Great update. The Seville's website looks like it was made in 1996. I think one the most interesting aspect of the ballpark is going to be watching the area develop around it.

thanks rick!

man, do i HATE the multifoods tower. HATE IT! wells fargo building is so beautiful and that monstrosity is sitting right in its frickin' way. at the very least i would like to see the multifoods tower torn down and replaced with a skyscraper worthy that is worth of the minneapolis skyline. one that has architectural significance and beauty.

rick - i have to disagree with your perspective on the central corridor line. i think it will be a great thing for minneapolis, st. paul and the midway area in general.

finally, if some suburban or outstate goof can figure out which train to get on, well then that is their issue. i have been on many metro systems around the world and knowing which line you need to get on and where each one is going is not really a problem. i don't see it being an issue in minneapolis either. unless some schmuck is just really naive and that "wet behind the ears".

You know what we should have a letter or email writing campaign. Tell the powers that be where the old met flagpole should be. Its the publics stadium right. Should we not have a say in the matter as to where it should be. I remember seeing the flagpole as well as the old scoreboard at the old met and at leaste the flagpole should be seen somewhere more visible than what I have seen planned for the thing. I would guess the old scoreboard from the met is toast since I cant exactly remeber what they did with it so I doubt its very visible anymore. One last thing tcf bank stadium is outdoors should there not be real grass instead of field turf just thought.

The "event center" pictured is being built by the EPIC club. The guy who owns both of these buildings is a developer who owns most of the buildings on 1st avenue. All he has stated is that this will be an "event center", but it has been sitting empty since last fall, so it may be a future restaurant for when the ballpark opens...

As far as parking along University Ave., the city and county have been trying for years to develop a system where businesses could relocate parking behind their shops. It's still possible that it'll work.

A lot of neighborhood folks were hoping that, when Target rebuilt their store on Hamline, they would put their parking lot behind the store. Of course they didn't, and they compromised by promising to hire close to 90% of their employees from the immediate neighborhood. It's hard to turn something like that down when you're dealing with mere aesthetics.

I was going to go up and take some pictures of the Twins visit to the Colorado turf farm growing the Target Field sod on Tuesday. I won't be going, as I got a response from the Director of new ballpark development, Scott O'Connell today:

"Jim,

The Twins organization is coordinating an extensive media coverage of this visit.

In addition we do not endorse nor cooperate with independent blogs.

We are unable to honor your request.

Thank you for your continued interest in the Twins.

Scott O'Connell
Minnesota Twins"

My original request:

"I am a season ticket holder and Legend's Club member that currently
lives in Colorado. I understand that there is a group coming out to
inspect the turf for Target Field on Tuesday, the 12th.

I've spoken to the owner and he doesn't have any issue with me coming
up to take some pictures, as long as the Twins don't object.

I would like to take and post them for the twinsballpark2010.com site
and the thread on baseballfever.com documenting the construction.
They will not be used for any commercial purpose, just fans
documenting the development of Target Field.

If you don't object, would you please send an email to James Graff and
let him know that it's OK? His email address is .

Thank you for your consideration."

I'm somewhat surprised and disappointed by the response and don't really understand it, but looks like no early pictures of Target Field turf.

It's frickin grass for god's sake!!! Why would Scott O'Connell and the Twins be such pricks about this?

He says they don't endorse nor cooperate with blogs. Well no shit they don't. And for your info Scott, these blogs are doing a hell of a better job than your pathetic OFFICIAL website is doing. Perhaps you and a few of your fellow tools should consult some bloggers for a little insight. By the way, how's that re-positioning of the webcam going? Oh yeah that's right, it hasn't been 8 months since DSP said it would be moved in the coming weeks....

Just for that I hope it's pouring hailstones on Tuesday in Colorado.

amazing pics.

I hope the Twins aren't getting cocky/arrogant with the upcoming opening of Target Field (which IMO they have been teetering on since the signed doc from Gov. Pawlenty). History shows you might sellout for 1 season, but if the team doesn't win or the ticket/concessions/parking costs get out of line people won't come.

Sorry to hear that jfh. The "tone of voice" of Scott's email to you leaves a lot to be desired. What do you suppose "coordinating extensive media coverage" means? A 3 minute feature on the Twins Pre/Postgame with this no-mind Robby Incmikowski? Ha c'mon....

Fatass Mijares strikes again.....Pass me the Maalox!

