Vikes Stadium Construction Costs Greater Than Expected
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A price tag of $975 million won't be enough to cover building the new Vikings stadium the way the team wants it. The team and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority may have to cut back some desired perks to stay within budget.
Estimates from contractors to build everything on the stadium wish list are coming in millions of dollars past what was expected.
The Wilfs and the team put up an extra $13 million in hope of getting everything they want built. It's unclear if they will get that money back if costs rise even further.
There is also a $62 million contingency fund the team and sports facilities authority could dig into once it's clear exactly how much everything will cost.
Some areas on the chopping block include a parking structure and skyway links around the stadium, and video boards.
A big focus is accessibility and movability within the stadium, and so two elevators and an escalator are on top of the list to be put back in the plan.
The team hopes to get some concrete numbers on costs in early November. Then they can decide what needs to stay and what needs to go.
When Target Field was built, there were similar issues with construction costs, and they had to make some cutbacks as well.
