Which Other Minnesota Venue is Getting a Makeover?

Sure, all the talk recently has been about that proposal to tear down the existing 30-year-old Taylor Arena at Mayo Civic Center and build a new 6,000 seat area, capable hosting a new USHL team as well as other bigger-name concerts and events. But another Minnesota venue just announced it's getting a makeover, too.

Yes, officials announced Tuesday that Target Center, a fixture in Minneapolis for 25 years, will be getting a 'long-needed' makeover next year. According to KARE-11,

"The $129 million renovation will include improvements to the traffic flow, more gathering spaces, clubs, better guest amenities and a completely redone exterior. The main entrance will also move to the corner of 1st Avenue and 6th Street, where a new five-story glass atrium will be built.

The exact construction dates have not been determined but a rough timeline of the project was released Tuesday. Phase 1 will begin in the summer of 2016 with the suite level, scoreboard and acoustic improvements. Phase 2 kicks off in the fall of 2016-spring of 2017 with the exterior work, loading dock improvements and more,"  the story said.

It's about time. I've attended many concerts at Target Center over the years, and the sound at just about all of them has been terrible. I'm not sure if it was the Target Center acoustics or what, but shows usually sounded pretty bad there.  Only the sound at the Garth Brooks shows last November seemed decent-- and that was most likely because Garth brought in his own, top-of-the-line audio gear.

At one show, we gave up our pretty decent seats along the side (but close to the stage) to go stand out in the hall directly across from the stage because the sound echoing off the sides of Target Center made it impossible to understand what the singer was saying.

And the 'improved traffic flow' also is a welcomed addition. During both the Billy Joel show this spring and the Garth shows last fall, I was struck by how narrow the walkways leading to the upper sections are. They seemed woefully small, crowded and outdated, and I'm glad they're making some improvements. Here's the story...