MINNEAPOLIS - New Vikings Stadium (65,115)

[DennisRodman97]

so is this stadium goin to be built?

[Benn]

Maybe, another plan submitted by the Vikings/HKS should be submitted for the next legislative session, however at the moment the State isn't in much of a state to put down $700 million on a stadium

[sdk]

Any news?

[jandeczentar]

I have 1 question. Whose going to pay for this? The Vikings can't do it alone and if Minnesota is like most other states then their money is pretty tight at the moment. Plus there is also the Twins new stadium which will probably need government money (if it hasn't taken some already). If I were a Vikings fan I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this to come to fruition.

[salaverryo]

Originally Posted by jandeczentar

I have 1 question. Whose going to pay for this?

The taxpayers, as always.

[Benn]

It will probably be 25% from the Vikings ownership and 75% from state and local taxes. Although I don't expect much to get done until late in the 2010 legislative session. Although we will appearently going to see the Vikings/HKS plan for the Metrodome site in the next couple of month. Then they get to fight it out with the MSFC/Ellerbe Becket plan on page one with the legislature and see if anyone wants to pay for it.

[Benn]

Originally Posted by jandeczentar

I have 1 question. Whose going to pay for this? The Vikings can't do it alone and if Minnesota is like most other states then their money is pretty tight at the moment. Plus there is also the Twins new stadium which will probably need government money (if it hasn't taken some already). If I were a Vikings fan I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this to come to fruition.

It was funded 75% by Hennepin County.

[Kuwaiti]

It looks like a nice stadium and I hope the Vikings could build it asap.
But I always thought the franchise was moving to Los Angeles for some reason... Well given that the new LA stadium also has Purple seats. I certainly hope not, they better approve this stadium quick and reassign themselves as Minnesota-loyal team.

[Benn]

Zygi is in no hurry to leave town, to the contrary has shown a lot of dedication to the community and is seriously trying to mend relations gutted by Red McCombs. He knows that there is a solid fan base, and a solid chance of pushing this through in the next couple years, funding doesn't need to be in place till 2011 when the lease at the Metrodome expires.

[MillerTime]

I hope they find a way to make this happen. It would be great thing for Minne to get rid of the Dome. Its a huge eyesore on such a beautiful city. I cant even imagine how much better the Minneapolis skyline would look with one of these proposals in place of the Dome. If it does get done the Twin Cities will have a damn good collection of sporting venues though. With the Twins and U of M getting their new stadiums as well as the Excel in St. Paul. This project and a good renovation of the target center would have to put them pretty high on the list. (is there a list? there should be?) Anyway i like the plan to build downtown on the site of the Dome. I especially like the idea of turning the field and leaving the west endzone open to the views of downtown. Pretty much the same idea they used on the Gophers new football stadium which i love. The retractable roof is a good idea so they can host final fours and the superbowl, but my vote goes to leaving it open for all vikings home games regardless of the weather for some homefield advantage. If not then they should just build a fixed roof and save some money. Just keep with the open endzone and leave a large bank of windows so you still get sunlight and a view.

[Huskies]

Originally Posted by El Mariachi

the stadium looks amazing. Just hope that I dont have to see Brett Favre starting for the Vikings in it.

hahahahaha well .... i dont know what to say about this one really ... he simply won't retire

[HHH_Gopher]

To this day, I've never quite understood why the renovation proposals for the Metrodome have been dismissed as rapidly as they have by the Vikings. While I understand the gamesmanship and the organization's desire for a new, publicly-funded (primarily) facility, the reality is that the Dome was built for the Vikings (the Twins and the U were afterthoughts...and continued to be for 27 years).

I've always maintained that the Dome was a horrible, horrible facility for college football and baseball, but that it worked fairly well for the Vikings. While I believe that football should be played outdoors, the Dome has been a relatively good homefield for the Vikes.

There obviously are serious limitations to the facility in terms of premium seating revenue, concourse size and other fan amenities, and the size of the site, let alone the ugly exterior. However, if I'm Zygi Wilf right now and I look at the political reality of trying to get a $1 billion stadium approved, I would really consider a renovation as the only viable option.

