Stadium Saga Part XI - Saga is Over, Time for Celebration

[Vikefan79]

IT HAS BEGUN!


http://www.startribune.com/local/160008955.html

[vike daddy]

The newly created public body that will work with the Minnesota Vikings in overseeing development of a $975 million downtown Minneapolis football stadium made its first significant hire Friday, appointing Ted Mondale as its full-time executive director. Mondale, who was Gov. Mark Dayton's chief negotiator in the months-long legislative fight for a new stadium, will oversee day-to-day operations of the massive project, which will be built on and around the current Metrodome site on the east end of downtown.

Mondale: "I appreciate the confidence you put in me. I will not let you down."

http://www.startribune.com/local/160008955.html



for those of you too young to know, Ted Mondale's father was Walter Mondale, a long time US senator from Minnesota, vice-president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, and candidate for president in 1984.
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[vike daddy]

Mondale said there are a number of things in the works already regarding the new stadium, pointing out that the Metrodome is only 900,000 square feet but the new stadium will be 1.5 million.

Mondale: "There's a set of contracts and [requests for proposals] that we need to get fulfilled to keep the project going. We need to get in place a building owners rep -- that's someone who builds buildings like these and has that experience and can help advise us through the project. We have a number of other works -- the environmental impact statement, that takes about a year. And all of these things are getting to the goal of understanding what our program delivery is, understanding what the final project is, and hopefully in early fall, as early as possible, hiring an architect and design team, which basically designs the building down to the details."

After that, the next step is to be ready to go out and bid for construction teams and select a manager, and then hopefully break ground by summer or fall 2013.

They want an architect and design team selected by early this fall. Then, next spring or early next summer, they hope to select the construction firm once the architectural work is done.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/160196305.html
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[disaacs]

[Frank Costello]

When will we get past this big fancy words and see more pictures?
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Welcome to Minnesota, Greg Jennings.
President of the Sammy Watkins fan club.

[disaacs]

[vike daddy]

Lester Bagley: "We want to see a signature facility that is unique to this market. We may not know what that is just yet. We may need some feedback from designers and architects to get some concepts. It's a fixed-roof facility, but if we can cut costs, manage costs, our goal is to have a retractable feature such as a portion of the roof that can be opened to view downtown. Some retractable feature, we think, is important. That's the one thing we're working on.

http://www.twincities.com/vikings/ci_21054718/vikings-stadium-retractable-roof-options-being-explored-lester
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[disaacs]

I wouldn't be surprised to see it end up as just a retractable window (maybe on top like they have in Dallas or on the side, just not facing north ). That probably would be the cheapest.
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Thx to Uncle Buck!

[vikingsrule]

[disaacs]

Nothing will ever be built like the Dome (which was obsolete the day it opened).
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Thx to Uncle Buck!

[vike daddy]

The $975 million future home of the Minnesota Vikings may someday host Super Bowls, Final Fours, and professional soccer tournaments. On Friday, the newly created public body working with the team to build the downtown Minneapolis stadium briefly entertained another possibility -- playing host to a national championship college football game.

"I don't think there is anything that is off the table at this point," Steve Maki, director of facilities and engineering for the Metrodome, said after members of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority met for only the second time since being appointed last month.

Maki told authority members that he recently contacted Bowl Championship Series (BCS) administrators, who help determine matchups for post-season college football games, and asked them to review a general outline for the Vikings stadium project.

http://www.startribune.com/local/162435006.html
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[vikingsrule]

[disaacs]

[vikingsrule]

Update:

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/164965336.html

[Eastern Walrus]

I hope we get a Wrestlemania
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2013 Adopt a Minnesota Viking - Xavier Rhodes - CB - #29

XBL - Eastern Walrus