Weather conditions damaged zinc panels on the west side of U.S. Bank Stadium, with some panels loosening and another collapsing.
The home of the Minnesota Vikings contains thousands of zinc panels along its exterior, including the area under the U.S. Bank Stadium logo. Over final stretch of construction this past summer, the panels became a matter of concern, when a storm caused several to loosen.
The panels were reinforced at the time, but weather came into play again earlier this week, causing damage to several of the panels along U.S. Bank Stadium’s west side. While some were loosened as a result of the weather conditions, one fell to the ground completely. More from the Star Tribune:
“Extreme weather and high winds” caused panels to “partially disengage,” according to a statement from the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA). But one panel fell to the ground in the hours after midnight Monday.
Jenn Hathaway, MSFA spokeswoman, said in a statement that no one was injured. “We are awaiting a recommendation regarding next steps to permanently resolve this issue,” she said.
Representatives from contractor M.A. Mortenson and subcontractor McGrath, who installed the panels, arrived at the stadium Monday morning to investigate the damage and a portion of plaza was cordoned off. By late Tuesday afternoon, workers used a crane to get to the damage and assess it up close.
While the stadium was under construction, the Star Tribune installed a camera facing the western wall of the building that takes photographs every half hour. Photographs from the camera, which remains in place, showed the panels intact at 2:30 a.m. and gone or loose by 3:30 a.m. Monday, the day after an extremely wet and windy Christmas Day.