Minnesota Vikings ready to move in to U.S. Bank Stadium
By Adam Carlson
It has been a long two years, but U.S. Bank Stadium is now ready for the Minnesota Vikings to start moving in to prepare for the 2016 NFL regular season.
It’s that time. U.S. Bank Stadium has officially received its certificate of occupancy from the City of Minneapolis according to Scout.com and the Minnesota Vikings can start moving into their new home for the 2016 National Football League season.
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The last two years, the Vikings have played their home games at The Gopher Hole at TCF Bank Stadium, where the University of Minnesota play their games. As many folks will remember, especially those who went to some of those late year games, TCF Bank Stadium is an open-air stadium, and things got very cold for everyone in attendance.
Thankfully, Friday’s certification makes those cold weather games a thing of the past. Well, at least inside U.S. Bank Stadium, at least. Vikings owner/president Mark Wilf praised the workers and companies for all the time and effort they put into finishing the project a month and a half ahead of schedule.
"“Today’s early milestone is a testament of true collaboration by thousands of construction workers, hundreds of Minnesota-based businesses, the MSFA, Mortenson, HKS and the Vikings,. With the incredible work shown by so many individuals, we are growing closer to opening the future home for Vikings football and showcasing the unprecedented game day experience U.S. Bank Stadium will provide.”"
Meanwhile, Mortenson Construction’s ability to get the stadium ready for the team to move in so early is a huge accomplishment. According to a recent release, John Wood, the Senior Vice President of Mortenson Construction, is enjoying his team’s achievement.
"“We are extremely pleased to reach this important milestone ahead of schedule and look forward to the early completion of the stadium in the near future, It’s been exciting to see the project progress so well and we are grateful to all the exceptional craftworkers and project partners who have enabled us to get to this point. We will be handing over the keys to this amazing new stadium to the MSFA (Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority) very soon.”"
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It will be exciting to watch the Minnesota Vikings in their new home. After playing in the run-down Metrodome and then spending two years in a college stadium, having a beautiful new billion-dollar place for this team to showcase their play could be just what Minnesota needs to help them push through to the next level.