MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) and the Minnesota Vikings have broken ground on the new $975 million multi-purpose stadium that will replace the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. The 1.7 million square-foot facility is scheduled for completion in July 2016.
Mortenson Construction and project associate Thor Construction are building the 65,000-seat stadium. According to the MSFA, the new stadium is the largest construction project in the history of Minnesota.
“We set out to design a stadium that can accommodate all kinds of events, from high school and collegiate football, soccer and baseball, professional football, to community events, conventions and concerts,” says Michele Kelm-Helgen, chair of the MSFA. “After a lot of hard work, we succeeded. I'd like to thank all of our partners, the Vikings organization, HKS and Mortenson Construction for getting us all here today.”
In May 2012, the Minnesota Legislature and the Minneapolis City Council approved funding for the new $975 million multi-purpose stadium to replace the Metrodome. The MSFA owns and operates the Metrodome and will also own and operate the new stadium.
HKS Sport & Entertainment Group designed the new stadium to have the largest transparent roof in the nation and operable doors that open to a three-acre plaza and the downtown Minneapolis skyline. HKS designed the stadium to put fans closer to the field than any other NFL stadium, according to the MSFA.
While serving as the home for the Minnesota Vikings, the facility will also be capable of hosting as many events as any other large stadium in the world, including NCAA tournaments, BCS Championships, a Super Bowl, high school and collegiate sports, conventions, community events and concerts.
“This is a monumental day for the Vikings, our fans, and the entire state of Minnesota,” says Mark Wilf, owner and president of the Minnesota Vikings. “We are grateful for the hundreds of hours of hard work that have been committed to this project by so many people.”
Construction of the new stadium will involve 7,500 tradespeople from 19 different trades and hundreds of local subcontractors and suppliers. In addition, the MSFA and the Vikings have established a targeted business program that sets an 11 percent and 9 percent goal for construction contracts for the project to be awarded to women- and minority-owned business enterprises, respectively. The stadium project has also set construction workforce goals for utilization of women and minorities during construction of 32 percent minority and 6 percent women participation.
Already a number of subcontracts have been executed in the past week, many of which are going to Minnesota-based companies. These include:
- Ames Construction of Burnsville will complete mass excavation, utilities and demolition of the Metrodome, working with Frattalone Cos. of Little Canada for demolition services
- Veit Cos of Rogers will construct the drilled pier foundations
- LeJeune Steel Co. of Minneapolis will provide steel fabrication for the new stadium, and Danny's Construction of Shakopee, a certified women-owned business, will handle steel erection for the new stadium
- Tarraf Construction, a certified minority-owned company from Eden Prairie, will be providing container services for excavation and demolition
“Today we celebrate the start of building this amazing facility that will serve the community and generations of fans for years to come,” says John Wood, senior vice president at Mortenson Construction. “Built for Minnesota by Minnesotans, thousands of workers and hundreds of companies will have a hand in building this project over the next 31 months.”
— John Nelson