The Vikings have submitted a bid to host a future Super Bowl, and local leaders have envisioned hosting NCAA basketball tournament games, big-name concerts and the like. Team owners initially preferred an open-air stadium to return to the franchise's cold-weather roots at suburban Metropolitan Stadium, where the Vikings played - and sometimes froze - from 1961 to 1981.īut the only way to get public help in paying for the project was to enclose it, ensuring the ability to host other sports and events. The Metrodome's Teflon roof infamously collapsed during a storm in December 2010, forcing the Vikings to play their last two home games that season elsewhere. The slope of the roof will also allow for easier snow removal. The solar power generated from the sun that streams in will help make the building more energy-efficient. Like the aquatics center in Beijing built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the southern half of the stadium's roof will be built with a material known as ETFE, ethylene tetrafluoroethylene. Trubey said the covering will be the world's largest transparent roof. The steeply pitched roof will let natural light stream in, making the covered, glass-centric stadium seem more like it's outside. "It's a beautiful building," center John Sullivan said after the unveiling. From the look of the new 65,000-seat building, though, they'll feel a little like they're playing in the elements, albeit with a controlled climate and protection from the rain, wind and snow. In 2016, the Vikings will move back indoors. They'll play outside at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium for two years while the new venue is under construction. It will replace the 31-year-old Metrodome, which the Vikings will vacate after the 2013 season. The event took place at the Guthrie Theater, a few blocks from where the stadium will be built in downtown Minneapolis. The yet-to-be-named multi-purpose facility will have a translucent roof and moveable front windows.īryan Trubey, the lead architect for the project for the Dallas-based HKS Sports and Entertainment Group, presented images to a crowd of fans, public officials and members of the Vikings organization Monday night. So the team, the public agency in charge of the stadium and the architects designing it literally saw the light. MINNEAPOLIS - Opening the roof over the new home of the Minnesota Vikings would have forced planners of the $975 million project to eliminate some of the fancy features. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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