Minnesota Twins Ballpark

The eloquent blending of steel, glass and limestone in the new Minnesota Twins Ballpark's exterior façade will create a dramatic equilibrium of human design and natural elements.
Photo courtesy of HOK Sport

By Richard Bennett and Lorayne Bryan

Baseball is at the heart and soul of the American experience. The teams and players of our youth become etched into our collective consciousness. The stadiums serve as cathedrals for our personal passions and shrines for our communal sense of nostalgia. Ballparks become synonymous with cities and eras, taking on the personalities of the people and the characteristics of the times. Serving as historical and architectural timelines, they connect the romance of the past to the aura of the present and the promise of the future.

Glorious relics such as Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, laden with the ghosts and traditions of baseball-past, link modern generations to legendary venues like New York's Polo Grounds, Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, Chicago's Comisky Park and Brooklyn's Ebbets Field — ancient sports grounds lost now to memory and photographic archives whose exposed steel beam designs and obstructed sightlines reflected the industrial might and pride of early 20th-century America. As the nation changed so did baseball. Franchises followed the shifting demographic and economic bases from the cities to the suburbs, expanding from the East into the West and later the South. The new ballparks reflected the reallocation of social and cultural influences. Cookie-cutter (named for their oval shape and uniformed similarities) and domed multipurpose designs, favored from the 1960s through the 1980s, allowed a broader array of configuration applications, providing features and benefits crucial to communities hosting not only professional baseball, but football, soccer, motocross, concerts and other events.

Gradually fan sentiment for a return to the intimacy and charm of the old parks, lost in the pragmatic pursuit of function over aesthetic, resulted in a construction trend toward "retro" designs. First popularized in the 1990s by Baltimore's Camden Yards, new stadiums with an old look and feel have become the blueprint for the optimal convergence of "throw-back" structural characteristics and modern amenities.

In Minneapolis, the Major League Baseball Minnesota Twins franchise revealed plans recently for ground to be broken on a new ballpark design with a look and feel uniquely Minnesota. The aptly named "Minnesota Twins Ballpark," designed by HOK Sport, the internationally acclaimed architectural firm specializing in public assembly spaces, boldly incorporates popular "retro" design features with native building materials and "green" designation attributes to lead the way in the continuing evolution of American sports venue construction.

A Hometown Affair The Minnesota Twins' new stadium will be the third home for the Twins since the team's inception. Named for the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the original joint recipients of the franchise awarded in 1960 (the franchise designation was later changed to Minnesota), the Twins called Metropolitan Stadium (the Met) home from 1961 — 1981 before moving to the Metrodome in 1982. At both sites the Twins shared the facilities with their cross-town National Football League (NFL) cousins the Minnesota Vikings. The new ballpark constitutes the first exclusive home of the Twins organization, and, in keeping with that theme, the project is almost singularly a hometown family affair.

"This is a ballpark for the ages. We tried to look forward ... It's about being state-of-the-art, it's about being fan-friendly. It's a ballpark that will be remembered, I think, in a way that will separate it from everything else," states Earl Santee, principal in charge of the Twins Ballpark project and senior principal at HOK Sport.

With the notable exception of the HOK design, the endeavor boasts a strong Minnesota lineup. The Pohlad family, owners of the team, has deep business and family roots in Minneapolis. The M. A. Mortenson Company, in charge of the construction of the new park, is a Minneapolis-based, multi-generational family operation as well. The Vetter Stone Company of nearby Mankato, Minn., suppliers of the indigenous limestone central to the exterior façade of the design, is another family owned-and-operated business. This triad of family businesses in conjunction with The Ballpark Authority, a public agency charged by the state with ownership and management of the stadium, ensures that the entire operation from inception to fruition bears the footprint of the Minnesota regional community.