This is what I would do:

- Maintain the general seating bowls. The sightlines for football have always been really good. Just replace the blue seats with new purple ones.

- Blow out the sides of the stadium, especially on the north and south sides to accommodate larger concourses and other fan amenities (Restaurants, Hall of Fame, Party Pavilion, etc).

- Build clubs on the main councourse above both sidelines (maybe 25 yd. line to 25 yd line) with club seating then on the lower level below the clubs. Press box would then need to be relocated.

- Remove all concourse level suites on the east and west ends of the stadium (behind the endzones) to open up the concourse the field and put in more general seating.

- Build a new premium level above the upper deck (as is being done at Arrowhead) on both the north and south sides (mostly suites, but also to accommodate press & operations). This might result in the need for a new roof, but I'm sure that could be done. The current one is so damn dirty as it is. (Although my ideal scenario would be to remove the roof, build a European Football stadium-type roof, and keep it open air....that just takes away the possibility of using the facility for other events in the winter).

- Figure out a way to build fieldlevel suites behind the east endzone (similar to Qwest Field). I think this could be done rather easily because it is where the current visitors baseball dugout is located.

- Enhance the video board and sound system. Pretty awful right now.

I have no idea what this would cost, but I can't imagine it would be that high. More importantly, I think it would be somewhat well-received by the Legislature and the public. The dome has been good to the Twin Cities and the state. Finding a reasonable plan for the long-term just makes sense to me.

[KingmanIII]

You forgot one other key money-saving benefit of renovation:

NO LAND COSTS

Agree with everything you posted. I'm confident a Metrodome upgrade would cost NO MORE than $500 mil, if that.

[mighty55]

Originally Posted by KingmanIII

You forgot one other key money-saving benefit of renovation:

NO LAND COSTS

Agree with everything you posted. I'm confident a Metrodome upgrade would cost NO MORE than $500 mil, if that.

If its gonna cost half a billion to renovate then it will be a waste of money! now that you have a college football stadium near by, it would be easy to tear down the Metrodome and build a state-of-the-art stadium in the same place that would last you for years to come. Seattle spent millions renovating Key Arena in the 90's and where did that get them?

http://www.minnesotamomentum.com/index.jsp
How far has this gotten?

[Alx-D]

BC Place is almost an exact copy of the Metrodome, just slightly longer for CFL football. Pavco is renovating BC Place for $350 million CDN, including a retractable roof.

[KingmanIII]

Originally Posted by mighty55

If its gonna cost half a billion to renovate then it will be a waste of money! now that you have a college football stadium near by, it would be easy to tear down the Metrodome and build a state-of-the-art stadium in the same place that would last you for years to come. Seattle spent millions renovating Key Arena in the 90's and where did that get them?

http://www.minnesotamomentum.com/index.jsp
How far has this gotten?

Hello? they're talking about this new stadium carrying a $1 billion price tag. A renovation, in most cases, gives an older stadium everything a new stadium offers, for hundreds of millions less.

Seattle got screwed by greedy ownership that would never have been satisfied with the city's efforts. Think about it: they had just spent more than $1 billion on new stadiums for the Mariners and Seahawks, and now the Sonics want a $500-million arena to replace one that was upgraded not too long ago and is more than adequate by NBA standards? Seattle was justified in telling them to piss off.

