Venue News & Notes: New Vikings Stadium Gains Steam

The use of public dollars for sports facilities isn’t always the most popular thing for American taxpayers, especially when the economy isn’t exactly in the best shape. But things in the Land of 10,000 Lakes are apparently looking pretty good for the Minnesota Vikings to get a new stadium, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Vikings President Mark Wilf is saying he’s “confident” his club will get the public subsidies it needs to build the $870 million stadium…

…Clark County, NV, commissioners are talking about competing proposals for a sports arena that proponents hope will help lure a pro basketball or hockey team to Las Vegas. No backers presentations are planned when the commission talks Tuesday about two 20,000-plus–seat arenas proposed for the Strip. One proposal would build an arena on the former Wet ’n Wild water park site near Sahara Avenue. The property is owned by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden and her husband. The other is on a site near the South Point hotel-casino…

…For anyone from outside the Pittsburgh area, the word igloo might not invoke much emotion. But to some Pittsburghers, the mere mention of the Igloo can trigger a smile. The Igloo, formally known as Mellon Arena, will take its final bow Thursday as it hosts its last regular-season NHL game when the New York Islanders visit the Penguins. Then known as the Civic Arena, it opened in 1961, starting a new era in arena engineering. The spherical dome roof opened — the first of its kind to do so. Sadly, the now obsolete Igloo will be vacant next season, after the Penguins move across the street to the state-of-the-art Consol Energy Center…

…The NFL and Fox Sports met up this week to kick the tires on Cowboys Stadium. The stadium will be 20 months old when Super Bowl XLV is played there on Feb. 6, but don’t be shocked if you barely recognize the old place that day. The parking fields inside the stadium roadways will be designated for security measures and entertainment and broadcast use. None will be available for parking. “Putting on a Super Bowl is a big jigsaw puzzle,” said Frank Supovitz, NFL SVP, events, and league Super Bowl guru…

…Cleveland is borrowing $130 million to refinance debt sold to build a stadium for the National Football League’s Browns and end a swap agreement with UBS AG designed to protect the city against rising interest rates. Ohio’s second most-populous city after Columbus is selling $65 million of certificates of participation, securities backed by lease payments from the stadium, today through underwriters led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The city is privately placing $65 million of similar debt through Wells Fargo & Co….

Target Field is being declared an earth-friendly facility. That’s what the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Ballpark Authority intend to announce Thursday morning at a news conference at the new downtown-Minneapolis stadium. Specifically, Target Field has earned LEED certification status. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is an internationally recognized certification system, providing independent verification that a building was designed and built with many environmental issues in mind. Those include energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide-emissions reduction, and improved indoor environmental quality.

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