The $1.1 billion U.S. Bank Stadium must undergo extensive repairs on its exterior, which will cost more than $21 million.
The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority announced Friday it had reached an agreement with the lead contractor on the stadium, M.A. Mortensen Company, and seven other firms involved in the stadium’s design and construction to fix the problems with the exterior.
That’s because the distinctive black zinc panels that clad the outside of the Vikings home were more susceptible to wind and water damage than originally thought, which led to several of the panels to fall off the stadium several months before it was due to open in 2016.
As part of the agreement, the entire black paneling will be replaced by a “completely new, enhanced exterior enclosure.”
The $21 million work over the next two years will be split between the contractors, with neither the taxpayer nor the Vikings on the hook for the repairs.
“Reaching an agreement took time, but all parties were committed to the process and achieving a fair and appropriate outcome,” a joint statement from MSFA and Mortensen said.
“The MSFA and the companies associated with the design, engineering, and construction all have exceptionally high expectations for this facility. The remaining issues and claims were tied primarily to the stadium’s exterior enclosure, which experienced some wind damage and water issues following the construction of the building.
“While those individual issues were identified and fixed, all parties want to ensure the building performs as intended, both inside and out, for its entire lifetime.”
“The new, enhanced exterior enclosure will be designed, engineered and constructed differently than the original enclosure, and it will provide water barrier redundancies not included in the original design,” the statement added.
“It will have a similar appearance, which is an important design element, but there may be some minor visible variations.”
John Wood, the senior vice president of Mortenson who oversaw the original stadium project, told the Star Tribune that the company was “embarrassed” by the problems the building has had.
