A finally unmuzzled City Manager Wayne Cauthen poured out his thoughts to The Star's Kevin Collison on how overhauling Kauffman Stadium was the wrong decision rather than building a downtown ballpark. Of course, paying for it was always the $$$ million question .....
Downtown stadium supporters had insisted it could be built for around $360 million and pooh-poohed higher numbers in cities like Washington National's $600 million-plus stadium. They insisted that cities like Minneapolis would offer more comparable real-estate and construction costs. So that number is now in. Let's compare shall we?
The Minnesota Twins new stadium in the Warehouse District will cost $522 million. This includes $130 million from the team (which is $30 million more than Lamar Hunt and David Glass are paying combined for their upgrades). The Twins keep naming rights and will pay $10 million a year for operating expenses and $1 million annually for ballpark improvements, according to the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. Youth supports and libraries also benefit from the deal.
Oh and did I mention this will be an open-air stadium? That's because a $115 roof was too expensive. Kinda a bargain compared to Kansas City's $202 million rolling roof eh? Apparently the Twins are looking at heating up some seats so the fat cats have toasty tushes during the playoffs.
Posted by DeAnn Smith at 2:30 p.m.
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