The Twins and the Minnesota Ballpark Authority, which oversees Target Field, will split the cost of hiring a $350,000 consultant to determine the best way to keep the ballpark in tip-top shape.
The Stadium Authority approved a request from the Twins on Thursday to spend up to $175,000 from the Capital Projects Fund to hire consulting firm Brailsford and Dunlavey to measure the overall condition of the stadium, how it compares to other Major League Baseball facilities and recommend future upgrades.
The consultant will conduct an in-depth evaluation of the stadium and all of its various operating systems to see what may ultimately need to be replaced or improved, said Dan Kenney, executive director of the Stadium Authority.
“At this point, it's good to get a baseline and evaluate where we are in year 15,” Kenny said. He added that he wants Al-Goal Stadium to be considered among the best stadiums in the league.
Target Field opened in 2010, will host its 15th Opening Day in April and is in the middle of its initial 30-year lease. The cost of building the stadium and surrounding infrastructure is $555 million, with $350 million coming from Hennepin County and most of the rest from the Twins.
Gary Galloway, the Twins' senior director of facilities, told stadium authority commissioners that the stadium routinely undergoes maintenance. But he welcomed a fresh perspective on the facility's long-term needs.
“I feel like we're doing a good job and we know a lot of things, but we don't know what we don't know,” Galloway said. “Having an extra set of eyes that aren't in the building every day will be a fun process.”
Brailsford and Dunlavey specializes in the planning and development of public facilities such as stadiums, universities and municipal buildings. The company has worked with ballparks in Cincinnati, Seattle and Washington, D.C., where it is headquartered.
It seems that major sports facilities in Minnesota are a constant conversation.
Last fall, officials from Xcel Energy Center, home of the Wild, said the 23-year-old St. Paul facility needed major renovations and there was hope state infrastructure money would help pay for some of it.
In 2017, a $140 million renovation of Target Center was completed. The home of the Timberwolves and Lynx was built in 1990.
A recent study determined that the home of the Vikings, U.S. Bank Stadium, built in 2016, will need $280 million in maintenance in the next decade.
