Vikings.com
By: Aj Mansour | KFAN.com
@AjMansourKFAN
Minneapolis, MN - The Minnesota Vikings have announced that the Minneapolis Sports Facilities Commission has named HKS Sports and Entertainment Group to design the new Vikings stadium. Most recently, HKS has designed Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN and Cowboys Stadium outside of Dallas, TX.
"We collectively selected HKS because they have exceptional qualifications and offered the most unique approach. They have designed world-class stadiums and they understand how to create successful multipurpose stadiums," said MSFA Chair Michele Kelm-Helgen. "They have exceptional experience in roof design which really set them apart from the other firms. They consistently raise the design bar on every project they are involved in."
Vikings president and co-owner Mark Wilf joined Paul Allen and KFAN Friday morning and shared that HKS will also work hand-in-hand with local architectural firms to complete the design process. According to Vikings.com, HKS has pledged to work with a local architectural firm for a portion of the design and has committed to hiring 19% targeted businesses– 11% minority and 8% women-owned firms for portions of the contract. The contract is for design services and is in the amount of $34 million, which includes fees for subcontractors.
"[The new stadium] gives the fans an experience that's unique and something different than what they can get in their homes," Wilf told KFAN. "[HKS] showed the kind of creativity and vision that we think is going to match up well and fit this market."
"We are excited to begin work on the new multipurpose stadium. We learned a lot from building the Dallas and Indianapolis stadiums and we look forward to leveraging our experience in the design for the Minnesota Vikings," said Brian Trubey of HKS. "Our design approach is: Listen, Innovate and Deliver. We are excited to begin our process with the people of Minnesota. We will soon have a local architecture firm as a partner, and are excited to hire targeted businesses to help with our design work."
Now that the architect has been selected, discussions surrounding the features of the stadium can begin. One feature the team is still trying to fit into the budget is some sort of "retractable feature." Conceptual design images are said to be released sometime in January but meetings will begin October 15th kicking off the design process.
Aj Mansour covers Minnesota Sports for KFAN.com. Feel free to leave comments and questions regarding this post in the space provided below. For Vikings' updates and breaking Vikings' news, follow Aj on Twitter. @AjMansourKFAN
"It gives the fans an experience that's unique and something different than what they can get in their homes...they showed the kind of creativity and vision that we think is going to match up well and fit this market..." Mark Wilf
