The Minneapolis-based company that built new venues for the Twins, Wild, Timberwolves and University of Minnesota football team has been chosen as the firm to oversee construction of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium, the Star Tribune reports.
Mortenson Construction, which most recently built Target Field for the Minnesota Twins, was one of two finalists for the job. Hunt Construction, of Scottsdale, Ariz., lost out. Minnesota-based Krause-Anderson joined with Hunt earlier this month, perhaps in a bid to give itself more of a hometown-team edge.
The Vikings and the panel managing the project, the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, was scheduled Friday morning to formally announce that the company had been tapped to construct the $975 million downtown Minneapolis stadium, the Star Tribune reported.
The new 65,000-seat venue is scheduled to open for the 2016 NFL season. It’s likely that the Vikings would play one more season in the Metrodome and then play the 2014 and 2015 seasons at TCF Bank Stadium, home to the U of M Gopher football team.
One of Mortenson’s first hurdles will be pricing a retractable roof, which the Vikings would like to have. But current plans call for a fixed roof, and a retractable one would cost $25 million to $50 million more, the Star Tribune notes.
Click here to go to the Star Tribune’s livestream of the authority’s 9 a.m. Friday meeting.
