Free Agents to Visit New Stadium Preview Center
With the new stadium now 45% complete, the Vikings have an ace in the hole both now and in the coming years when it comes to free agents. The team is escorting all incoming free agents through the New Stadium Preview Center, giving them an opportunity to overlook the bustling stadium construction site and get a taste of the future game day environment in what could be their new home beginning in 2016.
If you haven't yet scheduled your tour of the interactive space, do so here.
"Forget Spring: Vikings Stadium Preps for Snowfall"
Since the stadium design unveiling in May 2013, Vikings fans have often asked us what will happen to any snow and ice that might accumulate on the roof of the new facility. If you remember, the stadium's west prow will reach 272 feet from the ground and slope to 205 feet high on the east; combine that east to west slope with the pitched ETFE and hard deck surfaces extending from the north and south, and you have a design that will allow snow to slide off the roof, preventing heavy snow loads from accumulating throughout the year and ensuring fans have a clear view to the sky above. The question, however, becomes where that snow ends up. We have previously explained the gutter and catch-basin system that will extend around the entire roof in order to prevent snow and ice from falling on fans below, and according to Brian Johnson of Finance & Commerce, we are just weeks away from seeing components of the system being installed by construction crews.
Johnson says Apple Valley-based Uponor North America and St. Paul-based Harris Mechanical have combined forces to build and install the snow melt system, which Johnson says will include six basins ranging in size from about five feet to 40 feet wide, depending on their location. The basins will be built into the structure and won't be visible to stadium users. According to representatives from Uponor, the basins will be capable of holding an entire season's worth of snow but that won't be necessary because the system will melt any snowfall "within a couple of days."
Read Johnson's entire story here.
Preview Center Celebrates One-Year Anniversary
On March 4, the Vikings and Van Wagner celebrated the official one-year anniversary of the New Stadium Preview Center's opening and the beginning of the seat-selection process. And what a year it has been.
In the first 365 days, Vikings fans committed to more than 33,300 seats in the new stadium. Approximately 70% of 2013 Mall of America Field Season Ticket Members have made the transition to the new stadium, with nearly 800 accounts upgrading from upper level seats at Mall of America Field to lower level and Club seats in the new building.
The 7,500-square foot interactive Preview Center has hosted more than 8,500 appointments and nearly 34,000 people in the first year alone. Fans who have joined the new stadium waitlist are currently arranging appointments to **tour the space***and will begin selecting their seats as early as March 16. The process will open to the general public around the 2015 NFL Draft, so the clock is ticking on ensuring seat priority. Fans who **purchase 2015 season tickets** *at TCF Bank Stadium or **join the new stadium waitlist** today will secure their place in line.
View the final images of the new Vikings stadium showing the Vikings' locker room, concourses and other shots. For more visit newminnesotastadium.com.
Just Two Weeks Remain to Submit Bios and Samples for Stadium Art
Last January the Vikings announced a partnership to acquire local artwork for the new stadium. Together with Sports and the Arts, who has collaborated on similar art projects with Levi's Stadium, Marlins Park and the new Yankee Stadium, will work with the Vikings to find museum-quality work from local artists that will be displayed throughout the new stadium. The work will showcase Vikings history, Minnesota sports history and other regional history. Interested artists can submit a short bio, sample images of artistic pieces indicating the style of their work and any other relevant information via PDF to art@newminnesotastadium.com, but time is running out. Submissions will only be accepted until March 31, 2015, and artists will be notified of their acceptance in the summer of 2015.
For all of the latest information on the new stadium, check out***newminnesotastadium.com***. For future notifications, join the***new stadium waiting list***.
