Twinkie Park

[amare32]

[gosioux76]

I'm pretty sure this is the same rendering they've been using for the last several years. While the ballpark plan is new -- and hopefully more successful than efforts in the past decade -- the rendering has stayed the same.

[amare32]

Yeah, it's really the funding mechanism that's new. I guess I should have made the link visible.

[waggie]

same pic as has been for a long time, jsut a new propsed location, close to the target center, instead of river side.

[gosioux76]

Actually, from what i understand, the biggest difference in this plan is that it's site specific.

Previous plans have allowed St. Paul, Minneapolis, and the suburbs to fight amongst themselves to come up with the best plan. This one narrows the choice to one, includes a county funding mechanism and a halfway decent contribution from the team.

Being in Minnesota, the team and the county are begging the state doesn't require a voter referendum. Minnesota voters don't like paying for stadiums.

[Roger Clemente]

I seriously hope that they do name the field "Twinkie Park".

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[pcgd]

I love the retro stadiums, but I love even more how they've toned them down as the years have gone by.

No more REALLY crazy dimentions (Pac Bell right, Minute Maid Left), but still you have some little querky corners, nothing weird like a hill in center field. That doesn't mean I don't like those two stadiums, Pac Bell is probably the best in baseball right now. But I just like how the new St. Louis stadium is just going to be that, a baseball stadium without gimicks. Same goes for this proposed Twinkie Park and Petco.

[winghaz]

Let's just hope a new Twins stadium will soon be a reality. The Metrodome is awful to watch a ballgame in.

[gosioux76]

Let's just hope a new Twins stadium will soon be a reality. The Metrodome is awful to watch a ballgame in.

The Metrodome may be awful for most people, but it's still my favorite stadium. But that's only because i'm a huge Twins fan and that place is nostalgia central for me.

I'm not sure how much I'd critique this design. While they keep showing this rendering, part of me thinks this isn't what the stadium would look like. This is certainly a nice picture, but I think i wonder if it's not just a recurring graphic the Twins toss out everytime a new stadium plan is proposed.

[slapshot]

Wasn't this supposed to be a retractable dome stadium? It looks totally open-air.

[mjrbaseball]

I hope they give the Vikings an open-air stadium, too. A dome in Minnesota is counterproductive.

[Cujo]

I dunno, but I'll kinda miss seeing the "Baggy Dome" around, and i can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe it's because some of baseball's greatest moments when down there during the '91 Fall Calssic.

[TBGKon]

apparently from what i've heard, the outfield wall will be like the Metrodome, it will have the Hefty Bag outfield wall, also, I dont know if the retractible roof was discontinued, but I do remember that if there is a roof, it was completely out of sight when the roof was opened, a first for retractible roofs

[yh]

I dont know if the retractible roof was discontinued, but I do remember that if there is a roof, it was completely out of sight when the roof was opened, a first for retractible roofs

The illustration above shows no track or other such support for a retractable roof, so I would have to think that such a feature will not be a part of the park that's presently being proposed.

[slapshot]

I'm not sure about the track. Unless that's a warehouse, there appears to be a long beam or structure above the left field seating that extends past centerfield and the picnic area behind it.

But there doesn't appear to be a closing wall by the scoreboard, so I can't really tell. I always thought this would be set up similar to Safeco, but with the roof sections stored above the infield seating all within each other.

[-kj]

A dome in Minnesota is counterproductive.

It is?

The Heftydome is an awful place for baseball, mostly because it's really set up as a football stadium.

[gosioux76]

Wasn't this supposed to be a retractable dome stadium? It looks totally open-air.

Hennepin County and the Twins are proposing a stadium without a roof, giving the state the option to pay for a covering if they deem it necessary. Most reports said the roof alone was around $100 million.

[OnWis97]

I think they are going to have it built so that it would not be too hard to put a roof on it in the future.

It is important to remember that this is not a done deal. the state has to approve it and that won't be until the budget sessions are done. In the meantime there are going to be tons of angry people from Hennepin County calling their state legislators and complaining. People there do not like public financing of stadiums.

The state may shoot this down or require the county to have a referrendum, which would undoubtedly fail.

[gosioux76]

I think they are going to have it built so that it would not be too hard to put a roof on it in the future.

It is important to remember that this is not a done deal. the state has to approve it and that won't be until the budget sessions are done. In the meantime there are going to be tons of angry people from Hennepin County calling their state legislators and complaining. People there do not like public financing of stadiums.

The state may shoot this down or require the county to have a referrendum, which would undoubtedly fail.

Even before it gets to this stage, the Hennepin County Commission has to approve a sales tax hike the equivalent of 3 cents added to a $20 purchase. While it seems they have the vote, they delayed the decision at a meeting last night.

[waggie]

I dont know if the retractible roof was discontinued, but I do remember that if there is a roof, it was completely out of sight when the roof was opened, a first for retractible roofs

The illustration above shows no track or other such support for a retractable roof, so I would have to think that such a feature will not be a part of the park that's presently being proposed.

its behind home plate, so the pic doesnt show it, go here:

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/...lpark/index.jsp

there are a couple cool video clips, the "ballpark of the imagination" one was pretty cool.