Vikings Renovations to TCF Bank Stadium have Begun

Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

For the next two seasons, the Vikings will move to TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota while their new stadium is built at the site of the Metrodome.

Today, the process of getting the stadium ready to house a professional football team begun.

Now that the Gophers have had their spring football game, the entire football field will be torn up by Friday, according to the TCF Bank Stadium Twitter account. The turf needs to be removed in order to install a heating system underneath, and the artificial turf will also be replaced.

The new heated field “will ensure a safe playing surface” according to the Vikings public relations crew.

Most of the renovations are designed to prevent damage to the building when the Vikings play home games late in the season in December, and (knock on wood) January. Since TCF Bank Stadium was designed for a college team, it has been largely inactive after November every year of its existence.

The cost of these renovations was budgeted into all the funds for the Vikings new stadium. The value of the upgrades is estimated to be around $6.6 million.

Other upgrades at the stadium will include increased storage space, additional heating around the stadium, and accommodations for bigger NFL media contingents.

The Vikings will also upgrade the concession stands on the concourses and add enough sitting for approximately 2,000 fans in the 50,805-seat stadium.

Of course, these renovations all sound nice now, but once the Vikings move to their new home in 2016, it’s unlikely anyone will ever look back.