Good Question: How Will Target Field Clear The Snow In Preparation For Opening Day?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – With snow in the forecast and temperatures still hovering around zero degrees, Minnesotans are in need of some cheering up.
Well, the Minnesota Twins are here to offer it.
Baseball season is less than a month away, and the Twins home opener is April 7.
Despite the fact that the piles of snow make it seem like the Vikings and Packers should be playing at Target Field, the Twins will take on the Brewers on that Monday.
Twins spokesman Chris Iles hopes it melts away soon. He knows snow removal could go into extra innings this year.
"We will probably this year wait till closer to opening day than we ever have just because of the amount of snow we have," Iles said.
When Mother Nature does provide a warm-up it'll be all hands on deck.
"It's literally our grounds crew guys go out there with snow blowers like you would use for your driveway and blow it off a sections at a time," said Iles.
Some of the snow is taken to a back parking lot, some it is hauled away in trucks and the rest is melted in a Snow Dragon. That's happening on the plaza this week.
Getting the seats cleared is another ballgame.
"We'll wait a little bit longer on the bleachers and then what we do is we hose them down with hot water and melt the snow," said Iles.
That saves a lot of time and a lot of shoveling.
When the snow finally does go, don't worry about the grass. An agricultural tarp that covers the field keeps the grounds about 50 degrees all winter long.
"There's always green grass at Target Field. It may be hidden underneath a foot of snow right now, but that grass is green," said Iles.
