Target Field to Lift Twins Stadium Ranking
The latest issue of the Sporting News
ranks the major league baseball stadiums from first to 30th
with the Metrodome at No. 29. Twins president
Dave St. Peter
hopes any listings of America’s best ballparks in 2010 and beyond will
include Target Field.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it is ranked
very high nationally because of its unique design, intimacy of seating
in the bowl and urban nature,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners.
Target Field will include a distinctive
limestone exterior and contemporary roof canopy. St. Peter said about
60 percent of fans attending games will enter through the stadium’s
outfield area.
Those elements and others, such as the
small area upon which the stadium is being built, will make Target Field
unlike any other ballpark. The facility will be the result of thorough
planning and input by St. Peter and others with the organization.
They have studied all the big league stadiums during the last several years.
“We took pieces of all of them,” he said.
“It (Target Field) won’t be exactly like any of them.”
Because of what St. Peter refers to as
their “small footprint,” or locations, San Francisco’s and Pittsburgh’s
stadiums are most like Target Field in his opinion. Those ballparks
made the Sporting News top five ranking that goes like this:
Fenway Park, Boston; PNC Park, Pittsburgh; Wrigley Field, Chicago;
Camden Yards, Baltimore; AT&T Park, San Francisco.
While Target Field will embrace fans with
a great game day experience that includes public access to the ballpark,
intimate sightlines, good eats and friendly service, St. Peter said
there was another element that went into the planning that was
important. The Twins took a “very inclusionary” approach with their
leadership and department heads, encouraging input. The result
will be that behind the scenes operations such as kitchens and lockerrooms will be highly functional and effective, according to St. Peter.
