| New Twins Ballpark Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Tenant: Minnesota Twins
Groundbreaking: 2006 (Tentative-subject to change)
1st American League Game: April, 2009 (Tentative-subject to change)
Surface: Natural Grass
Architect: HOK Sport
Cost: $444-478 million (Projection)
Financing (Subject to change): Under the proposal, the Twins would contribute $125 million, including a $40
million payment up front, with the balance to be paid prior to completion of construction. Hennepin County
would fund its share -- including $235 million in construction costs and approximately $84 million in site
development expenses -- through a countywide sales tax increase of .15 percent, or three cents on a $20
purchase.
Seating capacity: 42,000
Owner: Hennepin County
Playing Field Dimensions (Subject to change):
LF foul line: 328 ft
Left Field Alley: 371 ft
Center Field: 402 ft
Right Field Alley: 371 ft
RF foul line: 331 ft
Outfield Fences: TBA
Hosted World Series: N/A
Hosted All-Star Game: N/A
Groundbreaking: 2006 (Tentative-subject to change)
1st American League Game: April, 2009 (Tentative-subject to change)
Surface: Natural Grass
Architect: HOK Sport
Cost: $444-478 million (Projection)
Financing (Subject to change): Under the proposal, the Twins would contribute $125 million, including a $40
million payment up front, with the balance to be paid prior to completion of construction. Hennepin County
would fund its share -- including $235 million in construction costs and approximately $84 million in site
development expenses -- through a countywide sales tax increase of .15 percent, or three cents on a $20
purchase.
Seating capacity: 42,000
Owner: Hennepin County
Playing Field Dimensions (Subject to change):
LF foul line: 328 ft
Left Field Alley: 371 ft
Center Field: 402 ft
Right Field Alley: 371 ft
RF foul line: 331 ft
Outfield Fences: TBA
Hosted World Series: N/A
Hosted All-Star Game: N/A
Recommended Reading List
Click on title for more info
Take Me Out to the Ballpark: An Illustrated Guide to Baseball Parks Past & Present
by Josh Leventhal, Jessica M. Macmurray
The Ultimate Baseball Road-Trip
by Joshua Pahigian, Kevin O'Connell
Storied Stadiums: Baseball's History Through Its Ballparks
Curt Smith
Fodor's Baseball Vacations: Great Family Trips to Minor
League and Classic Major League Ballparks Across America
by Bruce Adams
Click on title for more info
Take Me Out to the Ballpark: An Illustrated Guide to Baseball Parks Past & Present
by Josh Leventhal, Jessica M. Macmurray
The Ultimate Baseball Road-Trip
by Joshua Pahigian, Kevin O'Connell
Storied Stadiums: Baseball's History Through Its Ballparks
Curt Smith
Fodor's Baseball Vacations: Great Family Trips to Minor
League and Classic Major League Ballparks Across America
by Bruce Adams
| Table of Contents - Feedback © mmv ballparktour.com |
One day after being formally unveiled, the newest proposal for a stadium for the Minnesota Twins had a turbulent
hearing Tuesday in Hennepin County as opponents argued that the $478 million project was being rushed toward
approval without public input.
Though a slim majority of the County Board is believed to support the project, the seven commissioners
postponed an initial vote on the 42,000-seat stadium for at least one week. The delay followed a two-hour session
in which a familiar throng of supporters and opponents -- many of whom have long debated the merits of a new
baseball stadium -- alternately praised and criticized the plan.
"I'm not surprised by it," Commissioner Mike Opat, a lead negotiator on the project, said afterward. "It's a big
step." Opat said stadium supporters would have to wait to see whether a majority of the commissioners would
vote for the project.
But Commissioner Linda Koblick, who objected to the attempts to give the plan a quick approval, said after the
meeting it probably had enough votes to move forward.
"When does the public get to weigh in on this?" Koblick asked.
Tuesday's meeting came just two days after an agreement between the Twins and the county was announced to
move the team from the 23-year-old Metrodome to an open-air stadium in the Warehouse District of downtown
Minneapolis.
The project would include $125 million from the Twins and $235 million from the county to build the stadium. The
county's share would be raised through a countywide 0.15 percent sales tax that would add 3 cents to every $20
purchase.
The project's total cost, including bonding costs and site preparation, would be $478 million, and the agreement
stipulates that the proposal would not be subject to a voter's referendum.