Thatta boy Jesse!!! WILD PITCH! The Twins shut out the M's through 7 innings and it all goes to shit....listen to the boos Billy...LISTEN TO THEM!!!!!! Oh yeah, we didn't need any more relief help did we????!?!?!?!? Oh, what's that??? base hit...4 straight runs for the M's....

Oh and look....Guerrier is coming in....Somebody please shoot me..

umm yea, that's a smug response there from the twins. it's grass growing for god's sake, not some deep secret. geeze...and they better not be getting arrogant with the team they're presently fielding. it's looking like a 500 year at best.

Tough loss today...Ouch!
Did we ever get the Wilson/ Wanda Phillips name change figured out?

Max - very well put. Think about places like Detroit, Baltimore, Colorado - empty seats everywhere. People arent always going to come for the building - like they do for the Wild. The Wild haven't been terrific...yet they sell out every night. Might it be because we were sans hockey for seven years? Maybe. But regardless of the way the team plays, they sell out like nobody's business.
The Twins will not follow suit. The Twins aren't the Cubs, or the Packers - where people will show up regardless. Nope. If we're not winning, no one will come.

A follow up email from the Twins PR director in response to my response to Scott. While I don't agree with their position, I can understand it, though it appears that the Twins may not understand the new media paradigm any better than most of corporate America. I suspect a very small percentage of the fan base is interested in the construction progress to the extent those here are, but you would think a picture of grass growing in Colorado wouldn't spoil too many "ah-ha" moments when Target Field opens. :)

I doubt I'll get to see the story, since (a) I still have no idea when it will broadcast and (b) my daughter doesn't have any way to record a program off air. If anyone can capture the KARE 11 story when it airs and upload a video or cut me a DVD, I'd appreciate it.

---------------

"Jim -

We appreciate your interest in the construction of Target Field. I have been working with KARE 11 here in the Twin Cities and 9News in Denver on an exclusive enterprise story that KARE and 9News have cultivated and I intend to honor their request on this story. Regarding a DVD of the piece, I suggest your daughter record it - whenever it airs - since she is a U of M student here in the Twin Cities as you mention.

As construction gets further and further along, we have instituted a no photography policy - the same as they did with Yankee Stadium and CitiField - to maintain the integrity of the information we distribute to the public. There is a lot of good information in the Target Field section of our Web site - one does not need the MLB Extra Innings package to access this free and accurate information.

While I appreciate blogs and other fan Web sites dedicated to following the construction, much of the information shared is speculation and discussion rather than information based in fact.

Our goal is to provide fans enough information on Target Field while saving some of the "Ah-ha" moments for the day we open in April of next year.

I appreciate your understanding.

Kevin W. Smith
Executive Director of Public Affairs

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 9:29 AM
To: O'Connell, Scott

Scott,

Thank you for your response and consideration. I am somewhat
surprised and disappointed by it, but won't make the trip
up to Graff's on Tuesday.

I figured since I was local, taking a couple of pictures of the turf to share with my daughter (who is a U of M student and a big Twins
fan) and her friends, who think it's cool we live a short distance
from where the Target Field turf is being grown, and sharing them with other fans that might be interested wouldn't be a big deal. I thought I might also be able to convince the KUSA crew to do a quick piece on Target Field and/or why a Colorado Rockies season ticket holder also was a season ticket holder with the Minnesota Twins.

I am not a member of the media and do not run or endorse any
independent blogs. I am just a Twins fan, who, like many, are very
interested in, and excited by, the development of Target
Field.

As you are no doubt aware, you have a large fan base outside the MSP
area, most of whom have no access to any official media coverage
outside the MLB Extra Innings package. The two web sites I mentioned, and others, offer those of us who aren't fortunate enough to watch the construction progress locally some ability to follow it.

I don't know what the "extensive media coverage" planned is, but if it
constitutes the local KUSA crew taking footage for KARE, that doesn't
help those of us outside the area. If I promise to not distribute the
footage outside my family, would you be able to provide a DVD of the
coverage to me?

Continued success with Target Field. I can't wait to see it for
myself when I'm back in the area in July."

"In addition we do not endorse nor cooperate with independent blogs."

Well then Scott, you sir, and the Twins organization are dating yourselves. Local television news stations and newspapers are dying, so I would strongly recommend that you start cooperating with blogs and forums because these new mediums are the future of news gathering.

"The Twins organization is coordinating an extensive media coverage of this visit."

