Photo by Jim Robins.

The real attraction, of course, is the new stadium, Designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sport) and built by local firm Mortenson, the $285-million facility is reminiscent of Memorial Stadium, but not a slavish imitation. The reddish brickwork is of the same sort as Memorial Stadium (as well as neighboring Williams Arena and Mariucci Arena) and both sat close to 57,000, but that’s really where any similarities end. TCF Bank Stadium isn’t a true horseshoe, but it does feature one open end looking out onto downtown Minneapolis, an area sure to be closed off if the stadium is ever expanded.

Photo by Jim Robins.

TCF Bank Stadium features all the standard amenities found in sports facilities today. Open concourses intersecting the seating bowl and at the top level provide views of the field as well as the local skyline; from the top concourse you can see most of campus, the surrounding Minneapolis neighborhood and most of the downtown Minneapolis skyline. Seating is mostly theater-style seats, but there are bleachers in the end zone. Built exclusively for football, the bowl featuring brickwork in front of the seating and a FieldTurf field. (Yes, we would have preferred grass as well.)

NEXT PAGE: Some more first impressions

Article Index

Page 1: Overview

Page 2: Why the Metrodome sucks

Page 3: The specifics 

Page 4: Some more first impressions