MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Minnesota Vikings want to build permanent fencing around U.S. Bank Stadium to provide better security, but the plan may not win approval from the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority.
MSFA Chairwoman Michele Kelm-Helgen tells KARE-TV (https://kare11.tv/2kWAf5O ) that the stadium needs to be connected to the neighborhoods, both visually and practically. Temporary security fences were placed around the stadium last season.
The Vikings provided a rendering of the proposed fence. It shows gates that could stay open on non-game days while being more stable and reliable than temporary fences during games.
“The access (to the stadium) will be the same, it won’t change,” Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley said. “Fundamentally it’s a stadium security issue, especially given what happened at the last Vikings game.”
Bagley was referring to the Dakota Access oil pipeline protesters who eluded security and hung a massive banner from the top of the stadium. Bagley said there wasn’t any indication that fencing was part of the issue in the incident, but that it showed there are problems related to fan safety and stadium security that must be addressed.
The team doesn’t have an expected cost for the fencing yet, but Bagley said it wasn’t “an outrageously expensive matter.”
The temporary fencing used now is not a cost that is shared by the MSFA. Either the Vikings or SMG, which runs the stadium, will pay for the fencing depending on the event.
MSFA officials say they’re not interested in changing that arrangement.
“It just makes no sense to fence off a public building from the public itself,” Kelm-Helgen said.
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Information from: KARE-TV, https://www.kare11.com
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