Secrets of the City

I think it will look lovely in a fresh white coat of April snow. It will look dramatic in a thunderstorm, with lightning! Let’s all sing together: Hail! Hail! the gang’s here — but the game has been delayed.

Let’s tear down that ugly, paid-for multipurpose Metrodome ASAP!

Is there anything they can do about the City Center Shit Stack down the right field line?

Other than that it looks pretty fabulous!

I’m still angry about it but not as much as the gophers stadium, not by a long shot.

Anyways, it looks nice. I like how it’s small, vertical, and outdoors – kinda old-school – but also has a little bit of modern “guthrie” thing going on.

I’ll go to Twins games more than once a year now. Maybe I’ll bump it up to two or three.

My wrist is hurting me today, so I have turned into the Steve Marsh of outdoor baseball.

Sorry, MNspeakers.

Go, Twins! You too, Wild.

I really like the view of the downtown skyline over the outfield.

Two words: Retractable Roof

Several comments:

The outfield will spend a long time facing the sun.

Rain and snow, heat and cold.

A lot of money will be spent just building the platform for the stadium. A site without railroads and roaways under it would be far cheaper.

Will they provide oxygen masks for the upper deck?

I might be in a minority, and I’m not much of a professional sports fan, but I like to try to embrace bad weather as part of the experience. The lack of a roof doesn’t bother me. Might bug the players a bit, but for what they’re getting paid I don’t think they can bitch.

The front looks like a church. Or a high school.

That said, I’ll be excited to watch a game outdoors. When it’s not raining, snowing, scorching, or freezing.

“Minnesota’s new ballpark will feature multiple “Knotholes” along the 5th Street side of the ballpark allowing fans to watch the action outside the park without buying a ticket. “

That’s kinda neat.

Looks like the exterior has some of those same ‘cantilever’ or ‘awning’ things (sorry, not up on architecture terms) that cause problems at the DT library during snow melt season. Here’s hoping they can solve that problem.

Oh, and pine trees behind the CF fence? Unique, and weird.

Lots of stadiums have those because they make a nice batter’s eye. I think the architects of the City Center “shit stack” ought to be strung up from their achille’s tendons for Twins fans to beat on for making us sit there staring at that ugly bastard instead of the beautiful Wells Fargo tower.

I like how it looks almost see-through in the upper levels.

Please put the bull pens back on the field, where they belong, and put seats in the outfield so we can still have the fun of watching batting practice.

I like the retired numbers idea.

All it needs is a railroad behind it, a fire fighter training ground next door, a nun giving out backrubs and $1 Schell Beer.

I do think it looks cool. Having seen games at Coors Field a couple times, this has the look and feel of that stadium, which is a great place to watch baseball.

On the “funfact” page:

The Twins will offer a variety of wonderful concession options for fans of all ages.

Hey, that sounds pretty good!

The site isn’t big enough for a retractable roof, and those are $$$.

I think it looks awesome. The “knothole” concept is really cool.

Since most games are evening games, will sun be much of an issue? On the plus side, they could try to schedule more afternoon games early and late in the season to take advantage of the sun’s effects.

HOK is responsible for this? It looks like an airport terminal. Wouldn’t be surprised to learn they’re going to pump Kenny G. onto that outdoor plaza.

Where’s the red brick and ye olde Cooperstown trim?!

A retractable roof would turn a charming stadium into an erector-set monstrosity.

Shoulda been up five years ago.

I like it, its not a cookie-cutter ballpark. If anyone knows their ballparks it looks like PNC park and the New Guthrie theatre had a baby and this ballpark is it.

All I have to say is that I was very very glad to be under a roof during last night’s excellent game.

Most importantly, where will the beer be sold? And will there still be Dome Dogs?

It looks like a similar material (the limestone) that’s on the exterior of the WCCO building on Nicollet Mall. I think it looks super cool. The park, not CCO.

If anyone has been to a retractable roof stadium, I have been to Houston’s many times, the exterior looks so bland, if you didn’t know it was a ballpark one would mistake it for an large warehouse

As if it will actually be named “Minnesota Twins Ballpark”, as seen on the sign, instead of something like “TCF/Hormel ballpOrk brought to you by Target” What companies can we immortalize with naming rights?

Wish it fit into the Warehouse District. This design is better suited for Blaine.

I like the pedestrian promenade leading down 6th street.

Don’t like the fact that the field is oriented towards the NE…means that the only fully sunny seats for day games will be in the OF.

