Twins Clubhouse Gets a Face Lift

There’ll be no more spitting on the Minnesota Twins clubhouse floor.

Nor will there be any more gum wrappers lying around or cramped dressing areas. The Twins unveiled the remodeled Metrodome clubhouse, done in the team’s colors of red, white and blue with ash wood trim--the same color as baseball bats.

“Some of these players make $800,000 a year and they come in five or six hours before a game,” said architect David Shea, who was the principle designer for the remodeling. “We wanted to set up a place for privacy with the little cubicles and give them a fancy health club-type atmosphere.”

The renovation was ordered by new Twins owner Carl Pohlad, who bought the team from Calvin Griffith last summer for $35 million. Shea said his firm has worked with Pohlad before in designing interiors for the F & M Marquette Bank and MEI Corp., a bottling company.

The Twins clubhouse could pass as a posh health club locker room. The multi-colored folding chairs have been replaced by slick blue mesh chairs, and beams of indirect fluorescent lighting brighten up the quarters.

Shea said they used one of Twins outfielder Tom Brunansky’s broken bats as a guide to matching the wood stain that attractively lines each locker.

“There’s a little baseball symbolism in here,” Shea said.

A large baseball bat-colored wood table, shaped like two home plates end to end, sits in the middle of the deep blue carpet, which has a diamond design.

Floor-to-ceiling mirrors were installed in the weight room and a separate dining area was created so players won’t be stepping over their post-game meals en route to the showers.

Clubhouse manager Jim Wiesner says he’ll have to establish ground rules for the players, who won’t see the renovation until Monday prior to the home opener against the California Angels.

“We may have to add red spittoons,” Shea said, keeping in the color scheme.