But it was those types of details Tuesday that quickly led to friction.
"You're getting taken, guys," said Dann Dobson, a real estate management official who testified against the stadium.
Dobson and others objected to a provision that would pay up to 18 percent of the gross sales price to a newly
created stadium commission should Twins owner Carl Pohlad sell the team before 2016.
While Dobson argued that Pohlad would profit many times over what the county would receive from any sale,
county officials stressed that the agreement obligated the Twins to a "no-escape, 30-year lease." The Twins also
would agree not to relocate the team and would oppose any move by Major League Baseball to eliminate the
team.
At various points, the meeting featured several onlookers holding homemade signs -- one asked the county to
"Finish the Cedar Lake Bike Trail" -- and a man who rolled an infant in a stroller up to the podium as he testified.
William Oosterman of Minneapolis told the commissioners the proposal was "blatant corporate welfare" and a
"boondoggle."
Stadium supporters were equally passionate. Sam Grabarski, executive director of the Downtown Council, said the
stadium and the anticipated development surrounding it would be "one of the great epic public works" in
Hennepin County history. "I think that three cents on a $20 purchase is not that an outrageous thing," he said.
Outside the meeting room, Jerry Bell, the president of the Twins' parent company, watched calmly. "I'm getting
used to it," Bell said. He said that Opat, during negotiations with the team, had told him that while he could not
promise the proposal would be approved by the county, Opat "was comfortable [and] felt good" that it would pass.
County officials had attempted Tuesday to take an initial step toward formally asking the Legislature for the
authority to increase the local sales tax, an amount that would annually bring in $28 million. But Commissioner
Penny Steele said that she had little time to study either the agreement or a series of relatively minor
amendments that were offered to it on Tuesday. "This is the first time I have looked at this," Steele, who is
expected to vote against the plan, said of the amendments.
In a break with policy, the board agreed to allow continued public testimony on the stadium at its meeting next
Tuesday.
Said Commissioner Mark Stenglein: "There'll be plenty of time for the public's input."
Q and A with the Twins about their new Ballpark
hearing Tuesday in Hennepin County as opponents argued that the $478 million project was being rushed toward
approval without public input.
Though a slim majority of the County Board is believed to support the project, the seven commissioners
postponed an initial vote on the 42,000-seat stadium for at least one week. The delay followed a two-hour session
in which a familiar throng of supporters and opponents -- many of whom have long debated the merits of a new
baseball stadium -- alternately praised and criticized the plan.
"I'm not surprised by it," Commissioner Mike Opat, a lead negotiator on the project, said afterward. "It's a big
step." Opat said stadium supporters would have to wait to see whether a majority of the commissioners would
vote for the project.
But Commissioner Linda Koblick, who objected to the attempts to give the plan a quick approval, said after the
meeting it probably had enough votes to move forward.
"When does the public get to weigh in on this?" Koblick asked.
Tuesday's meeting came just two days after an agreement between the Twins and the county was announced to
move the team from the 23-year-old Metrodome to an open-air stadium in the Warehouse District of downtown
Minneapolis.
The project would include $125 million from the Twins and $235 million from the county to build the stadium. The
county's share would be raised through a countywide 0.15 percent sales tax that would add 3 cents to every $20
purchase.
The project's total cost, including bonding costs and site preparation, would be $478 million, and the agreement
stipulates that the proposal would not be subject to a voter's referendum.
But it was those types of details Tuesday that quickly led to friction.
"You're getting taken, guys," said Dann Dobson, a real estate management official who testified against the stadium.
Dobson and others objected to a provision that would pay up to 18 percent of the gross sales price to a newly
created stadium commission should Twins owner Carl Pohlad sell the team before 2016.
While Dobson argued that Pohlad would profit many times over what the county would receive from any sale,
county officials stressed that the agreement obligated the Twins to a "no-escape, 30-year lease." The Twins also
would agree not to relocate the team and would oppose any move by Major League Baseball to eliminate the
team.
At various points, the meeting featured several onlookers holding homemade signs -- one asked the county to
"Finish the Cedar Lake Bike Trail" -- and a man who rolled an infant in a stroller up to the podium as he testified.
William Oosterman of Minneapolis told the commissioners the proposal was "blatant corporate welfare" and a
"boondoggle."