[schulzte]

It is completely assinine for the Vikings to build a new stadium, when the Gophers have completed an absolute palace of a football stadium that was constructed to be expandable to as large as 80,000 seats. The walkway above the second level would act as a concourse to access a third level. All the Vikings would have to do is fund an expansion to 65,000, including more suites, and they would have an outstanding stadium. This could like be done for $100-$150 million instead of $700 million. The TCF Stadium is all ready set up for it. It would be one of the best venues in the league. Some of you may find this a stretch, but I think the TCF Stadium at the University of Minnesota is the best football stadium in America today college or pro. It's simple, elegant, and intimate; the perfect football stadium. It's not a gaudy monstrosity like the new Dallas Stadium

[Ganis]

Originally Posted by schulzte

It is completely assinine for the Vikings to build a new stadium, when the Gophers have completed an absolute palace of a football stadium that was constructed to be expandable to as large as 80,000 seats. The walkway above the second level would act as a concourse to access a third level. All the Vikings would have to do is fund an expansion to 65,000, including more suites, and they would have an outstanding stadium. This could like be done for $100-$150 million instead of $700 million. The TCF Stadium is all ready set up for it. It would be one of the best venues in the league. Some of you may find this a stretch, but I think the TCF Stadium at the University of Minnesota is the best football stadium in America today college or pro. It's simple, elegant, and intimate; the perfect football stadium. It's not a gaudy monstrosity like the new Dallas Stadium

wo wo wo.... I think there are about 100 other stadiums i would take over TCF in this country.

Gillette in Boston, Tiger Stadium in LSU, Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Royal Stadium in Austin, Reliant in Houston, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Land Shark in Miami, Rose Bowl in Pasadena, UofP in Phoenix, Kyle Field in College Station, Ben Hill Griffen for the University of Florida, Super Dome in New Orleans, and the list goes on. You have a nice one up there but dont get so high on the Snow Cones.


Also do the Vikings wanna take the "We are a Pro team playing at a University Stadium" crown from Phoenix now that they dont have it???

[Benn]

I think it looks better than most of those, but it would be a bit of work to get it to NFL functionality in terms of aminities, and that might hurt the look.

I have sketched out a renovation for the Dome keeps most of the bowl (which has just about perfect sightlines for football) that included replacing the current retractable seating with club seats, removing the last five rose of the current upper deck to make way for a new press box and replace the current press facilities with suites, as well as a new cantilivered third deck along the sidelines, escalator towers in the corners and a retractable roof. Working with plans and sections I found online I worked out a scheme not far off from the numbers they are looking for at about $450-550 million at my best guess.
My scheme had;
-70,337 seats
-142 suites, all at least 50% larger than the current ones
-6,928 club seats
-83,000 sq ft club concourse
-possibly 45 open boxes
-4 Beer Gardens overlooking the Field
-A press box with 15 booths and 230 working press seats
38'-54' concourses
-Twice the number of restrooms (The biggest complaint among fans about the current structure)
-1 119'-50' Video board, 2 48'-23' boards,
-A retractable roof similar to Reliant Stadium in Houston
-15,000 sq ft for a Hall of Fame
-10,000 sq ft for a team store
-4 twin escalator towers
-MSFC Offices
-Team Offices

Since it basically reuses the existing bowl (minus the retractable seating and 5 rows of the upper level) as well as much of the plumbing/electrical/mechanical infrastructure the costs can be substantially reduced.
The only real downside of this type of reuse I can see is that the current seating bowl has a 31" deep treads, whereas 33" is the general minimum in new facilities, but other than the legroom I think this sort of thing would be the best way to go about.

Then Zygi could redevelop all the land he owns around the site into shiny new mixed use whatever and everyone could be happy.

[BoulderGrad]

Originally Posted by KingmanIII

Hello? they're talking about this new stadium carrying a $1 billion price tag. A renovation, in most cases, gives an older stadium everything a new stadium offers, for hundreds of millions less.

Seattle got screwed by greedy ownership that would never have been satisfied with the city's efforts. Think about it: they had just spent more than $1 billion on new stadiums for the Mariners and Seahawks, and now the Sonics want a $500-million arena to replace one that was upgraded not too long ago and is more than adequate by NBA standards? Seattle was justified in telling them to piss off.

The $500mil stadium was proposed for the near by suburb of Renton, WA, and they were asking for $300mil from the state of Washington, not the city of Seattle. The city had proposed a $300mil renovation of Key Arena ($150mil provided by the city, $150mil from private investors), but the owner of the Sonics balked at that idea.