Season Ticket Holders Wait In Long Lines For Metrodome Seats

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- They're the seats that meant so much for so many years. On Monday, season ticket holders had to wait a little longer to call the Metrodome seats their own.

"We were section 123, seats 9, 10, 11, 12," Kristina Pell said from her truck as she waited to get her seats. "My grandparents had them before us. It'll be something fun to have at home. It's a cool piece of Dome history. We spent so much time there."

Pell's grandfather drove an hour from St. Peter to meet her. They arrived early to get in line and were surprised to find out they weren't the only ones who tried that.

"The minute I got here I saw hundreds of (drivers) trying to merge onto 11th Avenue. Police weren't here yet to help monitor the traffic," Joyce Ramsey said as she waited.

Ramsey sat in the traffic jam for three hours and then called a relative to park near-by and take over her place in line.

"She's going to take my spot and swap cars with me so I can get out of here. I have to get to work," she explained.

Not everyone had the patience to idle for 3 hours. Ten minutes and 50 pounds later, some fans were walking out of the Dome carrying special memories. Tom Lecy was one of them.

"After I waited and my car didn't move for a half hour, I thought, it's only one seat. Why not walk down and pick it up? If they stopped me, I figured I'd go to the car," Lecy said.

The single seat has a special recipient. It's a birthday present for his daughter who'd been coming to Vikings games with her grandfather since she was a baby.

If fans were frustrated, they had a "Minnesota Nice" way of showing it. Driver after driver smiled and shrugged off the wait. Only a few had choice words.

"We sat many years in those seats, they mean a lot," they told WCCO.

"I'm picking up two for my brother, he couldn't come. He owes me big time!" Another said, laughing.

Tony Manning with Albrecht Sign Company asked fans to be patient. Five-hundred cars a day are expected to pick up their load of chairs. Once inside the Metrodome, they hand their order form to a construction worker, who brings the chairs to their trucks and loads them up.

Manning said it's taking three to four minutes longer to grab the specific seats as it did last week when customers got any available seat.

While they waited for their chairs to be delivered, people got one final chance to look around the Metrodome, now stripped down, and say goodbye.

Seats are still available. They're $60 each and you can no longer request a specific chair.

Albright says fans who placed an order for buying a Metrodome chair and haven't heard when they can pick them up should be hearing from the company soon. They are bringing chairs to their location in Fridley, where customers can pick them up.

Watch The 360 Video Of The Final Metrodome Moments Below