Coors field has a pine forest in CF, too.

They should do away with the winged quasi-roof on top of the upper deck…messes up the skyline view from the 3rd base side, and messes up the view from our suites.

Looks like you can watch the game for the price of parking in the Target B ramp if you get there early enough. And the beer would be way cheaper up there.

401 Women’s bathrooms but only 266 Men’s? Where can I go to protest this inequality?

Wheaties Field. General Mills can’t pass that up.

401 Women’s bathrooms but only 266 Men’s? Where can I go to protest this inequality.

that sounds like a 1.5 to 1 ratio…unless you squat to piss, Douglas, you ought to just leave that alone.

You know I piss in a trough like the rest of the guys…

TCF/Hormel ballpOrk brought to you by Target

Wheaties Field. General Mills can’t pass that up.

TCF already has the Gopher stadium, but I dig Hormel Ballpork brought to you by Target.

Wheaties Field would be the best, though. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the General plops it down for naming rights, and I’d really rather see them brand it with a brand than with “General Mills Field.” A carefully chosen brand, of course. No BooBerry Park or anything.

Yeah, if there’s 266 men’s stalls, what about troughs? Or is that just counting the maximum hip-to-hip trough space? Because I love troughs…

Gotta keep the troffs.

Gotta keep Dome Dogs (who doesn’t like a big meaty weener glistening with steam???)

Having set in the bleachers at Wrigley on a 90-degree day, I’m glad seats will be in the shade. The sun…it burns.

It kind of looks like Frank Lloyd Wright helped design portions of the ballpark

I’m no pasty white prairie boy…my semitic flesh yearns for direct sunlight.

You know I piss in a trough like the rest of the guys…

oh…was that you trying to pick me up in the men’s room @ 1st Ave last night?

Wow, it’s… a baseball stadium. *YAWN*

With what’s left of the upper deck, I can’t wait to see what happens to ticket prices — with a complimentary pocket pack of Kleenex for the nosebleeds.

Just Plain Bob and I will be co-owners of the mittens, caps and scarves concession
PS — I LOVE the idea of Wheaties Field!

I hope MN can get over the retractable roof hang-up, albeit a large and legitimate hang-up. It ain’t happening.

That said, jeffk is spot on about the weather. Minnesotans used to pride themselves on sitting in shitty weather watching sports. Remember the roof on the old Met? That was awesome! Moving into the Dome has been universally cited as a reason the Vikes turned soft on us.

It’s time for us to grow back our collective chest hair and get back to our Nordic roots. I for one am excited about taking my two boys down to Wheaties Field for a game when it’s 20 degrees and windy. Like ice fishing or walking to school in a blizzard, it makes them strong humans. On the way home from the game we’ll kill a deer with our bare hands and then eat its heart raw.

No, that was Marsh.

I’m extremely impressed by these renderings. Not only is the structure beautiful but also the space that’s created between the stadium and the Target Center with the pedestrian walkways.

There have been many complaints about the site and how there’s not enough room (it costs too much!) but I think the closeness of everything will be a tremendous asset long term.

Kudos to the planners and architects who embraced the challenge of designing this park in an existing urban center — to place a wonderful public space where nothing but a crummy surface parking lot existed.

As far as the naming rights issue — Twins Ballpark is great (then again, “Twins” is a privately held company), but I’m reminded of an argument I lost about company’s buying the naming rights to a stadium.

I was arguing that it shouldn’t be allowed, that a stadium should be named after a civic leader or somesuch, and I attempted to name a ballpark with a storied past meeting such a requirement.

My example: Wrigley Field. It was then that I lost the argument.

It’ll be named what it’ll be named. Some parts might look new-fangled. As long as it’s 90 feet to first base and the beer is cold, I’m going to be happy.

“No BooBerry Park or anything.”

I know, it’s gotta be “Mr. Wonderfulls’ Surprize Park.”

Didn’t you get his name, before you did the walk of shame? It most certainly wasn’t me. I was doing my taxes last night.

If that was during voltage grote, that would have been me, which would have made us the only two straight guys using that bathroom last night.

Amen nateek. Though I’m not Nordic and not a native Minnesotan, I think it’s time for the athletes and fans to suck it up and do it in the elements.

For a name, my favorite is Land – O – Lakes Field, nothing more Minnesotan than that!

i’m fired up. the field looks awesome, it’s in a great location… i can’t wait to take the boy to a little outdoor baseball in a couple years.

