New Vikings Stadium

It's so hard to believe that a new Minnesota Vikings stadium is a reality and no longer a hoped for proposition. Ground breaking is still many months away. Maybe even a year away. There's still a ton of work to do to even get to the point of needing a shovel. The long wait isn't just for the snow to melt and the ground to thaw. There might be some of that. It is Minnesota after all. There's just a lot of work. A lot of decisions. Never having built a stadium, I'd imagine that this is the fun work. Especially compared to the usually fruitless, frustrating work of the past decade spent dealing with political clowns. The Vikings owners, the Wilf family, are developers. While not moonlighting as owners of an NFL team, the Wilfs build things, develop land. It's what they do. It's what they know. They want the best that their money can buy. Since they are footing the bill on nearly half of the $975 million project they want it done right. The Metrodome was built on the cheap nearly thirty years ago. That won't happen this time. Last Thursday, five architecture firms presented the resumes and ideas to gain the 30 to 50 million dollar job. Here are the contestants and some of their work:

-HKS Inc. of Dallas-designed NFL stadiums for the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts
-Ewing Cole-a Philadelphia based firm that drew up the plans for the $1.6 billion MetLife Stadium
-HNTB Corp of Kansas City-architect of the $1.2 billion stadium being built for the San Francisco 49ers
-AECOM-a Los Angeles firm that designed the Seattle Seahawks stadium
-Populous-a Kansas City based architect that designed the Twins' Target Field, Xcel Energy Center in
                 St. Paul and University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium

The Wilfs have long admired the Colts stadium so my guess would be that HKS would be the front runner. Populous would certainly bring some Minnesota sports facilities symmetry. I just don't know if they have much experience with large domed facilities. There's also the continued possibility that the Wilfs will spring for a retractable roof.  That would certainly impact the decision. That decision could come as soon as the Sept. 14 meeting of the new Minneapolis stadium authority. I can't wait to see the plans and hear of all of the amenities. All stadium talk is fun stuff now. That is such a welcome change.