From the cement bleachers of St. Paul's downtown regional ballpark, Marv Goldklang stared out across the future home of the St. Paul Saints this week and endorsed the view.
"It has much more of an open feel than I thought it would have when we were looking at the designs," said the sports franchise owner.
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"You can see (Interstate) 94, you can see (U.S.) 52," said Goldklang, with his back to Broadway Street and the St. Paul Farmers Market. "When you go up to the club level, you can actually see the river. ... In a nutshell, what do I think? I think it's great."
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Goldklang, a New York-area investor, partnered with baseball empresario Mike Veeck and brought the independent league Saints to St. Paul in the early 1990s. The Goldklang Group had almost taken the team north instead, he acknowledged on Monday after a ballpark naming ceremony at the future CHS Field.
"Originally, we actually were supposed to wind up in Duluth," Goldklang remembered. He flew from New York to Pittsburgh one day to catch a flight to Minnesota and scout out the territory, but the weather had other plans.
After spending unhappy hours at the airport, he called a league commissioner the next day and gave his regrets. "Duluth, I'm sure, is great, but at this point in my life, I'm not interested in anything that doesn't have a direct flight," he recalled saying.
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The St. Paul Saints began playing at Midway Stadium on Energy Park Drive in 1993. On opening night, Goldklang, Veeck and the facilities crew braced for a crowd of 2,500 visitors. Twice as many showed up. And they've kept showing up.
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"From opening night on, it's been beyond our wildest dreams at the time," Goldklang said. "I remember a policeman came up to me and said, 'We've got a problem.' I said, what's the problem? 'There's scalpers in the parking lot.' I said, that's a problem?"
As a result of the crowds, the $63 million, city-owned ballpark that replaces Midway next year has been designed to seat 7,000.
Goldklang is no stranger to the business of baseball, the majors or the minors. He's a minority owner in the New York Yankees, and also owns the South Carolina-based Charleston River Dogs, a Yankee affiliate.
North of New York City, he owns the Hudson Valley Renegades, and he's a recent former owner of the Fort Myers Miracle, a spring training team for the Minnesota Twins.
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He sold the Miracle not long ago, but he says he's close to acquiring another minor league affiliate. The Goldklang Group has a collegiate summer team, the Pittsfield Suns, in Pittsfield, Mass., which serves as a showcase for college athletes to strut their stuff to professional scouts.
Goldklang and Veeck helped establish the independent leagues in which the Saints play -- the Northern League in the early 1990s and the American Association in 2005. Prior to CHS Field, the Goldklang Group opened new baseball stadiums in Hudson Valley, Charleston and Brockton, Mass.
By way of email, Marv Goldklang said this week:
"One of my affiliated minor league teams is the Charleston Riverdogs (currently a Yankees affiliate) that I purchased in September 1989, literally on the day Hurricane Hugo hit the city," Goldklang said. "The weather experienced in St. Paul over the years, while occasionally challenging, has never been quite at that level."I've had a wonderful experience in St. Paul since Mike and I first walked into Midway Stadium (then Municipal Stadium) in late 1992, and am really looking forward to our new home at CHS Field."
The sunken design of the new Lowertown ballpark isn't everyone's cup of tea. But Goldklang, who owns the Saints with Veeck and Hollywood actor Bill Murray, pointed across the gravel pit that will become the actual CHS baseball field to a future picnic area behind the left field foul line. Picnickers will be able to look up 6th Street and see the Minnesota State Capitol lit up a night, he said. And that's cool.
The ballpark is replacing the old Gillette shampoo factory, which sat vacant on the site for years.
Goldklang said he's thankful to the artist community that helped keep the Lowertown warehouse district alive during tough times for downtown St. Paul, which has come a long way. But downtown still needs a boost in its growing entertainment district. "It's a happening area," Goldklang said. "I think of this ballpark as an anchor for this part of the city."
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