Minnesota Vikings Stadium Designs Revealed (Photos)
By Josh Hill
The Minnesota Vikings and their fans have waited years for tonight, and boy did they milk it. But after about five hours of video commemoration and honorable speakers, the Minnesota Vikings officially unveiled what their new, yet-to-be-named stadium will look like and have submitted the proposal to the City of Minneapolis for approval.
It literally took all night to get to the money shot, as fans packed the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis to sit through an hour of honoring the community and learning about the culture of the community to see a glimpse and get a virtual tour of what the new Vikings stadium will look like. It was kind of like those time share seminars where you sit and listen to a guy for four hours and you get a free vacation for it.
The presentation went through every single detail of the stadium, from the good bits fans had been waiting for to the type of steel that will be used to build the frame of the Vikings new home.
But when it got down to revealing the stadium, it was worth the wait. Here are a few highlights of what Minnesota is hoping to do with their new stadium and what some of the perks of the building will be which should be built by 2016.
For starters, Minnesota is hoping this is truly a multi-purpose stadium that will house events from Big Ten Championship games, to NHL All-Star Games and even World Cup. And with the sexy design of the building, they might be able to lure plenty of events into town.
On the outside of the building, a large media mesh is covering a spire in the corner of the stadium. This will be able to project images as if they were being projected right on the side of the building like something out of a happy version of Blade Runner. The stadium also feature massive glass doors that rotate to and act as gates to enter the stadium.
Speaking of glass, the entire building seems to be made of it or glass-like substitutes. The roof isn’t retractable like fans were hoping, but it’s not closed either. The designers of the stadium have used a glass-like material to act as a roof, meaning the sun will shine through and illuminate the stadium as though it’s an open roof but there is no need to retract it when it snows or rains or gets too cold.
It’s a truly innovative design and it looks absolutely sexy.
The presenters of the designs repeatedly called the stadium an “all front-door” stadium, meaning you can easily access the stadium from any exterior point. Once inside the rotating glass gates, the concourse will feature sleek wood designs meshed with steel and glass to represent all the elements of Minnesota from rain, fire and ice.
Also, it was pointed out that the new stadium will feature the most bathrooms in any stadium in the league — which is honestly really important.
The glass surrounding the building will act as a way of making the stadium completely green, as the energy created by the sun and wind will power the stadium and help keep pollution at a minimum.
The stadium flawlessly transitions from a football stadium into a baseball field, a hockey arena and a basketball environment. It’s a seamless look and it’s sexy to look at. This is truly a multi-purpose stadium and is going to be the crown of downtown Minneapolis, surpassing even the baseball temple that is Target Field, which is located directly down the road from the new Vikings stadium and is a minute train ride away.
They’ve got everything in this stadium, from being accessible via the downtown skyways system to concourses that promise to be wide open and spacious, even on a jam packed Sunday. Once this mecca is built, it’s a lock t grab a Super Bowl and don’t be surprised to see it snag another one and enter the regular rotation of Super Bowl host sites.
Minnesotans waited years to see what a new stadium would look like, and now that the schematics have been unveiled fans have reason to be even more excited than they were before. It’s truly a football temple and will be the crown jewel of Minnesota’s many glorious wonders.