The Daily Reporter – WI Construction News & Bids Wisconsin's Construction Authority
By Brian Johnson
Dolan Media Newswires
Authority chairwoman
expects stadium design in May
Minneapolis — A design for the new Vikings stadium will be unveiled next month.
Michele Kelm-Helgen, the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority chairwoman, said the design likely will be presented during a special session ahead of the next scheduled meeting May 17. She said design options still are being evaluated, including retractable wall, window and roof features.
“All those features are still in play. They are being priced, they are being looked at, they are being balanced against all sorts of other things,” she said.
“We are hopeful that we can have a retractable feature in the final design,” said Lester Bagley, vice president of public affairs and stadium development for the Vikings.
– Dolan Media Newswires
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority is putting out a call to parking consultants to help meet the requirements of the new $975 million Vikings stadium.
The authority has authorized a request for proposals for “a qualified parking consultant to assure that the facility design complies with the NFL guidelines and provides an acceptable experience” for fans.
The stadium law says the downtown Minneapolis stadium must have 2,000 parking spaces within a block, connected by skyway or tunnel to the stadium. It also requires another 500 parking spaces within two blocks of the stadium with a dedicated walkway on game days.
“We had a lot of people proposing different thoughts and ideas about various parcels and what could be done, as far as people building ramps and operating them for us,” said Michele Kelm-Helgen, the authority’s chairwoman. “So we thought, ‘We’ll put out an RFP.’”
Steve Maki, director of facilities and engineering for the authority, said parking development can be “a complicated deal as we look at all the various options out there.”
An authority memorandum says it will consider “a wide range of proposals” to meet the parking requirements, but it prefers proposals that “enhance the integration of the stadium and stadium infrastructure” with the downtown area.
The parking might be offered in conjunction with a separate residential or commercial development, the memorandum said.
Kelm-Helgen said a number of factors come into play as it relates to parking, including the plaza design — whether there’s a north-south version or an east-west version — and what happens with other development in the area.
“Obviously, if parking has to be connected by skyway or walkways or tunnels, it limits to a certain extent the different opportunities,” Kelm-Helgen said. “We will just see what’s there.”
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