PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Friday, April 9, 2010

Contact: Noel LaBine 763-477-3086

Twins Stadium Construction on-site Architect speaks at Wright County Partnership event on April 6, 2010

The Wright County Economic Development Partnership held a business-after-hours event at the Riverwood National Golf Course on April 6 th . George Fantauzza, the on-site senior architect during construction of the Twins ballpark gave a captivating presentation that featured many pictures and several interesting stories.

George Fantauzza was hired by Populous, (aka HOK Sports), which is the largest designer of sports stadiums in North America . While they were building the Twins stadium they were designing two other ball parks including the new Yankee stadium.

There were several design changes that occurred during the construction that were made to enhance the fan experience. The Pohlad family and the Twins paid a total of $185 million in additional costs to help create this awesome stadium, which can seat 40,000 spectators.

This is a LEED certified project. There are a few reasons why this project was able to obtain the Silver LEED certification. The effort to recycle all the rain and other cleaning waters is a major contributor to this certification. The use of local products like the Minnesota limestone on the interior and exterior of the building is another. Also, the use of many recycled products was incorporated.

The size of the project has several awesome statistics. The site is on 13.5 acres of some of the busiest real estate in Minnesota . The facility was built in 32 months. There are 61 miles of pipe pilings; 3400 of them in all that hold up the stadium down to bedrock. There were 4900 tons of structural steel used and 1.86 million feet of communication wires of all types.

The construction was two months behind schedule when Fantauzza joined the team in July 2008, and they ended up finishing two months ahead of schedule in the winter of 2009-10. There were 3,500 full-sized drawings of the facility. There were two on-site office trailers with about 50 people in each of them doing the behind the scenes work that kept the construction crews going. Every morning at 6:00 a.m. there was a meeting with all 100 foremen to coordinate the day's work schedule. Fantauzza commented that working closely with the trades people, sometimes up to 900 onsite every day, lead to the efficient construction process that allowed early completion.

Part of the challenge of building the stadium was the fact that it was right alongside the Burlington Northern railway track on the west side. They literally had to stop construction and move the cranes away from the rail line every time a train came through and that happened several times a day. On the east side, plaza bridges and part of the building were constructed over an active Interstate 394, which could not be shut down.

Prizes for the event were sponsored by Commercial Realty Solutions; a Wright County based commercial realty. Winner of a nice Twin's jersey was Kathleen Poate . Winners of four tickets to a Twins game was Chris Otterness of Houston Engineering.

The Partnership exists to enhance the business climate of Wright County and to help create more jobs in Wright County . The strategies the Partnership uses to achieve its mission include being an information resource and finding technical assistance; aiding business development, providing financing resources, and providing business information and training through seminars and workshops. Also, the Partnership markets Wright County to business site locators, and maintains an excellent website, which includes a listing of commercial and industrial property available in Wright County (see www.wrightpartnership.org ). The Partnership also assists with Workforce Development and has gathered economic statistical information, which is available on its website.