Vikings Stadium Design & Construction

[toughguy]

Word is the new stadium design is supposed to be released in the next 2-3 weeks. I'm looking forward to see what they come up with. Hopefully it's something original and unlike the other stadiums in the NFL. I think it's safe to assume that it will have some sort of a retractable roof or window feature.

[LMITOUT]

If it is similar to the Metrodome it'll look like a gigantic black hole of taxpayer money and a factory of Viking fan sadness.

[toughguy]

Now they're saying no design until April. I'm still looking forward to see what they come up with.

[LABS4ME]

it takes a long time to get the design 'just right'! The Wilfs are taking a cue from Homer and adding all the bells and whistles!

Good Luck!

Ken

[Alagnak]

http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/201538901.html

Bill would put Vikings stadium on hold until state fixes financing

Minnesota should put plans for a new Vikings stadium on hold until it can figure out a better way to pay for it, some state lawmakers say.

Electronic pulltabs were supposed to fund the state's $384 million share of the new football stadium. But in their first year, e-pulltabs pulled in a dismal $1.7 million -- well below the $35 million a year needed -- forcing the state to scramble for alternative revenue sources, like electronic bingo games.

Instead of scrambling, state Sen. Sean Nienow says, Minnesota should slow down, put the entire stadium venture on hold, and figure out a secure way of paying for a new home for the Vikings.

"Are we really going to build a sports stadium and take money from education, health care and maintaining roads?" Nienow said in a statement Thursday. "In whose world is that a good idea?"

Nienow and state Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, are introducing legislation that would delay the sale of the first stadium bonds until the the Minnesota Management and Budget office certifies that the state has raised enough money to make its annual payments.

The first stadium bonds are set to be sold this summer and the groundbreaking for the new stadium is set for this fall.

[toughguy]

The design will be released May 13.

Heads up, Vikings fans: The long wait for your first peek at the purple and gold’s new digs is just about over.

Come May 13, architects plan to deliver the goods by unveiling the preliminary design for the nearly billion-dollar stadium in a 7 p.m. showing at the Guthrie Theater.

“We’ll go through all the details of the building inside and out,” said Michele Kelm-Helgen, chairwoman of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which is overseeing construction of the downtown Minneapolis project. Kelm-Helgen wouldn’t spill design details Saturday, saying some features are still being tweaked.

She also wouldn’t nod to whether the 65,000-seat, multipurpose stadium, to be built on the Metrodome site, will have a retractable roof, wall or window — features that the team, the authority and many fans want, but extras that might be too expensive given the construction budget.

But Kelm-Helgen said the stadium will feature “a lot of light” and fit in well with the surrounding neighborhoods and downtown.

She said the Vikings and stadium authority considered several designs before narrowing the options. The stadium financing legislation approved last year calls for the building to include 7,500 club seats, 150 suites, and space for gift shops, restaurants and an NFL team museum and Hall of Fame.

“We’re excited about where it’s headed,” said Lester Bagley, the team’s vice president for public affairs and stadium development. “It’ll have lots of glass and light and a very open feel to it. And we’re confident that it’ll land well with state leaders, Vikings fans and everybody in Minnesota.”

The authority and team had hoped to unveil the design last month. Kelm-Helgen said the timeline was pushed back to April, then May, to give architects and the construction manager more time to price stadium features and materials and help the authority and team decide what it could afford.

Groundbreaking is still expected to take place in October, even though revenues for the state’s portion of construction financing are lagging well behind projections.

The Metrodome is tentatively scheduled to be razed in early 2014, with the new stadium scheduled to open in time for the 2016 NFL season. In the meantime, Vikings home games will be at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus.

[FISHINGURU]

Yaaaaaaaawn, just build it and they will come.

[toughguy]

The new home for the Minnesota Vikings will be taller and bigger than the Metrodome and will have a sloped roof and possibly, sliding walls, windows or doors that open to the downtown Minneapolis skyline, according to a public document released Monday.

Those details, spelled out in a nearly 400-page draft Environmental Impact Statement made public by the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, provide the first glimpse of a project that is expected to replace the Metrodome by the 2016 NFL season.

The authority, which is working with the Vikings to develop the $975 million multipurpose stadium, plans to unveil the architect’s preliminary design at a special meeting May 13 at the Guthrie Theater.

The draft impact statement, however, provides some clues to the project’s closely guarded design. The stadium facade could be made up of a combination of metal panels, Kasota limestone and curtain walls that appear transparent or translucent when lit. It will feature four entrances, but 75 percent of the fans are expected to enter and exit through the west plaza, which faces downtown. That entrance could feature sliding and pivoting doors.

The stadium’s roof, which will be nearly 100 feet taller than the Metrodome’s highest point (195 feet), could be permanent or retractable, and include a combination of hard deck and fabric, which would allow sunlight into the building much like the Beijing Water Cube made famous in the 2008 Olympics.

