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Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 20th, 2013, 1:15 pm
by mamundsen
With the new talk about the Vikings stadium having a baseball alignment "squeezed" into it... has it ever been discussed to add a retractable roof to the Saints ballpark?
Not sure if you are serious are just making fun of the comments on the Strib article. But if you are serious, a roof would more than triple the cost of the stadium.
I was joking... Especially since they are going back to the drawing board. I wonder if it will come up?

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 20th, 2013, 5:14 pm
by RailBaronYarr
With the new talk about the Vikings stadium having a baseball alignment "squeezed" into it... has it ever been discussed to add a retractable roof to the Saints ballpark?
Not sure if you are serious are just making fun of the comments on the Strib article. But if you are serious, a roof would more than triple the cost of the stadium.
I was joking... Especially since they are going back to the drawing board. I wonder if it will come up?
Wouldn't be that outrageous if they haven't even done final design. But the Vikings would need to kick in some $.

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 12:58 am
by Rico
Here are new renderings from Ryan that were provided as part of Ryan's RFP response/bid.

See pages 151-154.

http://www.stpaul.gov/DocumentCenter/View/63107

I like the well publicized renderings used over the last few years better but I like that it is modern (it is actually more modern) and not just another all brick building (some brick should be incorporated). Obviously, it's not the final version but it's good to know they are thinking modern without being gaudy or inconsistent with the area.

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 6:52 am
by Le Sueur
I'm sorry were you saying something? I couldn't hear you over the sound of the theme music playing in my head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88ft_enkr9c&sns=em

I like the modern look and I was excited to see the grass berm seating in both corners! The wood finish is a great affordable substitute for the stone we kept seeing in the old renderings. Imho that much stone would have likely left about $5 to finish the rest of the stadium.
Thanks for finding the doc!

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 9:57 am
by Nathan
The flat roofs scare me a bit. I really like the roof structure at the PDX stadium they featured earlier in the document. I'm just excited for the project in general :) They still have Snow on the team after all :)

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 12:03 pm
by Rico
There is also a new rendering on page 142. http://www.stpaul.gov/DocumentCenter/View/63107

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 12:18 pm
by mister.shoes
Man, I was so confused for a minute. The page numbers within the PDF don't match the number of pages of the PDF. 151-154 corresponds to 119-122 and 142 is 110, as printed within.

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 1:08 pm
by beykite
Lets avoid some of that confusion...

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 1:44 pm
by mamundsen
Beautiful! I wonder if the product ON the field will be better when they have a better field to play at? Does the giant pdf have more details about the proposed parking areas? I know tailgating is a BIG deal for Saints fans.

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 1:51 pm
by Nick
I wonder if the product ON the field will be better when they have a better field to play at?
That's been our experience with the Twins and Gophers!

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 1:54 pm
by beykite
Tons of details in the pdf. I definitely suggest taking a look. Lots of different site plans and little renderings. Also not sure if it is posted anywhere on here yet but for the record major construction is set to begin June 1st 2013 and finish May 30th 2014.

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 1:58 pm
by MNdible
I wonder if the product ON the field will be better when they have a better field to play at?
That's been our experience with the Twins and Gophers!
That's unnecessary cruelty.

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 2:05 pm
by THERAT
Looks great - should be able to use this facility for a lot of various functions other than baseball. Just getting rid of the old Gillette building is a positive - opens light and vistas for lowertown. Didn't see the Lafayette bridge in drawings. Too bad the bike path for the bridge is on the east side(north on 52). You would have been able to look right into the stadium if it was on west side.

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 2:09 pm
by nordeast homer
I like this version a little better than the original. I certainly hope the lighting is better than the rendering, there will be a lot of dropped fly balls. The embankment in the outfield will be great on a nice summer night!

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 2:22 pm
by fehler
Wait, what? There's no fence between the field and the grassy berm "seating" area? Will players be running into the picnickers chasing foul balls? Ok, I can see this is a great spot for "company/office party seating", but I doubt anyone under the age of 12 will be allowed in the area during play. Not without a signed waiver.

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 22nd, 2013, 5:45 pm
by Rico
Tons of details in the pdf. I definitely suggest taking a look. Lots of different site plans and little renderings. Also not sure if it is posted anywhere on here yet but for the record major construction is set to begin June 1st 2013 and finish May 30th 2014.
Agreed, lots of good stuff to mine in the PDF. It's difficult for me to understand whether the timelines provided by Ryan in the PDF are still valid. Ryan tries to really sell the idea that they can have the ballpark done for the 2014 season. However, based on the press release and timeline I saw last week from the City of St. Paul, they are plannning on a 2015 opening. I'm guessing that part of the reason the City isn't aiming for the 2014 opening is due to politics. Let me explain. I'm sensing the the City is under a lot of pressure to incorporate community feedback into the design proposal. It sounds like Ryan's plan to get to a 2014 opening required just moving ahead with their new but essentially completed designs (as shown is the new renderings) instead of spending the next six months on designs as I believe the City has indicated will occur. I'm assuming the City opted for another six months of design work in part to make sure the community felt their feedback was incorporated and perhaps so it actually was incorporated for a better design.

Here is the paragraph from the PDF I'm referring to (see page 133 of the PDF or page 102 within the PDF):
"When the mandate to stop work was issued, we immediately rallied the team and recommitted ourselves to delivering outstanding value. We chose to look at the new set of rules as an opportunity. Because of this, the Ryan Team is excited to offer a 2014 Opening Day at the Lowertown Ballpark. We have worked extremely hard to validate assumptions, create a detailed project schedule and generate a concept design for the Lowertown Ballpark. Only because we have worked so closely with you to understand your needs did we feel comfortable working at risk to advance the design and confidently shave months off the schedule. Further, the Ryan Team understands the numerous benefits to both the City and the Saints by getting into the
ballpark a year early."

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: February 25th, 2013, 9:21 pm
by Rico
Interesting article from F&C on the savings that might have resulted from the competitive bid process: http://finance-commerce.com/2013/02/bid ... an-budget/

Another interesting point that goes overlooked is that if St. Paul budgeted $4 million for Ryan and $3.5 was negotiated this should reduce the overall cost of the project to $53.5 million (possibly less since costs are based on percentages of other costs). Theoretically, this would close the project's well known $2 million funding gap by $500,000.

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: March 28th, 2013, 9:30 pm
by lordmoke
Thune now wants to save the Gillette Building for parking:
http://www.minnpost.com/two-cities/2013 ... s-ballpark

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: March 29th, 2013, 8:43 am
by gcm
I like Hosko's idea, but only if they replace the white outer walls with something non-industrial.

Also, I had been thinking in the past that it would be great if they could build the new ball park over a parking structure. Since I hadn't seen it proposed, I assumed it was too expensive or not feasible for other reasons. At a minimum, I hope they consider using the lowest level of the Gillette building for parking.

Re: Saints Lowertown Ballpark

Posted: March 29th, 2013, 10:20 am
by mamundsen
Interesting idea. One flaw could be changing the field alignment. I have a feeling that baseball fields can only face certain directions because of the setting sun.