The once possible home of the Vikings’ new stadium is being left in the dust — or at least with it.
The Star Tribune reports Blaine, which was considered as a location for the stadium in 2006, will be getting about 350,000 cubic yards of soil hauled away from the Metrodome site as the new facility is being developed.
The dirt, which is considered “clean fill” by Blaine’s Community Development Director Bryan Schafer, will be dumped at a 33-acre site in the city.
The land the fill is being transported to is one of several parcels that Vikings owner Zygi Wilf had contingency deals to buy in 2006, but the plans for the stadium never gained support from the state Legislature, the Star Tribune said.
The site is now owned by Allina Health, which is expected to build on the site in a year.
ABC Newspapers says the hauling of the dirt – which will be done solely between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. – will begin in January and must be completed by April 30, 2014.
The publication says the trucks hauling the dirt will be using I-35W, Lexington Avenue and 109th Avenue, and will not be using any city roads or streets in residential areas.
More of the fill will go to several other locations once the Metrodome is demolished, the Star Tribune said.
The Vikings will play their last game at the Metrodome Dec. 29, when they face the Detroit Lions.
Stadium contractor Mortensen Construction is scheduled to cut the power to the stadium Jan. 18 and the dome will begin to deflate immediately.
Zygi and Mark Wilf, Gov. Mark Dayton, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, running back Adrian Peterson and others broke ground on the new stadium in a shoveling ceremony earlier this month.
