Viking's Stadium Design & Construction (Minneapolis: hotel, wedding, calculated)

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

We're talking about almost a billion dollars.

The Twin Cities isn't as lacking as many other areas of the country, but maybe the money could be used to provide scholarships for any student in the state that can maintain a B average in high school ... like the HOPE scholorship does here in Georgia? You know, investment in Minnesota's human capital?

Maybe it could be used towards the light rail network that is slowly being built in the Twin Cities?

I'm sure there are hundreds of worthwhile projects. What is more important to you than the NFL? Surely there's something...?

Building a Billion $ football stadium seems like such a tremendous waste when there are huge areas of the country where people are having a hard time just making a living because jobs have dried up. Yes, I realize entertainment is important to many, but .... a billion dollars?

I really don't get it.

It's not a billion dollars

The project is $975 million, $477 coming from the Minnesota Vikings. A private entity.
The state is paying $348 million from Electronic Pull-tabs and bingo. the Minnesota State Lottery already funds billions of dollars to Wildlife in Minnesota.
The remaining $150 million is coming from and already exsisting MPLS sales & hospitality tax.

So, unless you gamble or spend a lot of time staying in hotels downtown MPLS, then the burden to you is nothing.

LoL at the bolded part. That's life buddy. AKA that's America buddy. I was in Las Vegas for the opening of the Wynn Casino and Hotel. It was weird to see because there was also hundreds of homeless people wandering around. So here we are opening this billion dollar PRIVATE investment, and seeing people living on the street.

That's life, it happens everyday.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by knke0204

It's not a billion dollars

The project is $975 million, $477 coming from the Minnesota Vikings. A private entity.
The state is paying $348 million from Electronic Pull-tabs and bingo. the Minnesota State Lottery already funds billions of dollars to Wildlife in Minnesota.
The remaining $150 million is coming from and already exsisting MPLS sales & hospitality tax.

So, unless you gamble or spend a lot of time staying in hotels downtown MPLS, then the burden to you is nothing.

My questioning of the expense has little to do with my personal involvement. I live 1000 miles away now, remember?

LoL at the bolded part. That's life buddy. AKA that's America buddy. I was in Las Vegas for the opening of the Wynn Casino and Hotel. It was weird to see because there was also hundreds of homeless people wandering around. So here we are opening this billion dollar PRIVATE investment, and seeing people living on the street.

That's life, it happens everyday.

Yup, and it's one of the reasons why many of my European coworkers have a hard time understanding this country and its ... interesting ... priority set. Placating business seems more important to the US government than supporting the citizenry these days...

[Ghengis]

HOK out of Dallas gets picked for stadium design, their experience with retractables in Dallas and Indianapolis likely played a factor in selection.

Dallas firm to design Viking Stadium; team says 'retractable feature' a goal | StarTribune.com

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

My questioning of the expense has little to do with my personal involvement. I live 1000 miles away now, remember?



Yup, and it's one of the reasons why many of my European coworkers have a hard time understanding this country and its ... interesting ... priority set. Placating business seems more important to the US government than supporting the citizenry these days...

Yeah, I would agree, but to me I feel like it's absolutely out of my control.
And thats the problem with our government. It's supposed to be for the people by the people, but it's not. It's not even a democracy in every sense of the word.

It is a joke. I would agree that the private sector should step up a little and truely support the trickle down effect, because then that way our country wouldn't be slipping in the things that matter - like education, health care, life expectantcy, etc.

[wherespankakehouse?]

Regarding the thread topic, it's a little disappointing that there seems to be some wavering on the viability of a retractable roof (e.g. fixed roof, but a retractable window wall).

Wiki has a price tag of $777M (adj. 2012) on Lucas Oil. Lucas has both a partially retractable roof and the retractable skyline window wall. I'm not quite sure why the Vikings stadium couldn't have both features for $975. Maybe this is attributable to a larger footprint, parking garages, light rail station, skyway connection(?), not to mention the cost of steel. Hopefully it's a case of under-promise and over-deliver.

I still think the emphasis should be on a retractable roof that opens as wide as the budget will allow. If I'm upper deck season ticket guy, I would be a lot more interested in a stadium that will put the sun on my back for those Jaguar and 49er games than a sliding patio door. For the deserved accolades of Lucas Oil, I hate the way the mostly fiixed roof blots out the sun. It really carved the field up in to light and darkness in week 2.

With that said, it's a beautiful skyline and it makes complete sense that a massive window bank (retractable or not) should frame it. I can't think of another downtown with two major league facilities framing the skyline from opposing directions. Come on Ziggy, let's do something truly special. Fully retractable roof, massive retractable wall, full drainage, hot tub suites, heated seats, fire pits.

[Ghengis]

HKS presented the following images as conceptual ideas as part of their design bid. While neither are likely to be built, it demonstrates the ability to present us with something more than a large barn-like structure with a big sliding door...

http://www.twincities.com/portlet/ar...shipId=4679831

http://www.twincities.com/portlet/ar...shipId=4679830

Minnesota Vikings stadium architect chosen - TwinCities.com

[golfgal]

Ok--those are COOL!

[knke0204]

Why not have it look like this?
I don't really like those early examples.

[golfgal]

Lucal Oil Stadium looks more like a train station then a sports area.

[Ghengis]

we already got one of those barns over at the U