Stadium supporters were equally passionate. Sam Grabarski, executive director of the Downtown Council, said the
stadium and the anticipated development surrounding it would be "one of the great epic public works" in
Hennepin County history. "I think that three cents on a $20 purchase is not that an outrageous thing," he said.
Outside the meeting room, Jerry Bell, the president of the Twins' parent company, watched calmly. "I'm getting
used to it," Bell said. He said that Opat, during negotiations with the team, had told him that while he could not
promise the proposal would be approved by the county, Opat "was comfortable [and] felt good" that it would pass.
County officials had attempted Tuesday to take an initial step toward formally asking the Legislature for the
authority to increase the local sales tax, an amount that would annually bring in $28 million. But Commissioner
Penny Steele said that she had little time to study either the agreement or a series of relatively minor
amendments that were offered to it on Tuesday. "This is the first time I have looked at this," Steele, who is
expected to vote against the plan, said of the amendments.
In a break with policy, the board agreed to allow continued public testimony on the stadium at its meeting next
Tuesday.
Said Commissioner Mark Stenglein: "There'll be plenty of time for the public's input."
Q and A with the Twins about their new Ballpark
| -- --------------------------------- -- Debate on stadium plan going deep Mike Kaszuba, Star Tribune - April 27, 2005 |
| -- --------------------------------------------- -- |
| -- ------------------------------------------- -- Twins announce new ballpark plan Collaboration between club, Hennepin County By Patrick Donnelly - April 25, 2005 |
With clanging bells at the Metrodome light rail station as a backdrop, the Minnesota Twins and Hennepin County
announced Monday that they have agreed on a proposal to fund and construct a new ballpark in downtown
Minneapolis.
"I can just visualize it out there now," said Twins owner Carl Pohlad of the proposed 42,000-seat stadium that
would open in 2009 in the city's historic Warehouse District. "It's something we've dreamed about, all of us."
The proposed ballpark would be located at the Rapid Park site behind the Target Center, which is located at the
convergence of I-394 and I-94, the Hiawatha Light Rail line and the proposed Northstar Commuter Rail line. In
addition to existing parking facilities, the area would benefit from access to existing bars and restaurants and the
Downtown Minneapolis business district, as well as future mixed-use development, "Twinsville," which would be
modeled after the Wrigleyville neighborhood in Chicago.
Paying for a new ballpark has been a sticking point for past proposals, but the team and the county believe they've
come up with a unique funding mechanism that will cover the project's $444 million price tag without tapping into
the State of Minnesota's general fund.
"This is the best deal we've had so far -- it's so simple and so straightforward," said Jerry Bell, president of Twins
Sports, Inc. "It doesn't involve any state money, and so many aspects of the deal are exactly what the state
legislators have been asking us to come up with."
Under the proposal, the Twins would contribute $125 million, including a $40 million payment up front, with the
balance to be paid prior to completion of construction. Hennepin County would fund its share -- including $235
million in construction costs and approximately $84 million in site development expenses -- through a countywide
sales tax increase of .15 percent, or three cents on a $20 purchase.
"Like a lot of people here, I'm a resident of Hennepin County," said Twins executive board member Jim Pohlad.
"Any resident can be proud of the job the county did in the negotiations. They were diligent and thoughtful, they
listened to us and left nothing to be decided. There are no side agreements, nothing is hidden.
"If a ballpark can't be built on this proposal," he added, "I find it hard to imagine how it ever would be."
The next step is to win approval of the State Legislature, which must grant the county the authority to implement
the sales-tax increase without a referendum, which the team believes would be a deal-breaker.
"It's a simple matter of economics," Bell said. "A referendum delays the project by at least a year, so now you're
talking about 2010 instead of 2009, and that changes all the economics. With a referendum, the deal falls apart."
announced Monday that they have agreed on a proposal to fund and construct a new ballpark in downtown
Minneapolis.
"I can just visualize it out there now," said Twins owner Carl Pohlad of the proposed 42,000-seat stadium that
would open in 2009 in the city's historic Warehouse District. "It's something we've dreamed about, all of us."
The proposed ballpark would be located at the Rapid Park site behind the Target Center, which is located at the
convergence of I-394 and I-94, the Hiawatha Light Rail line and the proposed Northstar Commuter Rail line. In
addition to existing parking facilities, the area would benefit from access to existing bars and restaurants and the
Downtown Minneapolis business district, as well as future mixed-use development, "Twinsville," which would be
modeled after the Wrigleyville neighborhood in Chicago.
