Vikings stadium project keeping it local

As progress with the new Vikings stadium continues, HKS architects announced 18 Minnesota companies have been hired as part of the construction/planning process.

When the Minnesota State Legislature came up with the needed votes to approve a new Vikings stadium, one of the primary messages sent to the Vikings and the firm they would hire to be the general contractor on the project was that the state was fully expecting several of the subcontracting jobs to go to Minnesota firms.

The Dallas-based architectural firm of HKS Inc. announced Friday that 18 Minnesota companies had been hired as project subcontractors. Four Minneapolis-based firms – Studio Hive/Studio Five, Lawal Scott Erickson Architects Inc. and Vikings Stadium Consortium – were hired to serve as associate architects on the project.

Minnesota firms hired to conduct civil engineering include EVS of Eden Prairie, Thorp Pellinson Olson Inc. of Eden Prairie, Pierce Pini of Blaine, MRFA Inc. of Plymouth, Greenway Consulting of St. Paul and Elliott Hendrickson Inc. of Minnetonka.

Other firms announced Friday as part of the stadium construction team included structural consultants Chase Engineering of New Prague and Palanisami & Associates of New Hope. Hired to sub-contract the mechanical, electrical and plumbing for the project were Coastwise Fireguard of Webster, Elert & Associates of Stillwater, M-P Consultants of Minneapolis and Technology Management Corp. of Shorewood.

Other hirings included Kansas-based Ed Roether Consulting (along with Roberta Juarez of Minneapolis) to deal with accessibility issues, Osland and Associates of Minneapolis as the land and Elevator Advisory Group of Apple Valley to deal with elevator/escalator installation.

There is something to be said about the contribution the state made to the Vikings stadium project, but, with each of these firms and the local companies that they will in turn hire to provide them with the materials and manpower needed to complete the project, it seems clear that the Vikings stadium is going to be a financial boon for Minnesota businesses long before the stadium itself opens for business.

SATURDAY NOTES

There is no sign of Chris Kluwe’s presence in political/activist debates slowing down. After appearing on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report two weeks ago, he was a guest on Ellen, a daytime talk show hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres. It was also announced this week that Kluwe is going to author a book of uncensored essays that will be released this summer. Given some of the foul language that Kluwe has used to gain his current level of notoriety, one can only assume the book won’t exactly be kid-friendly, but he’s making the most out of his 15 minutes (or months) of activism fame.

At a time when there is the expectation of significant turnaround in fortunes of NFL teams from one year to the next, three of the final four teams from last year’s postseason remain in the Super Bowl hunt. The Patriots and Ravens will play a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship Game and the 49ers are in the NFC title game for the second straight year. The only team missing from the final four is the defending champion New York Giants.

---

John Holler has been writing about the Vikings for more than a decade for Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

---