The future home of Minnesota United FC is taking shape, as the Allianz Field construction process is unfolding at a steady pace.
The 20,000-seat stadium has been planned for a 2019 opening, and is expected to anchor a larger redevelopment project in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood. Allianz Field is currently on pace to be ready for the 2019 MLS season, as it is 75% complete and is expected to achieve substantial completion by February 22.
Construction crews have been at work over the busy summer months, and many signs of what Allianz Field will look like when it opens are taking shape. More from the Star Tribune:
Thanks to workers logging 225,000 hours over a productive summer, the stadium is 75 percent complete, said Greg Huber of Mortenson Construction.
Sixty percent of the stadium’s seats have been installed. Seventy percent of the stadium’s fabric sheathing panels — like giant gray shrink wrap clinging to outer walls — are up. LED lighting, for the field and behind the sheathing, is in. So too is the giant scoreboard at the north end, right above the supporters’ section, where an enormous loon’s head is being painted and where 2,800 of the team’s most die-hard fans will bounce around all game.
Just this summer, Huber said, workers completed 25 percent of a stadium the team is calling unique in the world.
“There’s really nothing like it in the world,” said Bruce Miller of Populous, the stadium architect.
MLS matches for United will be its primary purpose, but Allianz Field could be used for additional events, including other soccer contests and perhaps concerts. United has spent the past few years planning the soccer-specific stadium, while hosting home matches at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium for the 2017 and 2018 seasons–a move that gives the club a venue until the new facility opens.
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