Take the dome off and make the metrodome an outdoor stadium

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gophers2rosebowl

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This would solve all problems! just cut the rest of the crappy cheap dome off and make the metrodome the outdoor stadium viking fans want!
 

That would cost a lot of money and doesn't solve many problems with the stadium.
 

gophers2rosebowl said:
This would solve all problems! just cut the rest of the crappy cheap dome off and make the metrodome the outdoor stadium viking fans want!
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Since you've obviously put a lot of thought into this, where would the water go when it rained?
 

It wouldn't even work since the building is not designed to handle precipitation; no drainage. It's just not as simple as tearing the roof off and calling it good.
 

It would take a lot of retrofitting to turn the dome into an open-air stadium, it would cost more than putting a brand-new roof on there. The lights and speakers are mounted on the roof, so you would have to build new structures to support them. You would also have to install a drainage system, because the dome was not built with rain in mind.
 


It's not just a football stadium. There are too many ancillary events held there to just make it open air. Not to mention what it has hosted already, like the NCAA final four, super bowl, etc.
 

Unregistered User said:
It's not just a football stadium. There are too many ancillary events held there to just make it open air. Not to mention what it has hosted already, like the NCAA final four, super bowl, etc.
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You forgot to mention that it's a bland, boring piece of dung and the only tailgating spaces anywhere close to the stadium have been replaced with an artsy-fartsy theater.
 





I have seen this covered by sports facilities commission people before, and "just take the roof off the Metrodome" continues to be one of the more ill-informed comments that can be made in this sports market.

The costs of making the Metrodome and outdoor stadium are astronomical, if not impossible (drainage, composition of the concrete used, every electrical item in the building was designed for indoor, etc. etc. etc). And, just for the fun of it... let's say it could be done. Now you would have an outdated outdoor stadium that would need to be replaced instead of an outdated indoor stadium that would need to be replaced. All the same problems with revenue streams that make it a poor home for the NFL would remain... but now the facility couldn't hold other events, as it has done since its construction.

THIS is the reason why we elect people to represent us. If we could vote on everything that could possibly touch our taxes, we would have no parks, no public theaters, no stadiums, few roads, etc. Each time, people would be running to the voting booth armed with the kind of knowledge that spawned the OP in this thread. That is the whole point of a representative democracy.
 

This is beyond ignorant. They actually looked at this for the Twins long ago. It would have cost $100 million plus to make all of the changes. I'm guessing it would cost nearly as much now and would solve none of the Vikings issues.
 

Build the Vikings an open air stadium. With the money you would have spend on a retractable roof, rennovate the dome. Remove the speakers and lights from the roof, reduce upper deck seating and put them on the upper deck. Reduces the amount of energy needed to support the roof and reduces stress on the roof.
 

While the Vikings clearly need an outdoor stadium if they are ever to be anything more than a shameful collection of quitting, pathetic pansies, a roofless metrodome would be something like a fish bowl.
 



RodentRampage said:
Build the Vikings an open air stadium. With the money you would have spend on a retractable roof, rennovate the dome. Remove the speakers and lights from the roof, reduce upper deck seating and put them on the upper deck. Reduces the amount of energy needed to support the roof and reduces stress on the roof.
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A roof on the Vikings stadium would cost an extra $100-150 million versus open air. Making the amount of rennovations you are proposing would probably cost $100 million anyway, and there would be no Super Bowl and likely no Final Four's in a rennovated Dome. How does that make sense for the state?
 

RodentRampage said:
Build the Vikings an open air stadium. With the money you would have spend on a retractable roof, rennovate the dome. Remove the speakers and lights from the roof, reduce upper deck seating and put them on the upper deck. Reduces the amount of energy needed to support the roof and reduces stress on the roof.
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I would bet that the impact of the lights and speakers being supported by the roof in either stress on the roof or additional cost to keep it inflated is minamal at best.
 

The impact the lights and speakers being attached to the roof is that you have you have tons more to support by air pressure.
 

13 Lined Ground Squirrel said:
While the Vikings clearly need an outdoor stadium if they are ever to be anything more than a shameful collection of quitting, pathetic pansies, a roofless metrodome would be something like a fish bowl.
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Wrong . The vikings need nothing less than a covered stadium. No way the majority of their fans goes to a game in freezing weather even with a heated field. Maybe if they put a heater in every seat it could work to go without a roof but the cost of the roof would probably be less. Being a shameful collection of quitting, pathetic pansies has nothing to do with playing indoors.
 

