When it gets stormy at U.S. Bank Stadium, that’s when things sometimes fall apart.
And we’re talking about the outside of the stadium.
The storm that sent fierce winds ripping through Minnesota on Monday left its mark on the new home of the Vikings by tearing loose some of the panels on the $1.1 billion stadium.
Several of the zinc panels came loose and one of them fell to the ground early Monday, WCCO reports, with Mortenson Construction saying in a Tuesday statement: “The damage appears isolated but we are inspecting the exterior of the building to be certain. Work crews began repairs on the damaged areas earlier today, and the work will be completed by the end of the week.”
No one was injured by the falling panel. The Star Tribune, which has a camera automatically taking photos of the stadium every half hour, says its pictures show the damage happened between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m.
Several black zinc panels fall off U.S. Bank Stadium. Live camera: https://t.co/ousdA9Ouoh pic.twitter.com/sSp5tmtwbc
— The Minnesota Star Tribune (@StarTribune) December 27, 2016
According to the newspaper, Mortenson, which constructed the state-owned building, says it will spend $4 million fixing the damage.
But this is not the first time they’ve had to make these repairs to the nearly six-month-old stadium.
Just a couple of weeks before it opened in July, 10 or 20 of the panels came loose in a thunderstorm.
Finance & Commerce says representatives of the sheet metal contractor that worked on the stadium joined Mortenson officials to size things up on Tuesday, with a spokeswoman for the Sports Facilities Authority saying in a statement “We are awaiting a recommendation regarding next steps to permanently resolve this issue.”
The Vikings wrap up their season at the stadium on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