Paying for a new ballpark has been a sticking point for past proposals, but the team and the county believe they've
come up with a unique funding mechanism that will cover the project's $444 million price tag without tapping into
the State of Minnesota's general fund.
"This is the best deal we've had so far -- it's so simple and so straightforward," said Jerry Bell, president of Twins
Sports, Inc. "It doesn't involve any state money, and so many aspects of the deal are exactly what the state
legislators have been asking us to come up with."
Under the proposal, the Twins would contribute $125 million, including a $40 million payment up front, with the
balance to be paid prior to completion of construction. Hennepin County would fund its share -- including $235
million in construction costs and approximately $84 million in site development expenses -- through a countywide
sales tax increase of .15 percent, or three cents on a $20 purchase.
"Like a lot of people here, I'm a resident of Hennepin County," said Twins executive board member Jim Pohlad.
"Any resident can be proud of the job the county did in the negotiations. They were diligent and thoughtful, they
listened to us and left nothing to be decided. There are no side agreements, nothing is hidden.
"If a ballpark can't be built on this proposal," he added, "I find it hard to imagine how it ever would be."
The next step is to win approval of the State Legislature, which must grant the county the authority to implement
the sales-tax increase without a referendum, which the team believes would be a deal-breaker.
"It's a simple matter of economics," Bell said. "A referendum delays the project by at least a year, so now you're
talking about 2010 instead of 2009, and that changes all the economics. With a referendum, the deal falls apart."
The new ballpark bills will be sponsored by Sen. Steve Kelley (DFL-Hopkins) in the Senate and Rep. Brad Finstad
(IR-New Ulm) in the House of Representatives. While the idea has gained support from Speaker of the House Steve
Sviggum and Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said through a spokesman Monday that he'd
prefer the sales tax increase be put through a referendum, though he'd leave that decision to the Hennepin
County Commissioners.
"I want to give the Twins and Hennepin County a fair chance to sell this at the Legislature," Pawlenty said, adding
that he viewed the developments as "a reasonable proposal."
Though the team prefers a retractable-roof stadium, the current proposal calls for an open-air facility that is not
roof-ready. The estimated $100 million expense of adding a roof could be provided by the state immediately or
during the construction process, but the Twins and Hennepin County are prepared to proceed with a plan to
bring outdoor baseball back to Minnesota.
"If the Legislature sees fit to put a roof on it, we're here and ready to accept it," Bell said. "If not, we're ready to
go forward without it."
Former Twins Kent Hrbek and Paul Molitor were on hand to discuss their memories of outdoor baseball, and even
in Detroit, where the Twins and Tigers were snowed out twice this weekend, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said
the team was ready to embrace the idea.
"There would be some cold and rough weather. But they've done it before," Gardenhire said. "They did it for a
long time in Minnesota. I understand those things."
The Twins have played in the Metrodome since 1982, but have been looking for a new ballpark for at least the past
decade. Although the team has won the American League Central Division in each of the past three seasons, over
that span the Twins have finished no higher than 20th among the 30 Major League teams in paid attendance and
25th in gate receipts.
Additionally, in 2004 the Twins ranked between 26th and 30th in in-park concessions, advertising and publication
revenues, parking revenues and stadium suite rentals.
Among other details in the proposal, the Twins would assume responsibility for construction-cost overruns; sign a
30-year, no-escape use agreement (subject to MLB approval), and share up to 18 percent of gross franchise sales
proceeds should the Pohlad family sell the team.
In return for its investment, Hennepin County would own the ballpark and maintain the right to use the facility
rent-free for public events. And the county would fund 70 percent of a $2 million annual budget for capital
improvements at the ballpark, with the Twins kicking in the balance.
The ballpark would be the crown jewel in what local businessman Bruce Lambrecht called "the 88th neighborhood
in Minneapolis," the so-called Twinsville concept that would blend new and existing entertainment, office and
housing space with transit developments and parking modeled on the popular Wrigley Field area on Chicago's North
Side.
(IR-New Ulm) in the House of Representatives. While the idea has gained support from Speaker of the House Steve
Sviggum and Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said through a spokesman Monday that he'd
prefer the sales tax increase be put through a referendum, though he'd leave that decision to the Hennepin
County Commissioners.
