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Ballpark likely to sport modern look

The Twins stadium design to be unveiled in February will probably look more contemporary than retro, architects say.

By Linda Mack, Star Tribune
Last update: January 10, 2007 – 8:46 PM

The Minnesota Twins won't unveil the design for the new downtown ballpark until February, but the debate about whether it should look modern or retro has already begun.

The ballpark is envisioned to combine native Minnesota limestone, large expanses of glass, exposed structural steel and ironwork.

"The design will be about our time," said Bruce Miller, the project's lead architect with the Kansas City firm HOK Sport. "We're not thinking about brick arches."It's important that you be clear that you're building a more modern building than [Baltimore's] Camden Yards, so people won't be surprised," said Minneapolis City Council Member Lisa Goodman at Wednesday's meeting of the Ballpark Implementation Committee.

The schematic design, which will show how the stadium near the Target Center will look, will be officially presented to the Hennepin County Board on Feb. 15, with the Minneapolis City Council invited.

On Feb. 27 the County Board is expected to approve the design -- along with the budget, the development agreement with the Twins and other contracts.

"We're voting on this in a month. We need to see it soon," said County Commissioner Gail Dorfman, who also serves on the committee, which was formed to provide an alternative review process for the project.

Chuck Ballentine, deputy coordinator of the project, said the design may be presented to the committee earlier to meet those concerns.

Goodman said she feared that the light-colored limestone, like that used on the new Minneapolis Central Library, would "stick out like a sore thumb" in the surrounding dark-brick Warehouse District.

City Council Member Paul Ostrow agreed that the design should reflect the historic neighborhood but said the retro-brick ballparks start to look a lot alike.

"I do want architecturally for the ballpark to be somewhat unique," Ostrow said.

"That's directly in line with our thinking," Miller said.

Last week the University of Minnesota unveiled a design, also by HOK Sport, for a red-brick football stadium on campus.

Who decides?

The debate also raised the question of who will have final say over the design.

The Twins are the client, Miller said.

And the development agreement to be signed between the Twins and the county gives the County Board approval over the design, said Rick Johnson, the county's stadium project coordinator.

The Implementation Committee also will make recommendations on the design of the stadium and its surrounding area, although that overview does not include every detail.

Crowding eased

The committee also heard that the stadium wall has been pulled in 5 feet to add more sidewalk space near the S. 5th Street light-rail platform, which had been criticized as too small.

And this week the County Board endorsed adding a second platform to the north near the Ford Centre when future light-rail lines are developed, to further alleviate crowding.


Linda Mack "¢ 612-673-7124 "¢ lmack@startribune.com