SAN DIEGO -- Symbolic of the optimism that pervades the Padres' organization as it settles into Petco Park, one of the few glitches of move-in day Monday was the morning sun shining through office windows.

It was too bright.

The Padres have been able to scratch a catcher and a starting pitcher off their winter shopping list. Now they must pencil in window blinds.

A few hours of squinting, however, did little to temper the enthusiasm of the day. Padres employees returned to work following their two-week holiday break to a new building, new desks, new cubicles and new computers. Every change was a reminder that 2004 marks a new era in franchise history.

"We've come a long way, baby," said Priscilla Oppenheimer, the club's director of minor-league operations who will mark her 21st anniversary with the team this year.

The Padres have had three bases of operations in Oppenheimer's time with the club. They started in cramped quarters at Qualcomm Stadium, jammed into office space down the left-field line underneath the stands.

"Skunks would get in there at night," Oppenheimer recalled. "Some days, you'd come to work and the smell was so bad you just couldn't bear it."

In 1997, the Padres were displaced by the Qualcomm Stadium expansion. They moved about a mile west to a Mission Valley office building. Their "temporary" stay lasted six years, as lawsuits and scandal held up construction of the downtown ballpark and delayed the project two years.

It was a logistical headache as the Padres' front-office workers -- from marketing to community relations to baseball operations -- had to jump into their cars to talk to players or fulfill any game-day obligations. And it caused a schism as some departments -- ticket sales, video productions and the clubhouse staff -- still worked primarily at the stadium.

"It's nice to have everybody under one roof," Padres farm director Tye Waller said.

The Padres' employees gathered for a welcome breakfast Monday morning; then it was time to unpack. The heavy lifting had been done during the holiday break -- the seasonal nature of the baseball business has allowed for an extended shutdown at the end of each year -- but there were plenty of boxes scattered about the new office Monday.

Still, most of the computers were hooked up properly and the new telephone lines were working. So those who had work to do immediately were able to do it. That includes general manager Kevin Towers, who spent much of the day working on an impending trade with the Seattle Mariners.

"It's been a little hectic here," Towers said. "I'm still trying to figure out these phones. But it's going to be great to have everybody together in one place and to have clubhouse access, to be able to go downstairs and talk to Boch (manager Bruce Bochy), the training staff, the players.

"Heck, it will be nice just to be able to go outside, sit in the stands and have lunch."

With the move, Towers traded in a view of the Interstate 805 overpass for one of the harbor.

Those ranking a bit lower on the corporate ladder have no window space at all. And no employees have offices facing the field -- that space is at a premium, reserved for revenue-producing luxury boxes.

Although Monday was a key day for Padres employees, the new offices remain difficult to access for the general public. Petco Park still is a construction zone, and on-site parking is restricted.

Erik Judson, the team's vice president for development, said the project should be essentially complete by mid-February. The concourse in front of the park, where the ticket office is located, should be open by then. Players should get a chance to work out on the field before the end of this month. The first scheduled event is San Diego State's baseball game against the University of Houston on March 11.

But for all those who draw a Padres paycheck, Petco Park opened Monday.

"I can't say enough about all the hard work that went into this," Judson said. "We have marked a lot of milestones to let people know about the progress that has been made down here. This is something tangible."

Contact staff writer Shaun O'Neill at (760) 740-3546 or soneill@nctimes.com.