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The 2013 season marks the Vikings 31st and
possibly last season at the Metrodome, as
construction of the team's new stadium will lead to
the demolition of their current home. Throughout the 1970s, the Vikings were
one of the best teams in NFL and regularly sold out the 48,000
seat Metropolitan Stadium. Due to the deteriorating condition of
Metropolitan Stadium, the Vikings began discussing building a new
stadium in 1971. Talk of a new stadium for the Vikings continued
throughout the decade. The Metropolitan Sports Facilities
Commission was formed in 1977 and stadium politics dominated the
Minnesota State Legislature the same year. Two years later in 1979,
a new dome stadium was approved to be built in downtown
Minneapolis. On December 20, 1979, construction began on the
multipurpose dome stadium. A dome multipurpose stadium was chosen
because of the extreme cold and wintertime weather. Named after
former Vice President, Hubert H. Humphrey, the H.H.H. Metrodome,
was completed in just over two years. The Minnesota Twins (MLB)
played the first game ever at the Metrodome on April 6, 1982.
Over
64,000 seats in two tiers circle the entire field when the
Metrodome is in football configuration. When the Vikings shared
the Metrodome with the Twins, it was one of the easiest stadium to
be converted from baseball to football. The entire process only
takes around four hours. A section of 7,600 retractable seats
formed the 23 foot high right field wall during a baseball game.
However, theses seats are pulled out, allowing the capacity to be
increased during football games. The dome roof consists of over
ten acres of Teflon-coated fiberglass. It is the only
air-supported dome and fans enter the park through revolving doors
that prevents the release of the air and keeps the dome
upright. In order to remain inflated, the roof requires 250,000 cubic feet of air pressure per
minute. The roof has snow melting ducts to
prevent a collapse.
However, since its opening the roof has collapsed four times due
to heavy snow, the most recent in December 2010. This caused the Vikings/Giants
NFL game to be postponed and moved to Detroit and the Vikings final
home game of the season to be moved to TCF Bank Stadium, home of
the Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA). This game was the
Vikings first home game outdoors since playing at Metropolitan
Stadium in 1981. The roof has since been replaced. Since its opening in 1982, there
have been several changes to the Metrodome. They include
LED Boards, new color replay screens, a new
Plaza outside the stadium, new rows of seats behind home plate for
baseball, new Terrace Suite, re-construction of all concession
stands and new concourse televisions. After the 2003 season,
the Astroturf field was removed and replaced with Fieldturf. In
2010 the Minnesota Twins moved into Target Field
leaving the Vikings as the primary tenant of the
Metrodome. In 2012 the team was able to secure
funding to construct a new $975 million stadium
adjacent to the Metrodome. Construction will force
the Metrodome to be demolished forcing the Vikings
to play at TCF Bank Stadium (home of the Minnesota
Golden Gophers) during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
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