TCF Bank Stadium Groundbreaking

[bucskick20]

TCF Bank Stadium Groundbreaking Ceremony Set for Saturday, Sept. 30

Thanks to all of your help, an on campus Gopher football stadium is now becoming a reality and we want you to celebrate with us! Join us on Saturday, September 30th as we break ground for the new TCF Bank Stadium?!

This historic groundbreaking celebration will take place at the site of the new home of Gopher football ? the Gopher parking lot on Oak St and 4th St. The celebration will begin at 2:00 p.m. and will include a performance by the University of Minnesota Marching Band and appearances by the U of M Spirit Squad and Goldy. Join us for the fun and festivities! Shuttles will be available after the ceremony to take fans to the Metrodome to watch the battle for the Little Brown Jug as the Gophers take on Michigan at 7:00 p.m.

For more information on groundbreaking activities, visit www.umn.edu/stadium.

To get your tickets for the football game, visit www.gophersports.com.

We hope to see you on September 30th, showing your U of M pride and spirit!

[KevinMcD]

Wow, that loooks like a nice stadium. It sorta reminds me of Lambeau because of the boxes on top of the general seats.

[tajmccall]

I am so friggin excited for that and the new Twins stadium.

It will restore the Golden Gopher football legacy...yes there was one.

[CC97]

I honestly didn't know the Golden Gophers had a football team. Looks like a nice stadium, good on ya.

[bucskick20]

It's a 50,000 seat stadium that is ready to have 30,000 seats added on when they get more money.

[The_Admiral]

Any chance the Vikings can just share that one too?

[jkrdevil]

Very nice stadium. Has a college feel which is goo because it's for a college team.

[NJTank]

THis is what the Gophers need to become a contender. When this is built they wil becoem a powerhouse.

[bucskick20]

THis is what the Gophers need to become a contender. When this is built they wil becoem a powerhouse.

To most people that doesn't make sense, but it is very true. They don't get more that a sliver of the money that comes in when they play at the Metrodome which they could spend on recruiting to get more players to come to the U of M.

[no97]

I hate to break this to you, but that's not what the stadium will look like. That's the rendering the University's been throwing around for at least a year or two (before they got funding). Then, after they got money from the state, they hired HOK Sport to be the architect... I guarantee HOK's working on their own design right now...

Moose

[bucskick20]

Any chance the Vikings can just share that one too?

The Vikings won't stand for that, they think they need this...

Besides, until the upgrade to 80,000 seats, it won't be big enough for an NFL team, I am sure they would prefer the Metrodome's 64,000. They want the money...

[Mac the Knife]

TCF?

Team

Can't

Finance?

[bucskick20]

TCF?

Team

Can't

Finance?

No, they can't. They are a state university, not a pro team

[no97]

TCF?

Team

Can't

Finance?

No, they can't. They are a state university, not a pro team

TCF Bank = $35 Million

Moose

edit - also, during my search, I also found that, according to that link, the stadium renderings are at least a year and a half old (note that story is from March 2005), and the University didn't hire HOK until June 8, 2006...

[Mac the Knife]

TCF?

Team

Can't

Finance?

No, they can't. They are a state university, not a pro team

Actually universities can finance stadia in some locations through donations, bond issues, private loans made from alumni (provided the interest rate is prime or lower), and the like.

[buzzcut]

TCF?

Team

Can't

Finance?

No, they can't. They are a state university, not a pro team

Actually universities can finance stadia in some locations through donations, bond issues, private loans made from alumni (provided the interest rate is prime or lower), and the like.

Most of the stadium's cost is being paid privately. The State is on the hook for about 20% of it, mostly on infrastructure to the Minneapolis street grid.

As fair as the TCF Bank name goes, the bank was originally Twin City Federal, an S&L that managed to survive the scandals of the late 80's and 90's. It was around 1997 or so that it became TCF Bank.

[winghaz]

I think -- I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think -- the extra funding from TCF for the name rights was part of the bill in the Minnesota Legislature that allowed funding for this stadium.

[STL FANATIC]

If that's how it ends up looking, that's very nice.

Illinois is doing a much needed renovation to Memorial Stadium that's gonna be a 2 or 3 year process, but when it's done, it's gonna look excellent, which means lots of nice looking BigTen stadiums.

[no97]

If that's how it ends up looking, that's very nice.

Illinois is doing a much needed renovation to Memorial Stadium that's gonna be a 2 or 3 year process, but when it's done, it's gonna look excellent, which means lots of nice looking BigTen stadiums.

How many times do I have to say this? It's going to end up looking nothing like that artist rendering!

Again, look at the date on this article (March 25, 2005 for those too lazy to click). Note that it contains the exact same rendering posted above. Also note that the University didn't hire HOK Sport until June 8, 2006, as noted on this site...

Who here thinks HOK's going to come in and take an existing pre-design and just build that? Why would the university even bother bringing in HOK if they already had the stadium designed? That rendering was done simply to sell a concept to the public and state legislature, nothing more.

[spyboy1]

My son is so lucky to be growing up with the new Twins and Gopher football stadiums. All I need to do is hit the lottery to be able to afford all the things I want to take him to.

I really feel bad for the 20-25 year olds around here who have grown up with the Metrodome as the only stadium they have ever known. They have really missed out on a lot.

My only question about the new Gopher Football Stadium is where in the heck are you supposed to park? There's grain elevators to the one side and Hockey and Basketball arenas off to the other. There's really just no parking there now except for the lots they are going to lose when the football stadium is built. I hope they build a train line over that way at the same time.