The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) has proposed that an extensive study be carried out at US Bank Stadium to ensure the venue’s glass structure does not present a risk to migrating birds.
The future home of NFL American football franchise the Minnesota Vikings is scheduled to open next week. The venue features 200,000 square feet of glass facades, something environmentalists have repeatedly expressed concerns over while construction has been ongoing.
Environmentalists have claimed that birds may become confused by the reflective nature of the stadium’s structure.
The MSFA has taken the issue seriously, and has proposed a three-year, $300,000 (€270,000) study to discern whether the facades pose any threat to birds’ lives.
The Star Tribune newspaper reported that the MSFA will discuss the matter at a meeting tomorrow (Friday). The MSFA’s agenda for the meeting reportedly includes an item entitled ‘Memorandum of Understanding with the National Audubon Society’.
The agenda states that the Vikings and the MSFA will each contribute $150,000 to “design a collaborative, scientific programme to design, research, observe, monitor, analyse, and assess the potential impact of the stadium on bird mortality due to bird collisions.”
Monitoring will begin next year and will continue until June 2019.