"It is an honor to be the builder of the new Minnesota Twins ballpark that will provide a superb, outdoor baseball experience for generations of Twins fans everywhere," says Ken Sorensen, vice president of the Minnesota office of Mortenson Construction. "Mortenson has built signature sports facilities across the country. Yet the opportunity to build another world-class professional sports venue in our hometown is a special privilege, and it comes with our unwavering commitment to making this project a success for all partners."

The Minnesota Twins Ballpark is an overt departure from the Twins previous home, the Metrodome, in several conspicuous aspects. The Metrodome complex encompasses 20 acres and is anchored by a 60,000-seat (48,000-seat baseball configuration) enclosed multipurpose dome shared with the N.F.L. Vikings, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers sports teams and a diversity of entertainment events. The Twins new home utilizes a snug eight acres to house a 40,000-seat, outdoor, single-function stadium designed solely for baseball. Located in the entertainment district of northwest downtown Minneapolis next door to the Target Center, home to arts, theater, and the National Basketball Association (NBA) Timberwolves, the HOK-conceived design is an invitation to the eye and a celebration of light, airy spaciousness.

The stadium has a classic crescent-shaped grandstand with overhanging canopy extending from home plate to both the left-field and right-field foul poles. Though double decked and featuring 3,000 club seats (compared to 243 at the Metrodome), the majority of the 40,000 seats are located in the lower grandstand section. Larger-than-normal concourses were designed to accommodate crowd flow for this fan-friendly characteristic with the lower main walkway at 40 feet wide and the upper passages ranging from 26 to 44 feet wide. The essential benefit of the expansive lower level seating is the superb sightlines afforded by the closer distance of the seats from and above the playing field. As in Chicago's hallowed Wrigley Field, the foul territory at the Twins Ballpark begins tight around home plate and grows even tighter as the grandstand narrows closer to the field along the outfield foul lines, guaranteeing an increase in souvenir foul balls hit into the stands.

Another retro trait with fan appeal is the lower level of the seats in relation to the playing surface. In most of the cookie-cutter and domed stadiums, the lower seating sections were generally several feet above the ground; the Metrodome's first row of seating was 12 feet above ground level. The lowest grandstand seats in the new park are 6 inches above the field. These lower and closer seats create an interactive effect for the fans distinct from previous viewing experiences. In many cases fans will find themselves at eye level with the players and umpires. The quantity of quality seating in close proximity to the action ensures fans the maximum ballgame sensory experience of tastes, smells, sights and sounds.

Left field features two seating levels stretching from the foul pole to centerfield. A massive scoreboard with video screen and a single outfield light tower dominate the centerfield area. This solitary lighting source, though unnecessary, was added to complement the lighting embedded into the grandstand canopy eves. A line of home-grown Minnesota pine trees are tucked beneath the scoreboard to provide the centerfield backdrop. Right field offers a single lower section of bleacher seating. The openness above this area affords a breathtaking view of the Minneapolis skyline from most seating vantage points. "Minneapolis' downtown skyline will provide dazzling views beyond the outfield, creating a wonderful connection to the city," Santee raves. The cityscape combined with the uniformity of the grandstand's gradually sloping decks and the nearly proportional measurements of the foul lines (339 feet left field / 328 feet right field) creates a stimulating visual symmetry of earth, sky and horizon.

The eloquent blending of steel, glass and limestone in the park's exterior façade creates a similarly dramatic equilibrium of human design and natural elements. "The new ballpark will reflect Minnesota's dynamic blend of urban sophistication and outdoor vitality," says Santee, explaining the project's ultimate goal. HOK devised the outer walls of the stadium to incorporate the familiar regional stone's random array of striking contours, textures and colors. The illuminating effect is orchestrated by design to imitate the exposed limestone deposits common to the Minnesota banks of the Mississippi River. In addition, a special dimension will recall a hometown tradition dating back to the earliest days of baseball's youth. Gaps and hedges will be carved into the exterior limestone facing to create old-fashioned knotholes for viewing the game from outside the walls.

