MINNEAPOLIS -- U.S. Bank Stadium is Lester Bagley’s baby. But, after more than a dozen years of advocating for it in the Minnesota legislature and the actual construction of the stadium, the Vikings executive is ready to see his baby off to the real world.
He doesn’t have to wait much longer.
Bagley and construction leaders Monday led the media on a tour of the future home of the Minnesota Vikings, and much of the skeleton of the stadium is complete. With 375 days of construction left, some of the permanent black facade is up on the stadium’s east end, and crews raised the first part of the U.S. Bank sign Monday morning.
“Everytime I come here, there is something new and exciting here,” Bagley said, gesturing towards half-built concession stands in the main concourse. “It’s just amazing to see the progress.”
Much of the seating is ready to go -- if this were a replica of the Roman Coliseum. Michele Kelm-Helgen, chairwoman of the Minnesota Sports Facility Authority, said actual seats with backs would be installed on the graduated concrete terraces next month.
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Bagley said the team was ahead of schedule on ticket sales for the inaugural season, with about 40,000 season tickets sold, and 80 percent of luxury boxes and the like reserved.
The framework for both large Jumbotrons are in place, as are the pillars for the large, rotating glass doors facing downtown Minneapolis. Crews have started installing the south-facing ETFE roof -- a glass-like material that will be tinted to eliminate shadows on the playing field.
The installation of the scoreboards (December-January), the locker rooms (April) and the field (May) all lead up to the first Vikings preseason game in August 2016.
“It’ll be the end of a chapter,” Bagley said of the construction process. “But we’ll have a whole year to settle in and figure out how everything operates, and then we’ll have other events to worry about.”
The Vikings have been busy lobbying for national sporting events to book U.S. Bank Stadium. The NFL’s Super Bowl will be in the stadium in 2018, and U.S. Bank Stadium will host the NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball championship.
Bagley also said NCAA officials will tour the progress of construction next month, as Minnesota is a finalist to host the college football playoffs in 2020.
With those events coming up, Bagley said he won’t have much time to bask in U.S. Bank Stadium’s completion.
“I’ll still be plenty busy,” he said with a chuckle.