Perhaps I should also mention that “Nordic” is also just a state of mind, not a necessarily a racial profile. In other words, this stadium could lead to a Nordification of MN that would lead us to suffer quietly, earn a day’s living, dismiss guilt, accept grace, approach life with a certain degree of stoicism, enjoy saunas, eat gelatinous fish, and quietly go about our business while trying not to hurt anybody.

Enough already with Minnesotans waiting in line to get into Bella Notte with Dockers and golf shirts. Let’s love ourselves for who we are!

Land ‘o Lakes Field would be a good one, too

Speaking of Voltage, what if they had a fashion show, and everyone there was blind?

Without mentioning names, some of these posts remind me of when I tried to make a kick ass b-day cake for my 6 year old. I put baseballs and dinosaurs and rockets and skateboards and all sorts of stuff on it, thinking he would love it. Cutting into it, he said, “oh… It’s chocolate…”

Look! It’s an outdoor baseball stadium! We can DRINK BEER outside on a beautiful SUNNY day (we’ll have those too) after we BIKED to the stadium with our friends and family and watch the TWINS.

If you don’t like these:
– baseball
– the sun
– beer
– friends
– air
– the Twins
then please refrain from hating all over Kaboom Park, okay? I could go on all day on this rant. 2010 can’t come soon enough.

Color me underwhelmed.

I don’t know what else you could really do with the postage-stamp lot it’s getting wedged into, but it seems like an on-the-cheap, bare minimum effort. Kinda like what the Metrodome was in 1980.

Hey, it’s outdoors. Maybe it’ll be magnificent. I just won’t bet against something that’s 49% park and 51% municipal facility.

The people of Green Bay are laughing at all you indoor/retractable roof fans right now.

Drexel – I reserve judgement because I know I can do no better…but yeah.

I don’t know what else you could really do with the postage-stamp lot it’s getting wedged into,

That’s great. An intimate stadium. You’ll be close to the players and the game. Watch out for foul balls. I’ve been to Spring Training down south three times. Maybe it will be a little like that.

The only problem I really had with the dome is the feeling that the game was taking place far away.

…after we BIKED to the stadium with our friends and family…

Yeah, that’s what I hated most about the dome. You couldn’t bike there.

Kaboom Park

Nate wins. You got $100 million to go with that?

“The problem I had…”
“What I hated most…”

I’m loving the past-tense references to the Dome, but I do have to remind us all that the Dome is still the home of the Twins as they win the next three Nikon Global Domination Trophies of American Baseball Excellence.

I wonder how they’ll do without the benefit of blowing the air conditioning fans inwards on opposing teams at the plate

More cantilevers! Cantilever fever continues unabated!

I hope they can get rid of that lovely sewage/urine smell between Rapid Park and the ramp on certain days during the spring/summer months. That shit’s nasty!

Wrigley wasn’t exactly named after the chewing gum. It was named after the owner of the team, William Wrigley, who also happened owned the chewing gum co. Before him, it was called Weeghman Park, after Whales owner Charles Weeghman. Not exactly the same as a company buying rights to a field.

Terry Ryan will re-sign Santana in the off season to an 8 year $160,000,000 contract and immediately trade him for A-Rod, who will stonewall saying that he will only come here if the stadium is named Rodriguez Field. You heard it here first.

Failing that scenario, I betcha they name it Pohlad Park.

Is it even a possibility anymore that a park/field/stadium/whatever could be named after a person or someone/thing locally meaningful and not whichever company ponies up the most cash?

It probably is impossible these days to give the name away to something locally meaningful. Although, with enough capital and creativity, there are some corporate names that wouldn’t suck:

Summit Park
Deja Vu Field
Surley Commons

Pohlad is the richest owner in baseball…the opportunity cost of the naming rights are a drop in the bucket for his family.

What about Ambassador Park?

Maybe I forfeited the argument, then.

“What’s in a name,” is all I’m saying.

…the opportunity cost of the naming rights are a drop in the bucket for his family.

Yes, but you don’t get to be the richest owner in baseball by tossing money away on useless vanities. I don’t know Pohlad, but something tells he looks at money in a way that’s different from, say, Ted Turner.

Wrigley wasn’t exactly named after the chewing gum.

Yeah, but it got its name years ago. I guess I’ll just hope a company with a less uncool name wins it.

I’m trying to work, but I can’t stop thinking about outdoor baseball.

