Tal’s Hill will be reimagined this offseason. No earth will be moved, but it’s possible this season could be the last for the unique center field design the Astros have at their home ballpark.

Astros president of business operations Reid Ryan said the team has hired MSA Architects, a Cincinnati based architectural firm, and have started initial discussions on potential center field renovations that would take place during the 2015-16 offseason.

“It won’t be this year. It would be after next year,” Ryan said of the potential facelift. “People talk about Tal’s Hill. ‘Is Tal’s Hill going away?’ We’re going to look at designs of, ‘What would that look like if we took it away?'”

Tal’s Hill is an incline in center field that can wreak havoc on outfielders, although balls are rarely hit far enough to reach the hill. A flag pole is also situated on the hill, on the playing field — an oddity in baseball.

Ryan this season traveled around to different major league parks to gather ideas for how to improve Minute Maid. There’s been talk for some time of creating a dedicated area for an Astros Hall of Fame.

The desire to change and ultimately improve Minute Maid has been consistent and discussed publicly in the past, but the ball is rolling faster now — even with a potential ground breaking still a year away. Designs can be worked on in the meantime.

Ryan went around to different major league ballparks this year, looking for inspiration.

“We’re going to keep evolving,” Ryan said. “That’s one of the things (owner Jim Crane) started with us from day one is: we’re moving forward. … We’re going to do something in the outfield. I don’t know what exactly that means yet: could be Tal’s Hill. It could be bullpens. It could be adding cabooses to the train. It could be adding something in center field of meaning. It could be putting in a Hall of Fame.

“Could we now go underground and could you put fans in the old bullpen the visitors were in (in left field), and do we move the other one to right field? We want something substantial where people go out and go, ‘Oh, It’s Minute Maid Park 2.0.'”

Chief among the goal is to create a gathering spot that is not ticketed. Some stadiums have roof decks, some have restaurants.

MSA Architects has a sport division that designed the Cincinnati Reds’ home park, Great American Ball Park.

Other, more routine maintenance projects and upgrades are underway this winter.

“It’s kind of like throwing a party,” Ryan said. “When you’re done, it’s time to plan for the next party.”

Minute Maid’s roof will undergo repair for 60-90 days. The stadium has already been around a decade and a half, and “basically the wheels on the roof, 15 years old, it’s time to replace ’em,” Ryan said. The ballpark’s inaugural season was 2000.

The Astros are also redoing their club level as well as their upper deck concessions.

evan.drellich@chron.com

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