No you're not. It would be extensive if you actually included blogs and forums. Wake up you dinosaur.

It's great to see the Twins running this operation by the book!

-The 1980's School of Marketing

HEY DOUCHEBAGS - WE'RE PAYING FOR YOUR STADIUM! GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE.

Is Rick not going to be able to take pics anymore for this blog, because of the "no photography" policy??

Matter of fact, regarding the turf, one of the previous editions of "Under the Lights" on the FSN North, had a story about the turf farm as well. Gosh, it must have been a couple months ago now...

I just wanted to take a minute here to say Hi to Scott and Kevin. Welcome. We know you've been reading Rick's fantastic site on a regular basis since it's inception in 2006.

Plenty of information in the target field section? That's a joke right? This blog has so much more information (even if some of it is speculation) and insight into the ball park than the twins site does. The updates on the twins website have been few and far between and, to be honest, are pretty pathetic in term of quality of information and photos. Rick, thank you for this site, you do a much better job documenting this project than the organization that it is being built for.

9809 N. Frontage Road I-76
Fort Morgan, CO 80701
1-800-280-TURF or 1-970-867-TURF
Fax: 970-867-4343

How's this for speculation?

It sounds like we could all go out anytime we want. Check link

Oh, come on, guys. Is it a little draconian? Yeah. But it's not that expected. The Twins are definitely an "old school" organization. Remember, Calvin was running this team out of his pocket in the 80's long after the rest of true "baseball men" left the game. This is an organization that still rates players by "hustle". They're a little behind the times, but we know that. Also, I can't think of the last time so many people wanted to watch grass grow. I can only pray Target Field doesn't use paint...

It's not that unexpected. Mi mal.

Hey Maz,
How much $$ do you need to sneak out to the Graff turf farm and take a few pics for us?
Hey jfh,
What is the address of the Graff turf farm? We can just go onto googlemap.com anytime we want and see the damn grass anytime we want. SO THERE Kevin and Scott!!

Luke - the owner of the turf farm explained to me that the Fox Sports segment (presumably the "Under the Lights" segment) was done without approval from the Twins, who were apparently upset with him for allowing it, which is why he asked me to get permission from the Twins in the first place.

Locker -
I know where the farm is - I've been by there before - but I'm not going to go up on Tuesday, since I told both the owner and the Twins I wouldn't without the blessing of the Twins.

I can appreciate what the Twins are trying to do, but the reason that much of the information shared is speculation and discussion rather than information based in fact is because of the position they have taken. It's difficult for many organizations these days to deal with the new media paradigm the Internet has created and find a way to use it to their advantage. But this was never about that - just a fan who thought it would interesting to take a picture of some grass that was going to end up in a ball field and share it. Of course, if you think about it, that's a little silly. :)

For the casual fan, the information on the Twins site is adequate.
Many here disagree. Fortunately, most seem to
think the Twins will hit a home run with Target Field.
The draw of Target Field itself will be transient - a few years at best. The important thing is to see folks excited about Twins baseball.

Personally, I'd like to thank Rick and those that have contributed so much to this site - you are the "eyes and ears" for those of us who aren't local. Just because the Twins don't understand the value of that passion and interest, doesn't mean it shouldn't be appreciated.

Rick and all,

Central Corridor serves a very different purpose than Hiawatha or the other Suburb-to-core lines. The Central Corridor will primarily serve people starting or ending a trip along University Ave. Not very many people will be traveling downtown-to-downtown on it (though I will be when it opens).

LRT is the plan because it's the only technology that has the capacity to handle the projected ridership in 2020 and beyond. According to the numbers I've seen, you'd have to run a heck of a lot of buses to serve the numbers they're talking about. It's much cheaper to run a high-capacity electric train.

IIRC, the time from downtown-to-downtown is just slightly longer than the 94 express bus, which is pretty darn good considering that bus makes one stop between the downtowns: Snelling Ave. With Central Corridor, you'll have a lot more stops along the way.

Now, there are problems with the current plan. The lack of stations at Hamline Ave., Victoria St. and Western Ave. is a big problem but I think that will be fixed. Parking is definitely an issue. Maintaining the frequency of the local 16 bus service is also important but the plan right now is to reduce the frequency of that service. That makes things pretty rough for the elderly and disabled.

But all in all, the Central Corridor is the key in our planned transit system. It's the link that will allow someone to travel from Eden Prairie to Hudson by transit someday.