"I want to give the Twins and Hennepin County a fair chance to sell this at the Legislature," Pawlenty said, adding
that he viewed the developments as "a reasonable proposal."
Though the team prefers a retractable-roof stadium, the current proposal calls for an open-air facility that is not
roof-ready. The estimated $100 million expense of adding a roof could be provided by the state immediately or
during the construction process, but the Twins and Hennepin County are prepared to proceed with a plan to
bring outdoor baseball back to Minnesota.
"If the Legislature sees fit to put a roof on it, we're here and ready to accept it," Bell said. "If not, we're ready to
go forward without it."
Former Twins Kent Hrbek and Paul Molitor were on hand to discuss their memories of outdoor baseball, and even
in Detroit, where the Twins and Tigers were snowed out twice this weekend, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said
the team was ready to embrace the idea.
"There would be some cold and rough weather. But they've done it before," Gardenhire said. "They did it for a
long time in Minnesota. I understand those things."
The Twins have played in the Metrodome since 1982, but have been looking for a new ballpark for at least the past
decade. Although the team has won the American League Central Division in each of the past three seasons, over
that span the Twins have finished no higher than 20th among the 30 Major League teams in paid attendance and
25th in gate receipts.
Additionally, in 2004 the Twins ranked between 26th and 30th in in-park concessions, advertising and publication
revenues, parking revenues and stadium suite rentals.
Among other details in the proposal, the Twins would assume responsibility for construction-cost overruns; sign a
30-year, no-escape use agreement (subject to MLB approval), and share up to 18 percent of gross franchise sales
proceeds should the Pohlad family sell the team.
In return for its investment, Hennepin County would own the ballpark and maintain the right to use the facility
rent-free for public events. And the county would fund 70 percent of a $2 million annual budget for capital
improvements at the ballpark, with the Twins kicking in the balance.
The ballpark would be the crown jewel in what local businessman Bruce Lambrecht called "the 88th neighborhood
in Minneapolis," the so-called Twinsville concept that would blend new and existing entertainment, office and
housing space with transit developments and parking modeled on the popular Wrigley Field area on Chicago's North
Side.
| -- ------------------------------------------------------ -- Twins plan on playing outside at new home by Randy Furst, Star Tribune - June 9, 2005 |
Retractable roofs may grace new baseball stadiums in Milwaukee, Seattle, Phoenix and Houston, and appear to be
on the drawing boards in Miami, but Minnesota -- if it gets a new stadium at all -- appears destined for an open-air
ballpark for at least the next quarter of a century.
The Legislature is likely to grapple with the stadium issue before the special session ends.
While there's widespread agreement that the price tag would be too high to build a retractable roof now, there
has been off-and-on talk about building a roof-ready stadium so that a retractable roof could be added later. That
would include additional steel supports and a track on which the roof would run.
However, the Twins want neither a retractable roof nor a roof-ready stadium. Their construction consultants say
it would be impractical to build it later, and Hennepin County officials, who voted to foot much of the bill on a
new stadium through a countywide sales tax, have no interest in paying for a roof.
"We've come to grips with an open-air stadium," said Jerry Bell, president of Twins Sports Inc., the team's parent
company, in an interview this week. "It was very difficult for us to do it. We have been trying to get a retractable
roof for nine years and we came close but we never really got it, and the main reason is that the state won't put
any money into the deal."
No study has been done on whether it is practical to install a roof later.
Beyond discussion of a "roof-ready" stadium, neither the Twins nor the county have considered another option:
designing an open-air stadium with components for adding a retractable roof.
The Twins' decision to abandon the roof plan also results from widespread opposition to public subsidies.
The Hennepin County Board, by a 4-3 vote, is prepared to tax the public for an open-air stadium. The Legislature
is expected to decide whether to give the county the authority to add a 0.15 percent county sales tax, but it
has signaled its opposition to any state subsidies. "This is not a design issue," insists Twins president Dave St.
Peter. "This is an economic issue. It is the art of the doable."
Adds Bell: "The only decision we can make is that we continue to play in the Metrodome with a cloudy future at
best or do we play in a ballpark outside that gives us a future?"
