HKS associate principal Mark Williams told attendees at the Stadium Managers Association conference that the firm expects to unveil its design for a reconstructed Metrodome in Minneapolis in the next 30 to 60 days. Until that time, HKS is keeping its work under wraps.
Williams, part of a panel of four sports architects discussing their current big league stadium projects, flashed an image on a projection screen of Minnesota folk legends Paul Bunyan and Babe the Purple Ox (re-tinted in a nod to the Vikings), accompanied by the teaser “Metrodome Next.”
The Minnesota Vikings and the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, the team’s public landlord at the dome, selected HKS to plan a major rebuild of the 27-year-old facility. Hometown builder Mortenson will construct it.
Bill Lester, the commission’s executive director, stopped short when asked about the possibility of a public announcement on the design in the next two months, realizing the tremendous amount of lobbying for public money that lies ahead.
The commission and Vikings have teamed up in an effort to put a stadium redevelopment package before the Minnesota Legislature during its spring session, with the slim hope that state lawmakers will approve taxpayer dollars for the project. The state faces a $5 billion deficit in 2009, and some Minnesota politicians have already told local reporters there is absolutely no chance the Vikings will muster any support this year.
Keeping the cost of the Metrodome
redevelopment to less than $954M
has been a challenge for designers.
Team owner Zygi Wilf has committed to paying about one-third of the building costs.
“At this point, they are saying, ‘Just give us the facts,’” Lester said. “We don’t want to get sideways with the legislature.”
The commission’s next meeting is March 19, and Lester said there is no guarantee the stadium will be discussed.
Williams and Lester agreed on one thing: The greatest challenge to date has been the struggle to keep the cost of a redeveloped Metrodome under $954 million.
Ellerbe Becket came up with that number in 2008 after completing a study for planning an improved NFL stadium in the Twin Cities containing all the amenities the Vikings require to stay competitive in revenue production.
“Mortenson is pricing it, and hopefully it will be less than that,” Williams said.
Said Lester: “It’s tough; every time we meet [with HKS], something gets added in.”
The Vikings’ current lease at the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season.
A shared stadium between
Al Davis’ Raiders (top) and John
and Denise DeBartolo
York’s 49ers can work,
new Meadowlands
Stadium executive
Mark Lamping said.
JOIN THE CLUB: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has suggested that Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis and the San Francisco 49ers’ York family consider building a joint-use stadium, given the difficulty that California’s fragile economic environment creates in getting public funding.
Mark Lamping, attending his first SMA conference after being named president and CEO of the new Meadowlands stadium last year, knows a shared venue can work. New York’s Jets and Giants are building a $1.7 billion stadium together after sharing Giants Stadium for more than two decades.
The project was not without its share of conflicts, as both clubs stood their ground on many aspects of facility development.
“If you can get through some of the fundamental hurdles up front [including the design of the facility], like the Jets and Giants were able to, then there’s no question it’s the right thing to do,” Lamping said.
“But you need to have two ownership groups that have the ability to really forge a partnership,” Lamping added. “A lot of credit goes to the owners of the Jets and Giants for being able to do that. Once you get through that, the process is a lot easier than you might think.”
The two New York teams did have the advantage of already sharing a facility in New Jersey, “so at least they were able to identify what the issues were a lot easier than others might be able to,” Lamping said.
SEAT YOURSELF: Talking to two seating suppliers, you wouldn’t know the economy has taken a big turn for the worse. Bruce Cohen and Steve Luttazi, executives with Irwin Seating and Clarin, respectively, both said business is good for their companies early in 2009.
Last month, Irwin was awarded the contract to provide fixed and telescopic seating at the 22,000-seat Louisville, Ky., arena opening in 2010, a deal Cohen valued at $4 million to $5 million.
That comes after Irwin completed the final touches for installing seats at Citi Field and new Yankee Stadium in New York. Irwin also got seating deals for the Gophers’ and Twins’ new facilities in Minneapolis.
“We have had a good run, and the arena side remains strong,” Cohen said. “We still have some good projects out there. Orlando and Pittsburgh both open in 2010. Those contracts have not been awarded.”
Clarin, specializing in portable chairs, got an order shortly before Christmas for 10,000 seats to be produced and delivered to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in time for the ACC men’s basketball tournament next month. The deal is worth about $750,000, Luttazi said.
The midsize-arena market, with 5,000- to 15,000-seat buildings opening this year and next in Wichita, Kan.; Toledo, Ohio; Independence, Mo.; and Cedar Park, Texas, is providing the most opportunities, Luttazi said.
Luttazi has noticed one small sign of the downturn based on a few calls he received from existing clients asking how they can squeeze more life out of their existing portables without having to invest capital in new chairs.
“More facilities are paying attention to what they already have in their inventory, and steam cleaning their seats rather than buying new,” Luttazi said.
“It is unusual. It’s a lot of work, and for us, it’s not good,” he said. “In Cleveland, [Quicken Loans Arena executive] Pat Fitzgerald steam cleans his chairs from top to bottom, and they look brand new.”
RICK’S RAYS: Rick Nafe, vice president of operations for the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, never thought he would see the day when he could proudly say his venue was home to the American League’s defending champions.
Before he moved to St. Petersburg in 1996, Nafe spent 17 years with the Tampa Sports Authority, the governing body for old Tampa Stadium, where the Buccaneers had the worst won-loss percentage in all of sports. “Only the Christians in Rome had a worse year,” he said.
“In year 18, losing 12 to 14 games a year wasn’t enough,” Nafe said. “I decided to work for another expansion team who would go on to lose 100 games.”
That’s all ancient history now that the Rays field one of the best young teams in baseball, a squad many baseball pundits predict will again be a playoff factor.
In fact, Nafe and Lester, the longtime operator at the Metrodome, claim to be the only two stadium managers within the SMA who have managed facilities playing host to a Super Bowl, Final Four and World Series. It just took Nafe a little longer to join Lester on that hallowed ground.
