Vikes Stadium Created With Super Bowl In Mind
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Construction on the future Vikings stadium may be still in its infancy, but Stadium Project Director Allen Troshinsky says he and his crew have a new reason to be proud of their work.
"It's just peaking above the street level now, so passersby are able to see some of the progress," Troshinsky said. "Building a building that will host a Super Bowl event - that's just frosting on the cake."
The $1 billion stadium, scheduled to open 2016, gave Minneapolis a leg up as a Super Bowl host candidate, according to Michele Kelm-Helgen, chairman of the Minnesota Sports Facilites Authority.
"A lot of questions about the public investment, and they really wanted to know what did the public put into the stadium," Kelm-Helgen said.
But the foresight of the planners came into play, too. The stadium will typically seat 65,000, but was designed to accommodate 72,000, which is the NFL's Super Bowl requirement.
"And we'll do that with removable seats, adjustable seating, retractable seating," he said. ""e can draw down curtains and make a much more intimate environment."
The stadium's unique roof is also is a big draw for the NFL. At 60-percent transparent, fans will get an outdoor view with an indoor climate-control experience, vital for Januaries in Minnesota.
But now at just 10-percent complete, construction workers are looking forward to the warmer summer months to go full-steam ahead with construction.
"They put together a lot of work in a little bit of time," Troshinsky said.
And the amount of construction workers is about to explode. On an average day, there are 300 people out on the site. That number will swell to more than 1,000 by 2015.
But it'll take a lot of bodies out there to meet the July 2016 deadline, which as of right now is on track to happen.