(Note: Above picture is a concept rendering for illustrative proposes.)
Architects plan to unveil the preliminary design of the nearly billion-dollar Vikings stadium at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis on May 13, the Star Tribune reports. The new 65,000-seat, multipurpose facility will be built on the current Metrodome site.
“We’ll go through all the details of the building inside and out,” Michele Kelm-Helgen, chairwoman of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, told the newspaper.
It’s still unclear if the new stadium will feature a retractable roof, wall or window.
“We’re excited about where it’s headed,” Lester Bagley, the team’s vice president for public affairs and stadium development, told the Star Tribune. “It’ll have lots of glass and light and a very open feel to it. And we’re confident that it’ll land well with state leaders, Vikings fans and everybody in Minnesota.”
Twin Cities-based Mortenson Construction, which also built new venues for the Twins, Wild, Timberwolves and University of Minnesota football team, was tapped earlier this year to oversee construction of the new Vikings stadium.
Groundbreaking is still expected to take place in October, but financing issues for the state’s $348 million contribution could put the project on hold.
Starting this week, the Star Tribune says Minnesota will be the first state to launch statewide electronic bingo systems in attempt to fund the stadium.
The 31-year-old Dome is scheduled to be torn down in January or February of 2014, with the new stadium ready for the 2016 NFL season.
Even though demolition is still months away, the Pioneer Press says the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority has already received more than a dozen requests for Metrodome mementos, like seats and signs.
The Vikings will play the 2014 and 2015 seasons outdoors at the U of M’s TCF Bank Stadium, current home of the Gophers.
