The Minnesota Twins are just a second day into their off-season, but team officials are hoping it’s a significant one.

Team officials will be in front of the Minnesota Ballpark Authority, which owns and operates Target Field, seeking approval of more than $15 million in capital projects they hope to undertake over the next several months.

“This is the most significant offseason project we’ve tackled since moving into the facility,” says Dave St. Peter, president of the Twins.

The two most significant plans are in the right field corner of the ballpark. The team hopes to widen the main concourse to address a “pinch point” in the space between gates 29 and 34 where about 60 percent of fans enter and exit Target Field.

Widening the concourse by about 40 feet and reconfiguring concessions in the area should alleviate a challenging ingress and egress area there, St. Peter says.

There also would be an elevator and stairs installed to create better access to the club level. On that level, what has been the Metropolitan Club, also would undergo a significant alteration as part of the plans.

St. Peter says the team hopes to replace a glass “curtain wall” that currently makes the Metropolitan Club an inside-only facility with operable glass doors on the field facing wall that can better connect it to the playing field.

“It’s not an open-air experience at all,” he says. “We’re going to revise that glass curtain wall to create significant operable windows. The experience inside the club will have a much better connection, both from an audio perspective and a visual perspective to the action on the field.”

“Currently it has somewhat of a sterile environment,” he adds.

He adds that the facility, which has been available only to season ticket holders, will be rebranded before the 2018 season starts and opened to all fans. Season ticket holders will still be able to make reservations to ensure available space, but surveys have indicated many with the privilege in years past have not been using the club.

The change is being driven, St. Peter says, by “A believe that the space is being underutilized. We want to try to create another dynamic destination within the facility much like we have with Barrio and like we have with Minnie and Paul’s catch.”

The overall enhancements have the same motivation.

“It’s driven by what can we do to make the ballpark better,” he says. “We’re going into our ninth year. We’re committed to assessing all of our interior spaces, all of our clubs, all of our restaurants over time to make sure they are updated appropriately.”

Other projects include for which the Twins are seeking approval include:

  • Seat replacement in the Delta Sky 360 Club
  • Replacement of the wireless intercom system
  • HVAC re-commissioning
  • Replacement of the scoreboard storage SAN
  • A new point of sale system for concessions and merchandise sales
  • Replacement and updating of the converged network

The team itself will cover the majority of the cost of the upgrades, though it is seeking assistance from the Authority’s Ballpark Capital Reserve Fund. The resolution seeks authorization to spend up to $5 million to assist with the projects.