Stadium was near-miss

Posted at 4:52 PM, May 16, 2006

Nearly seven years ago, owners Glen Taylor of the Timberwolves and Bob Naegele Jr. of the Wild had an agreement signed by Carl Pohlad to sell them the Twins for $120 million.

The deal was contingent on approval of a new downtown St. Paul ballpark, projected to cost $325 million, by way of a referendum and a one-third cost contribution by the state of Minnesota.

The referendum was unsuccessful but not lopsided. Had it passed, the Twins today might be playing their second season in a new ballpark in St. Paul rather than being immersed in legislative squabbles for a new stadium in downtown Minneapolis that, if approved, won't yield the first pitch until 2010.

Looking back recently, Naegele said of the St. Paul referendum, "At that point, the citizens of St. Paul did not have any experience of what happens when a new professional sports organization and a new arena is built. Ours (the Wild's Xcel Energy Center) was in the process of being built, and we would open up approximately nine months later."

Had St. Paul residents been able to experience the success and economic impact of the NHL team for a year before the baseball stadium referendum, Naegele believed it would have passed.