MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves have made
significant enhancements to their roster this summer, and now
improvements to their 13-year-old arena on the way, too.
Target Center will have a new scoreboard and new parquet-style
playing surface in place for the Oct. 29 season opener against
Milwaukee. The team has begun building a skyway-level store --
called "The Gym" -- that will sell 'Wolves and Lynx merchandise and
open in early November, and a new video display board will be added
to the northeast corner of the arena.
Owner Glen Taylor has committed more than $4 million to the
project, and the City Council recently approved a deal to help
finance a $14 million fund for further upgrades to the arena over
the next few years.
Those could include new seats, renovated concourses and
improvements to the building's acoustics for concerts.
"People always want something better and more exciting,"
Taylor said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference, where he was
joined by Mayor R.T. Rybak and other team, arena, city and business
officials.
The plan is a thinly veiled effort to keep up with St. Paul's
flourishing Xcel Energy Center, which is attracting many of the
major major music acts that come to town.
The Wolves, who've been eliminated in the first round of the NBA
playoffs seven years running, have also seen their fan base fade
since the Wild began playing at Xcel in 2000. The hockey club has
sold out every game since it entered the NHL in 2000.
The Wolves' offseason moves, Rybak said, helped convince the
city to negotiate with the team about enhancing the arena, which is
operated by Clear Channel Entertainment.
"We recognized if we want to reposition Target Center," Rybak
said, "we can't waste time."
The scoreboard will feature a resolution of 929 pixels per
square foot. That's the most anywhere in the world, according to ANC/SACO, the Purchase, N.Y. company supplying the board. It will be viewable from virtually any angle or seat. A common
complaint from ticket-holders near the court was that they couldn't
see replays.
The $14 million city contribution meets its legal obligation as
owner of Target Center to make improvements to the facility.
There's no set timetable for the further upgrades.
"I want things to move as fast as possible," Taylor said.
"The difference is, now we feel comfortable that the city is
moving with us."