Here's a plan for a St. Paul stadium; that is, at Midway Saints officials hope to revamp grandstand, press box, restrooms by selling naming rights: [METRO Edition]

More St. Paul baseball stadium news - no, not that stadium. We're talking about Midway Stadium on Energy Park Drive, home of the St. Paul Saints.

Saints officials have a plan for a major renovation of the stadium that would extend the grandstand along the foul lines and eliminate the bleachers, which must be replaced or repaired because they were built before the current safety standards were adopted.

The team also would like to improve the press box, add more women's restrooms, improve handicapped seating and construct eight to 10 skyboxes above the current grandstand.

The project would cost $2.5 million to $3 million, said Bill Fanning, general manager of the Saints. But he said he hopes to sell the naming rights to the stadium for a price that would cover the renovation, so no tax dollars would be needed.

The city owns the stadium, although it is managed by the Saints. The City Council would have to approve the project, but hasn't yet begun discussions on the matter.

"This place [Midway] has been great for us and this is a way of making it more comfortable for fans. We're not just trying to sell the naming rights and pocket the cash," Fanning said.

Of course, it's not totally altruistic, he said.

"These improvements will keep it hot; give fans more of a reason to come to the ballpark and we'll continue selling tickets," he said. "And there'd be some additional revenue with the sky boxes."