Major League Soccer franchise Minnesota United had announced that construction work on Allianz Field is now complete ahead of the stadium’s planned opening on April 13.
The $250m (£188m/€220m), 19,400-seat stadium in Saint Paul broke ground in June 2017 and the facility has now been turned over to the club from construction manager Mortenson.
Allianz Field was designed by Populous and the stadium is set to feature a first-of-its-kind exterior skin made of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
The stadium’s naming rights were picked up by German financial services company Allianz in July 2017, adding to venues sponsored by the firm in Sydney, Munich and Turin, among others.
Allianz Field’s exterior skin will complement a 360-degree roof canopy and an open-concourse design. The club said the open-roof design, grass playing surface and exclusive use of LED lighting will help produce a low-energy footprint for the stadium.
Water collected from the stadium roof and other stadium surfaces will also flow into an innovative central stormwater system to serve the entire 35-acre development that surrounds the stadium. The 192 mature trees that have been planted around the stadium will also use the stormwater system for irrigation.
Bruce Miller, senior architect at Populous, said: “Allianz Field truly represents the next generation of MLS stadiums. From the elegant glow of the translucent exterior skin to the complete seating bowl enclosure and 360-degree canopy, this stadium sets the bar as one of the most intimate and intimidating atmospheres in soccer around the globe.”
Greg Huber, Mortenson project executive, added: “We set an aggressive set of workforce goals that promoted involvement of small businesses and a diverse workforce, and all of these goals were met or exceeded. Over 650,000 hours of on-site work was performed by 2,020 individual craft workers, with 33 per cent of the those work hours being performed by minority craft workers and another 11 per cent by women. $46.5m was paid in direct wages to the construction workers themselves.
“Over 90 per cent of the work came from local companies, which is an incredible achievement. This is a Minnesota-made facility for a Minnesota team and a Minnesota brand – and it’s going to be a Minnesota icon.”
Allianz Field is due to stage its first MLS game on April 13, when Minnesota United hosts New York City FC. The club had played at TCF Bank Stadium for its first two seasons and will play the first five rounds of the 2019 campaign away from home before opening its new venue.
Image: Minnesota United
