The $140M renovation of Target Center will be finished in time for the '17-18 NBA season, and a "major goal of the renovation is to make the place more enticing and comfortable to fans, performers and producers," according to Rochelle Olson of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Renovations include a widened main concourse and windows "added with views of the city skyline and streets on the outside and the court on the inside." T'Wolves Chief Strategy Officer Ted Johnson said that "not a single surface in the building will go untouched." He added that the atrium on the northeast corner, a five-story glass facade that used to be a wall of gray concrete, "will be a signature element of the renovation." Seats are "all new" and the locker rooms were also renovated. The bathrooms "have all been redone and refinished." The arena's exterior will "now be brown with new metal panels that from a distance appear to be wood and blend with the brick neighbors as well as Target Field’s natural stone and wood elements." Olson notes taxpayers are "helping to redo Target Center" with $74M in sales taxes. T'Wolves Owner Glen Taylor is paying $58M, while building operator AEG paid almost $6M (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/18). Johnson said that the renovation is 70% complete, "on budget and on schedule to be completed days before" the start of the T'Wolves season. In St. Paul, Jace Frederick notes there is an "open plaza on the lower concourse where fans can gather and look out into the lower bowl during games and glass windows were placed throughout the arena to let in natural light." Johnson believes the "biggest draw will be the atrium." He said, "It’s probably one of the most iconic elements of the renovation" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 7/18).
