urbanMSP

That subject was brought up in the old site. Unless someone wanted to pay to retrofit. They already had the bid set for the maintenance facility. THey could not change the bid without losing the current fed money that was being given out.

And after walking by the O&M building while it's under construction many times, it's plain there is no way they could brace the roof to support anything on top. There are long caverns inside where tracks will be, hence no steel columns or load baring walls. When you drive over the Lafayette bridge you can see the roof littered with HVAC ducts and assorted mechanical equipment.

I can't believe that St. Paul and the Saint WANT a new ballpark! The one they have is incredibly successful, considering its cost and its popularity! Besides, I LOVE how it's nestled in the middle of a busy rail yard with trains going back and forth throughout games. Now they want to replace that with a (cliche') downtown ballpark that other "minor league cities" try to emulate to desperately keep up with the "bigs"? In my opinion, that's an easy $27 million surplus to the OTHER projects that submitted requests for funds!!!

Midway Stadium is a dump. In fact it was actually built on a landfill. The field is literally sinking. It's not ADA compliant. It's concessions and restroom facilities are limited. It's on an island by itself. Nothing around. No bars or restaurants.

The Diamond Products site has very limited redevelopment opportunity. Meanwhile the land that Midway occupies can easily be redeveloped into a new business/industrial park. There's also far more opportunity for Lowertown bars and restaurants to capture additional business from the 350-400k new visitors every year. Not to mention there is far better mass transit options available to Lowertown than Midway Stadium.

Midway's, like the Metrodome's, time has passed. It too was built on the cheap. It's lasted 30 years, and it's time for something new and better.

Support A Lowertown Ballpark You Tube post way Middway needs to be replaced

Personally, I think a huge draw of the Saints was that they play outside. There was nothing more depressing than heading into the Metrodome on a beautiful evening. Now that Target Field exists, I'd like to hear how the Saints ticket sales have been trending the past 2.5 seasons.

I'm not opposed to this ballpark, but I see no reason to contribute state dollars. St. Paul, Ramsey County and the Saints should figure this out themselves.

What I'd really like to see is a REAL minor league team, an affiliate of the Twins, move into a new ballpark in St. Paul. Either being a co-tenant with the Saints or outright replacing them. The Twins low-A club, the Beloit Snappers, play in one of the smallest parks in the minors and their contract is up soon (end of this season or next). I'd love to see the Twins bring a minor league club to their home state (St. Paul, Duluth, or Rochester most likely)

From what I have heard is that the Twin Cities are too isolated for the Midwest League Western Division teams. Grand Chute is at about the same latitude but 250 miles east. Every other teams located south and east. I think the travel distances via bus are too much for A level ball.

This project has more merit than the Vikings Stadium, which is not saying much.

I don't get why watching completely unknown players who are loosely affiliated with the Twins would draw significantly more fans than our current crop of completely unknown players already playing for the Saints.

Sure, in theory it would be cool to have the Twins and their AAA affiliate in the same city, but that's over-thinking what this really is. People in the East Metro don't need a minor league baseball team in the same way that Rochester, N.Y. needs a minor league baseball team. A guy from Eagan can drive 30 minutes to Minneapolis and see the real thing. The Saints are a gimmicky team with low prices and promotions that cater to families and other special groups. Nobody goes to watch baseball. There might be a slight uptick in fans if it was a AAA or even AA team (Beloit is Class A), but a AAA team would also need considerably more fan support than the Saints get.

This stadium would be a relatively cheap project that would bring thousands of people into the area, including out-of-towners playing in the amateur baseball games there. It's really almost a win-win for everybody involved.

the twins are basically a AAA team at best

...but a AAA team would also need considerably more fan support than the Saints get.

Is this true? I think the Saints still sell around 6 or 7,000 tickets to their games -- I find it hard to believe that that's very far removed from what an average AAA team sells. Heck, the Expos probably didn't sell that many tickets before they moved.

Also, the level of play by the Saints is weak and pretty frustrating. I'd frankly rather watch single A ball with young up-and-comers showing flashes of future brilliance than a bunch of never-will-be's on the Saints roster.

...but a AAA team would also need considerably more fan support than the Saints get.

Is this true? I think the Saints still sell around 6 or 7,000 tickets to their games -- I find it hard to believe that that's very far removed from what an average AAA team sells. Heck, the Expos probably didn't sell that many tickets before they moved.

Also, the level of play by the Saints is weak and pretty frustrating. I'd frankly rather watch single A ball with young up-and-comers showing flashes of future brilliance than a bunch of never-will-be's on the Saints roster.

The Saints average more attendance than 90% of AAA. The Twins affiliate the Fort Myers Miracle only averaged a little over 1900 per game in 2010.

According to this website—http://aablstpaul.bbstats.pointstreak.c ... id=499—the Saints average around 5,000 fans per game. Whether that's 5,000 paying customers actually attending games of 5,000 tickets given out is unclear.

The point isn't just attendance, though. A AAA team in Rochester, N.Y. is the professional sports team in that city. The team is regularly covered in the local newspaper and is surely the major sports draw for local business advertising, etc. I have no idea what their attendance is, but their stadium seats 10,000. It's just a totally different dynamic than an independent league team operating in a very niche corner of the Twin Cities.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/displa ... aluations/

Duluth, Litchfield, St. Paul in lead for $47.5M in state grants
by Curtis Gilbert, Minnesota Public Radio
September 10, 2012

"...Litchfield's application for $2.5 million to improve wastewater infrastructure got 99 out of 100 points, the highest score of any proposal.

St. Paul's $27 million proposal to build a new downtown ballpark for the minor League St. Paul Saints had the highest score in the metro area, with 77 points. And Duluth leads the northern region, with its $10 million request to fund downtown development and build a public parking ramp.

Those three projects alone would gobble up all but $8 million in the fund..."

"...Gov. Mark Dayton has said he intends to make the final decision on which projects get funded. An announcement is expected later this week."

I hope they build a quality venue for the Saints. When I take out-of-town visitors to a baseball game, I take them to a Twins game begrudgingly. Saints baseball is a better experience on many, and probably most, levels

I hope they build a quality venue for the Saints. When I take out-of-town visitors to a baseball game, I take them to a Twins game begrudgingly. Saints baseball is a better experience on many, and probably most, levels

I guess you must have lots of 3-10 year olds visit. Otherwise the baseball, food, bathrooms, sightlines and everything else adults find stimulating is better at a Twins game.

Well I guess corny shit is far superior at a Saints game.

twins are an expensive AAA team......owned by one of richest owners in baseball with above average ticket prices.

twins are an expensive AAA team......owned by one of richest owners in baseball with above average ticket prices.

There are literally 79 cent tickets on Stubhub for tomorrow's game

still were sold full price.....these resales deserve credit

strib
inside dish

Bonding day
What, you say, a bonding day in September? That’s right. Today, Gov. Mark Dayton will announce which among dozens and dozens of building projects across the state will get a piece of the $47.5 million in bonding dollars the Legislature deeded to the administration to spend. The Department of Employment and Economic Development already gave some strong hints earlier this week about which communities will sing songs of joy. The St. Paul Saints’ new ballpark was tops on that list; the Southwest Corridor light-rail line and the Mayo Civic Center were much farther down. Dayton will announce the winners at 11 a.m. at the Capitol.

fyi