What's The Vikings Stadium Timeline?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Even after Gov. Mark Dayton signs the Vikings stadium deal, there's still a lot to get done before the first snap at the new stadium.
In the meantime, the team will still play most of its home games at the Metrodome.
"It's historic, it's old, we love it, but it needs to be changed," said fan Erica Flanagan.
Looking at the artist renderings, fans want to be out of the old and into the new.
"We have one of the worst game day experiences in the NFL," said Cory Merrifield with SavetheVikes.org. "Now we'll have a state-of-the-art facility."
However, to get there will take some time.
Dayton must appoint a new sports commission in 30 days and the new commission will make its transition within 90 days. Then the commission, team, city and state must agree on the next steps.
The design and architectural phase could take a year, and then it's onto construction.
"We're looking at a 20 to 22 month construction period," said Ted Mondale, chair of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. "We don't have time to sit around."
The new stadium is expected to hold 65,000 seats, 150 suites and 7,500 club seats. A retractable roof may still be an option, but only if the team agrees to pay for it.
If you're wondering what the new stadium might look like, you can look to Indianapolis. During the debate, many said it will have a feel like Lucas Oil Stadium.
"This is an event," Mondale said. "This is the type of thing you drive from North Dakota, and pay $100 a ticket to go see, and have the best day of the year. And nothing less than that should be the goal."
The stadium is going to be much bigger than our current Metrodome, which will actually make construction easier. Work can be done on and around the dome, all while building the new stadium -- and that will take two years.
The Vikings would play at TCF Bank Stadium in the third and final year of construction, and the U of M reached an agreement to make that happen.
The new stadium would be completed by 2016.
Mayor R.T. Rybak told reporters today that the construction at the Metrodome site isn't the only positive for the city. The Target Center will also get an upgrade once the city approves the deal.
