Those flapping zinc panels on U.S. Bank Stadium are being reinforced ahead of opening day Friday.
Mortenson Construction executive John Wood said about two dozen of the thousands of panels were blowing in the wind after recent storms. The panels, which were attached along the bottom edge, were never at risk of flying off, but are being reinforced with screws along the top.
Wood’s update was one of the discussions at the final monthly meeting of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) before the new $1.1 billion building’s ribbon-cutting next Friday.
The panel also agreed to a $300,000, three-year study to determine if the stadium is deadly to birds and agreed to the continued full-time employment, at a cost of close to $300,000 annually, of two taxpayer-funded executives to oversee the building’s operations and marketing.