Venue News & Notes: Bring on the New!

Despite the economic downturn, this week’s venue news is littered with announcements of new construction.
Minneapolis’ Sports Facilities Commission has chosen the builder for a retractable-roof stadium to house the Minnesota Vikings, and ground has finally been broken on the new athletic center at the
University of
California,
Berkeley. Full-on construction of the $140 million structure will begin in December.
…Mortenson Construction of
Minneapolis has been selected by the Sports Facilities Commission to build a proposed retractable-roof stadium for the Minnesota Vikings. Mortenson and HKS Architects of Dallas will deliver a design, a construction schedule, and cost details that the sports commission will use in seeking funding and legislative approval for the project, which would be built on the Metrodome site. The commission will pay about $2.5 million for this initial work…
…Although full-on construction will not begin until December, Saturday morning marked the ceremonial groundbreaking of the $140 million athletic center at the University of California, Berkeley that has been held up by the court system almost since it was proposed…
…The
University of
Georgia ’s Sanford Stadium could grow by more than 9,000 seats if a plan from university architects is approved. The developer presented plans to renovate multiple athletic complexes on campus — including the increase in Sanford Stadium seating — to the Georgia Athletic Association Board of Directors last week…
…Six Olympic venues will be open to the public for sporting activities starting this month, officials of the State General Administration of Sports (SGAS) said this week. The venues include the Beijing Capital Stadium,
Beijing
Shooting
Range, Laoshan Velodrome and mountain-bike course, the national sports training center, Beijing Olympic Sports Center, and
Beijing
Sports
University…
…Before the concrete was laid and air ducts were hung, contractors designed the Hartman Arena in
Park City, KS, to be built with “green” materials. Nearly everything in the arena is being built from 100%-recyclable materials…
…John Semcken, right-hand man to billionaire developer Ed Roski, is confident that his boss will be successful at bringing an NFL team back to Los Angeles, a team that will play in a proposed state-of-the-art stadium in City of
Industry . Semcken spoke to the Los Angeles Times last week about where the project is and where it’s headed…
…Workers opened Houston’s Reliant Stadium roof Saturday, two weeks after it was damaged by Hurricane Ike, and a
Reliant
Park spokeswoman says repairs to the damaged roof are proceeding on schedule. Five panels of the Teflon-coated fabric roof were ripped away during the storm, and the retractable roof remained closed while workers cleared debris from the damaged sections.