Target Center Renovations

[bleedspeed]

I saw this article about the Kings new arena and wondered what people think about the renovations.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-nbas-newest-arena-colossal-163507482.html

I thought it was funny that the doors for the new Kings arena are built in Minnesota and the doors on the US Bank Stadium are built in Tennessee.

List of 10 oldest Arena's in NBA
http://www.deseretnews.com/top/3723/0/Examining-the-10-oldest-arenas-in-the-NBA.html

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I went with option 2. There was no chance at getting the tax dollars to build a new stadium with the Vikings stadium just getting built. Become a relevant team and then ask the state for money.

[TheFuture]

I went with option 2. There was no chance at getting the tax dollars to build a new stadium with the Vikings stadium just getting built. Become a relevant team and then ask the state for money.

Kind of like the twins?

[Lipoli390]

Ditto. #2.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I went with option 2. There was no chance at getting the tax dollars to build a new stadium with the Vikings stadium just getting built. Become a relevant team and then ask the state for money.

Kind of like the twins?

Not sure if you are serious or sarcastic, but the Twins went 94-68 in their inaugural season.

[Monster]

So most arenas last 20 years or so? It looks that way based on the list on the article I clicked the link to.

The Kings arena seems kinda cheap at $500. Compared to some of the other numbers for other arenas and refurbishing mentioned. Does anyone have a rough idea of what a new arena would have cost for the Wolves? 500 million? 700? 1 billion? The costs are gonna go up pretty much every year. I don't know what the costs of building things in that area of the country are compared to other areas.

So let's say the Wolves get a nice 10 years out of their 155 million dollars they spent now. That seems like a decent deal even if they tore it all down and built something new after that. If the spent 500 million on a new one maybe that only lasts 25 years. By the time the Wolves build a new arena this Renovation might equal something like 10% of the cost of the new one. It may seem like a relative bargain. Now granted you are still in the Target center which from what people say isn't that great but it does sound like the improvements they have made already are more than decent.

As a basketball junky I would prefer they make it a priority to get a d-league squad rolling and spend some money on that. Glen has spent some money on other facilities that set the standard so he should get credit for doing that.

[bleedspeed]

I voted waste. I think if you build it right we are looking at a 30 year arena. Xcel Center is coming up on 20 years old and everyone is still happy with it. It cost $170 million to build. If the refrub would put the Target Center on par with the X or ahead of it I would say it is money well spent, but we are putting lipstick on a pig. I am guessing to replace the Target Center it will run about $500-600 Million. Roughly the same cost as Bucks and Kings Arenas. In 8-10 years it will be $800-900 Million.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I think renovations are fine. Upgrade sound/scoreboard/look and feel.

But where baseball, the stadium is part of the game... I find most arenas pretty staid and cookie-cutter. Unless, we're talking about something completely out of the norm like Allen Fieldhouse, WIlliams Arena or Assembly Hall. But in the pros... it's a different story.

[Monster]

I did a little reading on the project just now. Some things I have gleaned.

1. There was a bunch of figures thrown around for this project since it took so many proposals over years to get to where we are now but it looks like the final number is actually a less costly $128.9 million as the quoted figure.

2. Supposedly this facility gets used a ton for a variety of events. So it not just he sports teams getting value out of it. If they built a new facility they would have lost SOME revenue (although some would go to other places) from lack of ability to have some of those events not to mention all those games you can't play in there arena. That's a cost that sometimes doesn't get figured in.

3. Because of all these other events that happened at Target center some people actually consider it a bit of a historical building and has some worth preserving. There have been a number of concerts etc there and all that. I guess it has a somewhat unique floor that can be raised and lowered. Who knew?

4. The Wolves/Lynx lease goes through either 2032 or 2035. So this isn't exactly a quick band aid solution.

5. It has been estimated that 97% of the money is going straight back into the MN economy. So the money spent doesn't just disappear. I know people that worked on the the Target Center when it was built they had some good work during that time and some good stories. =)

6. The improvements seem to at least give a nice refresh. I know I was surprised how homely Target center looked on the outside when I was downtown a couple years ago. It wouldn't take much to make it look 1000x better. Here in Lincoln they recently built a nice new arena for basketball and other big events. They actually scrapped the earlier plans with a big window entrance that would have had a nice view of the city/town for a cheaper design. Its still nice although the previous design was really cool the Vault iskinda fun and its a gret place to go to events or games. The previous arena Devany (also known as "The Bob") was refurbished as the new home for the Women's volleyball team (won the National Championship in 2016). Devaney didn't have much history. It looked dated I wasn't sure what they would do to make it look better. I don't know what the cost was but I went to a couple volleyball matches (and a Rumble and Tumble Gymnastics and Wrestling event) before they had everything finished and it was fantastic. The exterior now looks very good since completion. So if they could spruce up that place and it had merit I am sure that a few bucks would work wonders for Target Center.

7. Value to the city. the skywalk is being improved.

8. The new main entrance seems like a pretty big deal as right now the front looks like an afterthought.

Anyway is this project a perfect solution? No it certainly isn't but I don't think its quite a waste. I don't think we can really say for sure until the project is done. Maybe it will be a step up from lipstick on a pig. I hope not. It seems there are some fairly legit improvements.

[TAFKASP]

I don't know anything about the renovations so I'm in no position to offer an opinion. On the other hand I find it extremely frustrating that a 26 year old building is no longer acceptable. It is baffling to me that taxpayers who're in most cases living in homes as old or older are asked to continually foot the bill new buildings simply because other cities have them. There should be a clause in their contracts, 30 years and don't you even ask before. I'm not against public money for facilities but I do believe it gets unreasonable when the building are no longer acceptable after such short time periods.