U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, home of the Minnesota Vikings NFL team, is gearing up for a return to hosting a dynamic range of community events and shows.
In past years, the venue has hosted everything from global concert tours, the X Games and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four to a yearly Monster Jam with 5,400 kg (12,000 lb.) monster trucks revving up for backflips and 70 mph (113 kph) in-stadium speeds.
The 3-year-old LEED Platinum certified stadium’s ambitious events schedule for 2020 is on hold for now — along with most global stadiums’ planned events — but the fixed-roof NFL stadium needed turf protection and recently invested in Signature Systems’ OmniDeck® system. It also needed a safe, stable and attractive surface for future events.
“It’s really important here to have a high-quality turf protection system,” says Jeff Klein, U.S. Bank Stadium Assistant Director of Operations. “A lot of stadiums are outside, or they only use the decking eight to 12 times a year, where we, in typical years, use it 40 to 60 times.”
The stadium’s first installation of OmniDeck, in January, was in advance of a spring lineup that included Home & Remodeling and RV Shows among other planned events that have since been rescheduled to protect the health and safety of the community during an unprecedented health emergency.
Many of the events the stadium has hosted are high-end galas or dinners “where the turf protection is more than turf protection, it’s the actual floor for the event,” Klein says. “So it needs to not only work well to protect the field, it also needs to look good for the actual event and provide a safe and seamless surface for easy access.”
OmniDeck stadium turf protection meets those challenges and more, providing benefits that include:
For Klein, who oversees and plans all the conversions and changeovers of the building from event to event, installation and disassembly times must be fast and easy in order to maintain a typical season’s busy events schedule.
“Time is money, and having an efficient system is very important. It’s especially important here,” Klein says. The fast, omnidirectional installation was a key factor in his decision to go with OmniDeck as was the ability to get the desired color to complement the building.
“Working with Signature Systems is great because they always answer a call, and they sent a crew to help train us in the installation and maintenance of the new product. They’re here for support all through the process and then some.”
Learn more about OmniDeck®.
This article was originally published in Panstadia & Arena Management Magazine.