FedEx Field and the MCI Center (also with Smoot) - D.C.'s major stadiums for professional sports teams. Other projects include the Byrd Stadium expansion for the University of Maryland; Save Mart Center at Fresno State University in central Calif.; and Galen Center for University of Southern California in Los Angeles. In addition, Clark served as the concrete contractor for the Baltimore Ravens football stadium.

Clark and Hunt's most recent joint venture efforts include the $498 million LAC+USC Medical Replacement Facility in Los Angeles, the $578 million Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, and two expansions of the McCormick Place convention center facility in Chicago totaling $1.5 billion.

Hunt Construction Group (www.huntconstructiongroup.com) is one of the nation's premier builders in the construction of landmark sports venues and is ranked as the #1 builder of sports facilities by Engineering News-Record magazine. Since the company began in 1944, Hunt has been a trailblazer in sports venue construction. Hunt has built 82 sports venues ranging from major league to minor league to the collegiate level, with total seating for more than 2.5 million spectators. Milestones include the world-renowned Louisiana Superdome, built in 1971 and Syracuse University's Carrier Dome, the first fabric-domed stadium in the United States built in 1980. Hunt's sports portfolio also features four retractable roof stadiums out of the six that have been built in the U.S., NHL arenas, NFL stadiums, Major League Baseball stadiums, and NBA and WNBA arenas. Hunt's revenue last year was $2 billion.

Smoot Construction (www.srsmoot.com) is a minority-owned contractor with a principle office in Washington as well as in Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1946 with annual revenue exceeding $145 million, Smoot has developed a diverse portfolio that includes sports facilities, convention centers, educational facilities, healthcare and commercial offices. Smoot built the Comcast Center Arena for the University of Maryland and Ross-Ade Stadium renovation at Purdue University. With Hunt, Smoot also completed Jesse Owens Stadium at The Ohio State University.

With offices in Washington and Indianapolis, Smoot has developed a long working relationship with both Clark and Hunt. In 2000, Hunt/Smoot completed the $184 million Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, home to the NBA's Indiana Pacers. In addition, Hunt/Smoot is currently working on two large public projects in Indianapolis - the Air Traffic Control Tower and Administration Base Building and the New Indianapolis International Airport - Midfield Terminal.