Hennepin County Commissioner Mike Opat, a lead negotiator on the stadium project, says that a roof-ready
stadium is not on his agenda. Rainouts won't be an issue for Hennepin County residents, he said, and he believes
parts of the stadium can be heated, even if it is not enclosed.
"We are not going to pay for a roof," he said. "We think we are shouldering enough of the burden here. If the
outstate folks want it, if the governor wants it, or somebody else thinks it's a good idea, bring your checkbook
and we can have a discussion about it."
The current stadium plan envisions no roof, retractable or otherwise, for the life of the ballpark, which Bell said
could last for 40 or 50 years.
Earl Santee, the Twins architect, said he was not asked to design a ballpark that could be retrofitted for a
retractable roof. "I don't know how we would do it on this site," he said. "I would have to give it a lot more
thought."
Santee works for HOK Sport, based in Kansas City, an architectural firm that specializes in sports facility design.
He says he's never had space tighter than the Minneapolis block.
Building a roof after-the-fact would most likely be done on a platform next to the stadium, close to 200 feet high.
"Almost anything is possible," says Ken Sorensen, a vice president with A. M. Mortenson Co., a construction firm
advising the Twins. "We don't think, in the end, it's really practical," he said, referring to the proposed site just
west of the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
"There is not enough room to put up a platform," says Mike Ronning, division manager of Danny's Construction,
who reviewed the project with Sorensen.
The most likely place for a platform would be in the space between the stadium and the Hennepin County garbage
burner, but it would require heavy cranes that would block a roadway used by garbage trucks.
"If you can get the air right over the garbage plant, I think you could build a platform, you could possibly build
[the retractable roof] in five months, over the winter," said Jon Magnusson, chairman and CEO of Magnusson
Klemencic Associates, the structural engineering company for Safeco Field, the Seattle stadium with a
retractable roof. "It's all about money." If it was built over two winters, he said, the cost would rise dramatically.
But if a retractable roof is in a stadium's future, Magnusson advises planning for it now and shaping the park
accordingly.
Cyril Silberman, president of Uni-Systems in Robbinsdale, has designed the mechanisms for several recent stadium
retractable roofs. While declining to say exactly how a retractable after-the-fact roof could be built in
Minneapolis, he said, "Is it feasible, can it be done? The answer is 'yes.' "
But he estimated it would cost an additional $25 million to build the support system and track to make the stadium
roof-ready, and $75 million to install the roof later. "It would cost so much money everyone would wish we hadn't
done it," he said. He estimated it would cost about $250,000 to study how a retractable roof might be added to a
roof-ready stadium.
"A retractable roof is an architecture nightmare because it's hard to make it look like a building when the roof is
not on it," Santee said.
If a roof were built later, he said, it would take 14 to 16 months and the Twins would have to leave for a year
because the roof would have to be built over the playing field. With the rapid rise in steel prices and the
start-over costs involved, it would be very expensive, he said.
In most scenarios, the stadium's retractable roof would be open at both ends. A climate-controlled roof would be
even more expensive.
House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, said this week that it was his understanding that the proposal before the
Legislature was for an open-air stadium capable of adding a roof in a few years if the public wanted it.
"I thought this is something that could be done incrementally. It could be my misunderstanding of the proposal. ...
It makes it a little less attractive."
He said he would still support a stadium bill, but that stadium issues will not come up until after the Legislature
resolves other major issues, such as health care and education funding.
Randy Furst is at rfurst@startribune.com. Librarian Roberta Hovde contributed to this report.
on the drawing boards in Miami, but Minnesota -- if it gets a new stadium at all -- appears destined for an open-air
ballpark for at least the next quarter of a century.
The Legislature is likely to grapple with the stadium issue before the special session ends.
While there's widespread agreement that the price tag would be too high to build a retractable roof now, there
has been off-and-on talk about building a roof-ready stadium so that a retractable roof could be added later. That
would include additional steel supports and a track on which the roof would run.
However, the Twins want neither a retractable roof nor a roof-ready stadium. Their construction consultants say
it would be impractical to build it later, and Hennepin County officials, who voted to foot much of the bill on a
new stadium through a countywide sales tax, have no interest in paying for a roof.
"We've come to grips with an open-air stadium," said Jerry Bell, president of Twins Sports Inc., the team's parent
company, in an interview this week. "It was very difficult for us to do it. We have been trying to get a retractable
roof for nine years and we came close but we never really got it, and the main reason is that the state won't put
any money into the deal."