RodentRampage said:
The impact the lights and speakers being attached to the roof is that you have you have tons more to support by air pressure.
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I understand your point, but move on. Those lights and speakers have been hanging on that roof for the last 28 years and until last Sunday most folks hadn't even thought about this. If it was really that big of a problem, it would have come up long ago. Chances are the same fans would be used to keep the Dome inflated whether they were there or not, and in any case it would probably take decades of utitlity savings to break even on the tens of millions of dollars making these changes would cost. The Metrodome's life expectancy, one way or the other is probably less then 10 years. Frankly, if I had any faith in the Legislature to act quickly, I'd say leave it down until the decide what to do. It would be foolish to spend $15 million on a new roof and then pass a stadium bill with the Dome site being used.
 

howeda7 said:
I understand your point, but move on. Those lights and speakers have been hanging on that roof for the last 28 years and until last Sunday most folks hadn't even thought about this. If it was really that big of a problem, it would have come up long ago. Chances are the same fans would be used to keep the Dome inflated whether they were there or not, and in any case it would probably take decades of utitlity savings to break even on the tens of millions of dollars making these changes would cost. The Metrodome's life expectancy, one way or the other is probably less then 10 years. Frankly, if I had any faith in the Legislature to act quickly, I'd say leave it down until the decide what to do. It would be foolish to spend $15 million on a new roof and then pass a stadium bill with the Dome site being used.
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But, but, but, but speakers and lights have weight! Who cares about the actual impact from a physics and archetictual standpoint.
 

They play outdoors in other cold locations. People would get used to it again.
 

I've seen the light! Increased weight on the roof couldn't possibly add to the stress in the roof! And if people weren't concerned about if before, it couldn't possibly be something to be concerned about. Nothing unforseen ever happens, after all.
 

Viking games account for just 10 events per year. I like the idea of final fours, super bowls, and all the other winter options to pull 70K Minnesotans together for an event... whatever that event might be. Having an open air stadium would work for the the Vikings alone but it would cross a lot of other options off the list that can't be held outdoors. Might as well have a retracting roof.

We Minnesotans have proven before that penny wise can be pound foolish. I am old enough to remember all the arguing over the Metrodome. The end result was a structure that was basically outdated when it opened. It was built in our no-frills way, right down to a horrific scoreboard and NO Air conditioning. Some of these short sighted cheapo things could be changed, others could not. The irony to me is the 'small thinking' that led to the Metrodome, is back in full force from people that are wondering how a big stadium can possibly be substandard after just 30 years.
 

CentralGopher said:
Wrong . The vikings need nothing less than a covered stadium. No way the majority of their fans goes to a game in freezing weather even with a heated field. Maybe if they put a heater in every seat it could work to go without a roof but the cost of the roof would probably be less.
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The game at TCF will be packed.

Games at Lambeau will continue to be packed.

Stop projecting your inadequate constitution onto the fanbase as a whole. You can hibernate indoors for six months while people made of sterner stuff attend real football games played in the elements.

CentralGopher said:
Being a shameful collection of quitting, pathetic pansies has nothing to do with playing indoors.
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Wrong again. As of last year, the Vikings were 8-30 in games played outdoors on natural grass in November or later since moving into the Metrodome in 1982 - and 3-18 in their last 21 such games. Indoor teams are soft.
 

RodentRampage said:
I've seen the light! Increased weight on the roof couldn't possibly add to the stress in the roof! And if people weren't concerned about if before, it couldn't possibly be something to be concerned about. Nothing unforseen ever happens, after all.
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It obviously adds stress to the roof, but compared to the weight of the roof and the design snow loads it's very, very small. Sure it makes a difference, but not worth doing what you propose. The lights and speakers didn't fail the roof.
 


RodentRampage said:
I've seen the light! Increased weight on the roof couldn't possibly add to the stress in the roof! And if people weren't concerned about if before, it couldn't possibly be something to be concerned about. Nothing unforseen ever happens, after all.
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The point is you haven't suddenly stumbled on to some major design flaw that no one else ever thought of! And the 'savings' from removing these items from the roof would be insignificant relative to the cost of the rennovations. What's not do to 'get' about that?
 

13 Lined Ground Squirrel said:
The game at TCF will be packed.

Games at Lambeau will continue to be packed.

Stop projecting your inadequate constitution onto the fanbase as a whole. You can hibernate indoors for six months while people made of sterner stuff attend real football games played in the elements.




Wrong again. As of last year, the Vikings were 8-30 in games played outdoors on natural grass in November or later since moving into the Metrodome in 1982 - and 3-18 in their last 21 such games. Indoor teams are soft.
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You are comparing the vikings fans and team to green bay fans and team? Now I know you are crazy.

There are outdoor teams that are soft too. Bills anyone?

The dumbest thing they could do is have an outdoor stadium for the vikings. It is fine for an occasional game but not in the long run.
 

Great topic. I love goin to vikes games at dome, cant.we find an engineering firm to widen concourse, retractable roof ??

It's gotta be doable
 

CentralGopher said:
You are comparing the vikings fans and team to green bay fans and team? Now I know you are crazy.

There are outdoor teams that are soft too. Bills anyone?

The dumbest thing they could do is have an outdoor stadium for the vikings. It is fine for an occasional game but not in the long run.[/QUOTE]

Bingo.................Go Cardinals
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Schnauzer said:
We Minnesotans have proven before that penny wise can be pound foolish. I am old enough to remember all the arguing over the Metrodome. The end result was a structure that was basically outdated when it opened. It was built in our no-frills way, right down to a horrific scoreboard and NO Air conditioning. Some of these short sighted cheapo things could be changed, others could not. The irony to me is the 'small thinking' that led to the Metrodome, is back in full force from people that are wondering how a big stadium can possibly be substandard after just 30 years.
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A-fricking-men!!!
 

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