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TARGET CENTER; ONCE NEW, NOW OLD; ADEQUATE OR ANTIQUATED? Target Center, completed in 1990 and owned by the city of Minneapolis, has been getting fixed up, but it needs even more improvement, in some viewpoints, to compete with Xcel Energy Center and newer NBA arenas.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Jay Weiner; Staff Writer

Even in Hollywood, 16-year-olds don't get facelifts. But in the arena biz, wrinkles appear and revenues sag long before 16 years of age, which is a virtual lifetime for sports facilities.

Target Center, which opened for the expansion Timberwolves in 1990, is the seventh-oldest arena in the NBA. Other buildings of the same vintage have been replaced or renovated, or hopes and plans are on the drawing boards for their demise.

Right now, the Legislature is pondering new stadiums for the Twins and Gophers football team and, maybe, the Vikings. Last week, Minneapolis Finance Director Patrick Born said that a discussion about a fully refurbished - or even new - Target Center could happen in five years. Maybe.

No one in the Timberwolves organization is seeking a new arena, especially after $14 million of recent fix-ups and enhancements, using city of Minneapolis and private money.

"While we see the building as getting older, we don't see it as unusable," Wolves...

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