Twins, ballpark authority to split cost of assessing Target Field’s future needs

The Twins and the Minnesota Ballpark Authority that oversees Target Field will split the $350,000 cost of hiring a consultant to determine the best way to keep the stadium at the top of its game.

The ballpark authority approved a request from the Twins Thursday to spend up to $175,000 from the capital projects fund to hire consulting firm Brailsford and Dunlavey to gauge the overall condition of the stadium, how it compares to other Major League Baseball facilities and recommend future upgrades.

Dan Kenney, executive director of the ballpark authority, said the consultant will take an in-depth appraisal of the stadium and all its various operating systems to see what might need to eventually be replaced or improved.

“At this point, it is good to get a baseline and to take stock of where we are in year 15,” Kenney said. He added that he wants Target Field to be considered among the league’s best stadiums.

Target Field opened in 2010, will host its 15th Opening Day in April and is halfway through the initial 30-year lease. The ballpark and surrounding infrastructure cost $555 million to build with $350 million coming from Hennepin County and most of the rest from the Twins.

Gary Glawe, senior director of facilities for the Twins, told the ballpark 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 do a nice job and catch a lot of things, but we don’t know what we don’t know,” Glawe said. “Having an additional set of eyes that’s not in the building every day, will be a fun process.”

Brailsford and Dunlavey specializes in planning and development of public facilities like stadiums, universities and municipal buildings. The firm has worked with ballparks in Cincinnati, Seattle and Washington D.C., where it is headquartered.

The state of Minnesota’s major league sports facilities seems to be a perpetual conversation.

Last fall, officials from Xcel Energy Center, the home of the Wild, said the 23-year-old St. Paul facility was in need of significant renovations and there was hope state infrastructure money might 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.

And 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 coming decade.