May 15, 2007 7:51 pm US/Central
The Grass Is Greener: Twins Ballpark Plans
by Lisa Kiava
(WCCO)
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The new ballpark is scheduled to open for the 2010 season.
Minnesota Twins
The first clear sign of the beginning of construction on the Minnesota Twins' new ballpark will soon arrive on the downtown site: the dump trucks.
Clearing of the area has begun on the 10-acre parcel just west of Target Center, and portions of the site -- which has been a parking lot -- will be stripped to prepare for excavation.
Crews will begin hauling material out next Monday, said Dan Mehls, who is managing the project for M.A. Mortensen Company. Most of the concrete and asphalt will be recycled and used in other construction projects, he said.
On Tuesday, the Twins staged a mock diamond with home plate and the bases placed on their actual spots when the $522 million stadium opens for the 2010 season. The entire site has been fenced off for security.
However, before the stadium opens many decisions will need to be made to make it baseball-ready including what turf will be used on the field.
Mark Rehbein, the vice president of Rehbein Environmental Solutions hopes his grass will soon be growing in the new Twins Ballpark.
"It's a blend of 5 bluegrasses," said Rehbein, as he showed off a plot of sod.
His design, called Epic, is an innovative system that waters and heats the field using underground pipes.
"Which means the water gets pulled up ... on it's own and the plant only takes the water it wants," he said.
Rehbein tested what's done at Soldier Field in Chicago -- an above ground method -- and found it wasted a million gallons of water a year.
The Twins ballpark will be environmentally-friendly. The facility for garbage-burning located behind the park could be used to heat the water in the Epic system.
"This is most exciting thing because everybody is so into the environment now ... and so I think the sky is the limit on something like this," said Myrna Rehbein, owner of Rehbein Environmental.
NFL team, the Houston Texans, have installed the same system and University of Minnesota football coaches will look at the watering system Wednesday as a possibility for their new stadium too.
The competition to win a Twins contract for turf is tough but Rehbein said he can prove his grass will grow greener.
The Twins haven't yet awarded the turf contract.
Rehbein Environmental said part of their pitch to the team is that they can heat the playing field underground so that snow will melt on chilly spring days.
The site clearing is the first phase of the project. Third Avenue North will also be removed between Sixth and Seventh streets during this phase.
The official groundbreaking is scheduled for August, when a railroad line will also be relocated and the site will be excavated. During excavation, the site will be leveled 2 to 3 feet lower and eventually stabilized with gravel. Up to 100,000 cubic yards of material will be moved out.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Slideshow: New Twins Ballpark Plans
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