St. Paul to pay $1.7M for Saints ballpark design

by Curtis Gilbert, Minnesota Public Radio

ST. PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul will pay $1.7 million for design work on a new ballpark for the minor league Saints baseball team.

The city has signed the first of two contracts with Ryan Companies. During this phase, Ryan will come up with a detailed construction budget and blueprints for the ballpark.

Ryan will also manage the construction of the facility, but that part of the agreement hasn't been finalized, yet.

St. Paul received three bids to design and build the ballpark. Ryan had the lowest price. It will receive about $3.48 million for its work.

The total budget for the project is $54 million. That includes demolition, cleanup, construction and land acquisition. About half of the money will come from the state. The city and the team will cover the rest.

The ballpark site is in Lowertown, next to the Farmer's Market. It's currently home to an abandoned factory and several parking lots. Demolition begins in June. The ballpark is scheduled to open in 2015.