Here’s another thing I would love to see (hear): a real organ. That’s it. No piped in music. No “Hell’s Bells.” Just Ronnie Newman -like organ interludes between innings. Or no sounds at all at times. When’s the last time you could go to a sporting event and not be constantly bombarded by noise?

very good point, rat. but you’re presuming that he’ll be around & calling the financial shots in 2010…I saw him being wheeled down 6th street the other day, and I’m not doctor, but by the looks of it he won’t be the one throwing out the first pitch @ that new stadium.

I’m thinking they’ll sell it to some corporation. While $1 million a year may not be a lot to them, it is a nice chunk of change to receive for nothing more than naming a stadium after a corporation.

One of the things that I disliked about this stadium was that the Pohlads and the Twins got the naming rights. The stadium should be named after or by the people who pay for it. It SHOULD be Hennepin County Stadium, but that won’t happen…

i could care less what they name it. it’s just the cost of doin business these days. christ, i’d let target put a big giant red logo on my house if they paid off my mortgage.

Nate…Simpleton will show you a real organ…just ask.

How did I KNOW I wasn’t going to be able to write “real organ” w/o some type of response? I just didn’t know whose organ would be referenced…

I also hope that while at the new stadium I can catch lots of balls and eat pie.

Have at it!

One of the things I disliked about this Stadium DEAL… Stadium deal.

“Surley Commons”

I will quadruple my beer intake, and switch over to only Surley brand, if it means they can afford some sort of naming rights to the stadium. Who wouldn’t want to hang out on the Surley Plaza?

Actually, I think the plaza over 394 will be a really unpleasant place, so that might be apt. The pictures make it look like a nice place to hang out, but it’s overlooking a freeway, with road noise and debris and fumes. And how long before fans start throwing crap at cars going underneath? Either cover the whole thing or enclose the area on top. Having a plaza open to a freeway is stupid. That’s the worst feature of the whole place.

And how long before fans start throwing crap at cars going underneath?

we’ve got lots of pedestrian bridges over 94, and i don’t think this has been a problem. but ya know, them baseball hooligans cause trouble at every turn.

It SHOULD be Hennepin County Stadium

Can I get my name on a seat in the outfield or a brick on the plaza or something?

Can I get my name on a seat in the outfield or a brick on the plaza or something?

Sure, just magic marker that shit.

They talk about better sightlines – I don’t see them. From the looks of these pictures, a seat down the third baseline still has you pointing out to right field, which is the biggest problem in the Metrodome. If they don’t fix that, they may as well stay inside for all I care.

Wasn’t me. I was busy being the Steve Marsh of outdoor baseball.

WTF?

we’ve got lots of pedestrian bridges over 94, and i don’t think this has been a problem. but ya know, them baseball hooligans cause trouble at every turn.

Most of the pedestrian oriented bridges come enclosed in chain-link fencing, for good reason I would guess. And these are the same fans who tossed crap at Chuck Knoblacuh for no reason. If they’re smart there will be an 8 foot tall brick wall around there before they open the stadium. If not, I’d put money on there being a serious accident on the first “bat-day”, from some drunken idiot flinging his mini-bat on the freeway. Actually, it doesn’t need to be bats…baseballs, posters, magnet schedules, anything that can fly and will distract drivers.

If your sitting in the bleachers, the sight lines are fine.

The sightlines from the outfield in the metrodome are fine, too. If they’re not going to fix the major problem with watching baseball at the Metrodome – the seats are aligned to a football field – then they’re just wasting time and money.

The major problem with watching baseball at the Dome is the Dome. I’ll give you this though, if the sight lines aren’t high on the list of things to address in the new Honey Nut Cheerios Park, then there are some huge problems at hand. Not addressing this would be symptomatic of a larger problem of being clueless.

But I’m a “cup is overflowing” guy and like to believe that Aslan himself would be pleased with this new design.

“Terry Ryan will re-sign Santana in the off season to an 8 year $160,000,000 contract . . . “

I thought they broke up years ago, but I’d seriously consider going to a few games if this was true.

“Minnesotans used to pride themselves on sitting in shitty weather watching sports.“

Yeah, over 300,000 people distinctly remember sitting in the bleachers watching the Vikings beat the Bears in a blizzard. Of course, attendance was only about 10,000.

Minnesotans pride themselves on their national reputation as brave and hardy souls rooting for their teams in lousy weather, and hope that that reputation continues, but only so long as they don’t actually have to sit out in that bad weather themselves. Just as in the Vikings’ day in the Met, attendance will suffer for the Twins every time the sun disappears. This was not a good idea.

We talk big, but we’re smarter than the designers think.