No study has been done on whether it is practical to install a roof later.
Beyond discussion of a "roof-ready" stadium, neither the Twins nor the county have considered another option:
designing an open-air stadium with components for adding a retractable roof.
The Twins' decision to abandon the roof plan also results from widespread opposition to public subsidies.
The Hennepin County Board, by a 4-3 vote, is prepared to tax the public for an open-air stadium. The Legislature
is expected to decide whether to give the county the authority to add a 0.15 percent county sales tax, but it
has signaled its opposition to any state subsidies. "This is not a design issue," insists Twins president Dave St.
Peter. "This is an economic issue. It is the art of the doable."
Adds Bell: "The only decision we can make is that we continue to play in the Metrodome with a cloudy future at
best or do we play in a ballpark outside that gives us a future?"
Hennepin County Commissioner Mike Opat, a lead negotiator on the stadium project, says that a roof-ready
stadium is not on his agenda. Rainouts won't be an issue for Hennepin County residents, he said, and he believes
parts of the stadium can be heated, even if it is not enclosed.
"We are not going to pay for a roof," he said. "We think we are shouldering enough of the burden here. If the
outstate folks want it, if the governor wants it, or somebody else thinks it's a good idea, bring your checkbook
and we can have a discussion about it."
The current stadium plan envisions no roof, retractable or otherwise, for the life of the ballpark, which Bell said
could last for 40 or 50 years.
Earl Santee, the Twins architect, said he was not asked to design a ballpark that could be retrofitted for a
retractable roof. "I don't know how we would do it on this site," he said. "I would have to give it a lot more
thought."
Santee works for HOK Sport, based in Kansas City, an architectural firm that specializes in sports facility design.
He says he's never had space tighter than the Minneapolis block.
Building a roof after-the-fact would most likely be done on a platform next to the stadium, close to 200 feet high.
"Almost anything is possible," says Ken Sorensen, a vice president with A. M. Mortenson Co., a construction firm
advising the Twins. "We don't think, in the end, it's really practical," he said, referring to the proposed site just
west of the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
"There is not enough room to put up a platform," says Mike Ronning, division manager of Danny's Construction,
who reviewed the project with Sorensen.
The most likely place for a platform would be in the space between the stadium and the Hennepin County garbage
burner, but it would require heavy cranes that would block a roadway used by garbage trucks.
"If you can get the air right over the garbage plant, I think you could build a platform, you could possibly build
[the retractable roof] in five months, over the winter," said Jon Magnusson, chairman and CEO of Magnusson
Klemencic Associates, the structural engineering company for Safeco Field, the Seattle stadium with a
retractable roof. "It's all about money." If it was built over two winters, he said, the cost would rise dramatically.
But if a retractable roof is in a stadium's future, Magnusson advises planning for it now and shaping the park
accordingly.
Cyril Silberman, president of Uni-Systems in Robbinsdale, has designed the mechanisms for several recent stadium
retractable roofs. While declining to say exactly how a retractable after-the-fact roof could be built in
Minneapolis, he said, "Is it feasible, can it be done? The answer is 'yes.' "
But he estimated it would cost an additional $25 million to build the support system and track to make the stadium
roof-ready, and $75 million to install the roof later. "It would cost so much money everyone would wish we hadn't
done it," he said. He estimated it would cost about $250,000 to study how a retractable roof might be added to a
roof-ready stadium.
"A retractable roof is an architecture nightmare because it's hard to make it look like a building when the roof is
not on it," Santee said.
If a roof were built later, he said, it would take 14 to 16 months and the Twins would have to leave for a year
because the roof would have to be built over the playing field. With the rapid rise in steel prices and the
start-over costs involved, it would be very expensive, he said.
In most scenarios, the stadium's retractable roof would be open at both ends. A climate-controlled roof would be
even more expensive.
House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, said this week that it was his understanding that the proposal before the
Legislature was for an open-air stadium capable of adding a roof in a few years if the public wanted it.
"I thought this is something that could be done incrementally. It could be my misunderstanding of the proposal. ...
It makes it a little less attractive."
He said he would still support a stadium bill, but that stadium issues will not come up until after the Legislature
resolves other major issues, such as health care and education funding.
Randy Furst is at rfurst@startribune.com. Librarian Roberta Hovde contributed to this report.