All totaled, the 65,500-seat stadium, which can seat as many as 73,000 fans for special events such as a Super Bowl, will be nearly twice the size of the Metrodome, encompassing up to 1.7 million square feet. It would be “a bold, iconic, geometric structure with long sloping, angular facets that are primarily directed toward the downtown Minneapolis skyline,” the draft said.

Michele Kelm-Helgen, chairwoman of the authority, said Monday that many of the features detailed in the plan have yet to be decided as the team and authority try to nail down what can be built within the stadium’s budget.

She said that most will be firmed up by the time stadium architects unveil the design in two weeks. The draft document “has a lot of options in it,” she said. “I wouldn’t assume all those things are in or out or settled on.”

Kelm-Helgen said all the options for a retractable roof and retractable walls or windows also “are still in play.”

The draft also includes two options for a plaza outside the stadium. One would run for north-south, along Chicago Avenue between 3rd Street South and 5th Street South. The other would run east to west from Chicago Avenue to 5th Avenue between 4th Street South and 5th Street South and include the block where the Star Tribune is headquartered.

“This would involve the demolition of the existing Star Tribune building,” the document said.

The configuration of the plaza depends on the outcome of negotiations between Minneapolis-based developer Ryan Cos. and the Star Tribune, which owns five blocks near the stadium, much of it surface parking lots, and Ryan’s ability to secure a development prospect. Ryan said late last year it was contemplating “multiple development scenarios” for the Star Tribune land.

Earlier this month, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak called for creation of a park called “Armory Yard” to be located near the historic Armory along 5th Street South. The space could include a skate park, rope courses, soccer and lacrosse fields, a croquet pitch, dog park and other “four season features,” Rybak said.

Last week, Lester Bagley, vice president of stadium development for the Vikings, described negotiations for acquiring land surrounding the stadium site as “fluid.”

Star Tribune CEO Michael Klingensmith declined to comment on either the Ryan or Viking negotiations. Rick Collins, vice president of development for Ryan, could not be reached for comment Monday.

[toughguy]

bump

Vikings web site is streaming release starting at 7:00

[toughguy]

Stadium fly through

http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/video...c4-58ea3ee243d3

[LMITOUT]

[CaptainMusky]

Hmmm interesting design. Interesting may or may not be a compliment lol.

[Duffman]

Well......at least they now have an Ark to float away from this cesspool.

[LMITOUT]

Looks like a lot of glass...built on a solid foundation of broken promises and lies.

[toughguy]

I'm happy with the design. I was hoping for an open roof but it does have an open feel. It will stand out as being different from anything else in the NFL. I'm looking forward to seeing it take shape.

[highlife4me]

Since the ViQueens hardly ever last very long in the playoffs maybe they plan on using it for a greenhouse in January and February.

[toughguy]

[Scott K]

What happened to NEEDING an open roof stadium to compete?

[LMITOUT]

I didn't catch what they are going to call this architectural marvel, but I heard some potential names being tossed around...

The People's Greenhouse

Pulltab Park

Wilf's Windfall

Windows Vista

The AMC Pacer Dome

And my favorite:

The GlassHole

[BartmanMN]

I didn't catch what they are going to call this architectural marvel, but I heard some potential names being tossed around...

The People's Greenhouse

Pulltab Park

Wilf's Windfall

Windows Vista

The AMC Pacer Dome

And my favorite:

The GlassHole

LOL. Windows Vista. I love that.

[Scott K]

I am not much of a fan of it.

[PurpleFloyd]

I didn't catch what they are going to call this architectural marvel, but I heard some potential names being tossed around...

The People's Greenhouse

Pulltab Park

Wilf's Windfall

Windows Vista

The AMC Pacer Dome

And my favorite:

The GlassHole

Windex Stadium.

On a side note once they legalize Mary Jane, if the NFL fails that would make one heck of a hydroponics lab.

[MnCatGuy]

Have they officially announced that they will be taking money from the general fund for that ugly POS? I know it was being "discussed". Healthcare and education aren't that important anyway.

NoDak is sounding better every day.

[tinfoilscenario]

Move there then. Nobody is stopping you. Then you can cheer for nothing. Because that's what ND is full of.

Stadium looks pretty fresh. I'm excited to see it put into motion. Sure it still has a roof. They plan on using it for more than just football. Because more happens in Minneapolis than just a football game for 17 weeks out of the year. Unlike Green Bay. A giant city that has absolutely nothing going on in it.

[MnCatGuy]

I'll feel much better moving there knowing that you approve, guy.

What exactly do we have going on here that's so great (other than 10,000+ lakes)? I hope your not referring to 4 sports teams that are going nowhere and are costing taxpayers millions and millions of dollars...