Worst possible sponsor names for the stadium:

Kotex Park

Chia Pet Field

Anything with dot com

Others?

got a black magic change-up.

Cudd’yer maker.

Perceptions form our reality, bobby. I’m not saying that sitting out at the Met watching Bud Grant lead our boys into battle while drinking Irish coffee out of a steel Thermos were the greatest days of my life. In fact, since I was 2, I don’t really remember that at all.

But, I’d like to think that perhaps this stadium will inspire the Thor Heyerdahl in all of us. I hereby declare that I will never skip an outdoor game that I was planning on going to or have tickets to because of weather. If I should fail in this regard, you may take my Swedish flag from me.

You may want to check out this analysis of the need for a roof. We are talking about BASEBALL and not football. He does a good job of analyzing weather and records. Although he is biased towards the stadium and outdoor baseball, I think a $125 million in savings is worth not having a retractable roof.

nate was drinking irish coffee @ age 2…explains everything

well played, Douglas. maybe you don’t squat to piss afterall.

Add to that, a retractable roof is just ugly except to engineer geeks who marvel at its abilities. Ohhhhh, look at that. It can move back and forth!

“But, I’d like to think that perhaps this stadium will inspire the Thor Heyerdahl in all of us.“

You mean the Thor Heyerdahl who so hated the cold of his home country that he left and made his fame in the tropical waters of Polynesia?

Yeah, I think it will.

why can’t they extend that plaza to cover the entire highway? how charming to have traffic zipping by!

“Perceptions form our reality, bobby.“

I obviously did more drugs than you in college, or you never would have said that without falling over moaning and shivering.

Talk about getting your intellectual feet held to the fire!

First of all, that Thor Heyerdahl rebuttal from bobby was wicked smart and and completely un-re-rebuttalable. I was trying to throw out some Kon Tiki nonsense just to confuse the situation and it got blown up!

Second, that “perceptions form our reality” stuff is just some Deepak Chopra mumbo jumbo that I thought sounded cool too.

The first post was made in my office. The second was made at home while sipping a gin and tonic. Clearly booze clears my mind.

IT’S CRAP! A BUILDING THAT WAS BUILT BY A BUNCH OF EXTREMIST POLITICANS THAT WE RE-ELECTED LAST YEAR FOR OUR OWN STUPIDITY!!! YET I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE HAVE THE AUDACITY TO TOLERATE THIS ROBBER BARON CULTURE IN OUR SOCIETY! THE POLHADS ARE NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF LYING, GREEDY, THUGS, THAT LIKE TO PAYOFF CERTAIN POLITICANS IN ORDER TO GET THEIR WAY! JACK ABERMOFF STYLE!!

I WOULD NOT GO TO A TWINS GAME ANYMORE! AND I CERTINALLY REFUSE ON MY OWN WILL TO EVEN STEPPED INTO THAT NEW BALLPARK FOR MY ENTIRE LIFE!! I WOULD FIND OTHER WAYS TO ENJOY MY PLEASURE, BUT NOT GOVERNMENT-RUN SPORTS STADIUMS THAT ARE OWN BY BILLIONARES!!!!!!!!!!!!

One more thing: I wasn’t drinking Irish coffee when I was two. I was eating paste.

Easy on the caps there man, you hurt my eyes.

There’s also a lot to be said for exclamation mark moderation.

Actually the “ALL CAPS” style of communication is quite effective. It works really well when talking to immigrants or blind people.

Big G obviously went to the Mpls public schools.

just kidding.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ENGLISH…….DOOOOO YOUUUUUUU SPEEEEAK IT?

“Minnesota’s new ballpark will feature multiple “Knotholes” along the 5th Street side of the ballpark allowing fans to watch the action outside the park without buying a ticket. “

Or as stevemarsh refers to them: “Glory Holes.”

Mmmmmmmmm I love the smell of BURNING GARBAGE during the 7th Inning Stretch.

“Step right up and get your season tickets to Cancer Park!”

I think the Twins should pay for their own stadium if they want a new place to play. I as a small business owner in the Twin Cities need to pay for my building and equipment, so should the Twins. Tax payers should not be made to pay for a building to house a billionaires business. They sure don’t give me any help, and I wouldn’t think of asking them to either. Let go of a few bucks Carl to build your stadium if you think you need one. The people of Minnesota are sick of your tight purse strings. You can’t take it with you Carl.
Spend some more of your money on some decent players as well. The view you have need some help. Santana can’t do it by himself.