The Mankato Kasota limestone chosen for the project by Mortenson Construction is quarried in the town of Mankato just south of Minneapolis. This area of southern Minnesota boasts large accumulations of Ordovician-era sedimentary rock and is known as the Oneota Dolostone Formation. The limestone from this formation has a finely grained texture, is yellow-gold-tan in color and consists of high concentrations of dolomite. Dolomite is a sedimentary carbonate rock and mineral that because of its strength, durability and resistance to weathering is a popular building stone. Tracings of iron cause its yellowish-brown, earth-tone coloring. Limestone of this makeup dating from the Ordovician period (450-500 m.y.) is additionally strengthened due to the lack of fossilized content in its stratum.

Vetter Stone Company of Mankato will supply 100,000 square feet, or more than 100 truckloads, of this highly regarded stone cut into four-inch-thick fitted panels for use in the construction of the Twins new ballpark. By comparison, Vetter supplied 27,000 square feet, or 27 truckloads, of limestone for the construction of the Pittsburgh Pirates PNC Park and seven truckloads for the facing of the Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. Vetter quarries from this region have produced quality limestone for building projects worldwide, with clients as diverse as the U.S. embassy in Moscow and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., but it was the powerful utilization of their limestone with coloring effects in the HOK-designed PNC Park in Pittsburgh that set the precedent for the impressive display of the Twins project.

A visual masterpiece was created by producing a vivid contrast between the golden shaded limestone of the PNC Park exterior and the deep blue shading of the exposed steel beams and arena seats. Like PNC Park, The Minnesota Twins Ballpark project endeavors to blend into the surrounding community and complement the neighboring architecture. As in Pittsburgh, the cumulative effect of such diversified components as a downtown location, an outdoor venue, a retro/modern structural design, creative use of limestone's natural coloring and texture, and city skyline views creates a sensory dichotomy of intimacy and expanse. Achieving this balance of small-market features and large-market benefits is critically important to the success of smaller-market sports organizations and communities, and is a goal of the HOK-designed, Minnesota-led Twins Ballpark project.

Another goal of the Twins project important to both the Minneapolis and world communities is obtaining a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED certification verifies a commitment to the concept, process and practice of green building. Green building is a construction method involving the efficient utilization of natural resources, building materials and energy. The idea is to increase the efficiency of resource consumption of buildings while decreasing their negative effects on both the human condition and the environment. A primary aim of green building is to achieve standards compliance with aesthetic sensibilities. Standards and guidelines regulating construction or renovation siting, design, operations and maintenance are created by the U. S. Green Building Council's Green Building Rating System. The emphasis is on the entire lifecycle of a structure, with environmentally friendly sustainability the end goal.

The Twins ballpark design alone puts the project within range of the points required for LEED certification. Its reliance on regional limestone and other building inventory meets the dual standards for the use of green building materials extracted or manufactured locally to minimize the energy invested in their transportation. Its downtown site selection assures the standard of rehabilitating an existing site. Locating in the entertainment district accomplishes the standard of accessing and maximizing existing public transit and parking. Three walking bridges will funnel fans to the entrance of the park. "This project creates a new standard in urban integration," explains Santee. "The ballpark connects with fans whether they arrive by foot, bike, bus, car, light rail or commuter rail."

In a gesture that revalidates the project's commitment to LEED certification, an additional $2.5 million was recently diverted to ensure total compliance of standards. The additional funding is earmarked for improvements in environmentally compliant and sustainable facilitation of heating, ventilation, energy and water systems. Though it does not count towards LEED certification, one benefit of the project's commitment to green innovation is passed directly to the fans. The Minnesota Twins Ballpark will boast a major league record 667 restrooms with women holding a 401-266 advantage.

Richard Bennett and Lorayne Bryan are Atlanta-based freelance writers.

Resources
HOK Sport
Kansas City, Mo.
816 221 1500
www.hoksport.com

M. A. Mortenson Company
Minneapolis, Minn.
763-522-2100
www.mortenson.com

Vetter Stone
Mankato, Minn.
507-345-4568
www.vetterstone.com

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