Allianz Field

Overview

Allianz Field

address	400 Snelling Avenue North
location	Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
coordinates	44.95311°N, -93.16472°W
pushpin map	Minnesota#USA
pushpin relief	yes
pushpin label	Allianz Field
pushpin mapsize	250
pushpin map caption	Location in Minnesota##Location in the United States
broke ground	December 12, 2016
opened	April 13, 2019
owner	Minnesota United FC
construction cost	$200 million
surface	Grass
architect	Populous
structural engineer	Walter P Moore‡R1R‡
services engineer	M–E Engineers, Inc.‡R2R‡
general contractor	Mortenson Construction
tenants	Minnesota United FC (MLS) (2019–present) Minnesota United FC 2 (MLSNP) (2022–present)
seating capacity	19,400
public transit	A Line at Snelling Avenue

Allianz Field is a soccer-specific stadium in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, located near Interstate 94 and Snelling Avenue. It is home to Minnesota United FC of Major League Soccer (MLS). It opened in 2019 during the club's third season, and has a capacity of 19,400 spectators.

On October 23, 2015, team owners announced that Minnesota United would build a stadium on the 35 acre Saint Paul bus barn site.[3] The stadium seats approximately 19,400, was completed in early 2019,[4] and was privately financed for $200 million.[5][6]

On November 25, 2015, Minnesota United FC hired Kansas City-based Populous to design the stadium. On December 9, 2015, the team hired Mortenson Construction as part of the stadium construction along with Populous. Mortenson built U.S. Bank Stadium for the Minnesota Vikings in 2014–2016,[7]

Design

Allianz Field is a ring-shaped stadium, with seating for approximately 19,400 in the first phase and 24,474 in a future expansion that would fill the four corners.[14] It has a safe standing terrace for 2,920 supporters, named the "Wonderwall" after the club's unofficial anthem, located behind the south-end goal. The single-tier Wonderwall terrace was designed with a 34.9 percent incline and has no seats.[15] The north end has a brewpub, named Brew Hall, and a manual scoreboard and 90-minute clock that were designed to resemble fixtures at the former home, National Sports Center in Blaine.[16]

The stadium was designed by Populous with deliberate sightlines and an "intimate atmosphere" in mind. The pitch sits 16 in above the first row of seats and is composed of 97,000 sqft of turf from Heath Farms in Wisconsin, installed in October 2019 to replace the original Kentucky bluegrass from Colorado that suffered from drainage issues.[17][18] A glass-like polymer mesh oval exterior provides the stadium with a sleek facade. It is clad in PTFE, which covers the steel structure that holds the roof in place.[19] With an overhang partially covering the field, the facade is expected to soften the noise towards the neighborhood. Color-changing LEDs light the exterior mesh in the same manner as Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.[20] The first tests of the lighting system in December 2018, which ran overnight in the fog, drew complaints from neighboring residents due to the intensity of the colors.[21]

Green space

The masterplan is pedestrian-oriented and designates 2.6 acre of outdoor gathering spaces. The stadium will be ringed by three grassy plazas and a fourth green space will be placed along University Avenue, near Snelling Avenue Station. Pascal Green will be on the east of the stadium; United Champion Plaza will be on the southwest corner; Victory Plaza will be on the north; and Midway Square will be north of Victory Plaza, along Snelling Avenue. Midway Square and Victory Plaza will express the north-south axis of the stadium.

These green spaces are planned to be progressively introduced in phases as property owner RK Midway waits for existing leases on its current tenants to end. However, the timeline of these phases has not been released to the city or the public, as of July 2016. The project drew criticism as the full realization of the masterplan could take many years.[22]

History

Site

A masterplan has been drawn up for the redevelopment of the broad area, including the stadium site and adjacent properties owned by RK Midway. This may include building new hotel and office space and the redevelopment of the existing shopping center.[23] The buildings occupied by Rainbow supermarket, Walgreens, Midway Pro Bowl and some adjoining spaces will be torn down. The masterplan calls for the redevelopment to be more pedestrian friendly, to accommodate large numbers of fans walking to and from the transit stations.[22]

The southern half of the site was formerly a bus barn used by Metro Transit until it was demolished in 2002. Later a big-box store was pursued for the site but not built. The site was acquired decades earlier by the Metropolitan Council with help from the Federal Transit Administration so development of the site required federal government approval.[24] The property had been the Snelling Shops, where streetcars were built and maintained for the Twin City Rapid Transit Company.[25] The stadium itself primarily sits on this property.

Naming rights

On July 25, 2017, Allianz Life was announced as the sponsor for the stadium. Allianz Life, a subsidiary of German company Allianz, is headquartered in nearby Golden Valley.[26] It is one of eight sports facilities around the world that is sponsored by Allianz or its subsidiaries.[27] The naming rights agreement with Allianz runs until the end of 2028 and costs an undisclosed amount.[28]

Due to the stadium's resemblance to the floating city on Bespin in the fictional Star Wars universe, Allianz Field has gained the nickname "Cloud City."[29]

Construction

The stadium was planned to break ground in June 2016, but was delayed while the team awaited a tax-exemption from the state, similar to ones granted to other recent stadium projects. Despite the stadium construction being privately funded, the franchise owners stated that the tax-exemption was needed for the project's viability.[30]

In addition, because stadium construction would eliminate Rainbow Foods – an anchor tenant in the Midway Shopping Center – strip mall owner RK Midway of New York faced lease complications with its smaller tenants. Industry analysts say intense competition between the grocery company SuperValu (which operated Rainbow within the strip mall) and rivals, primarily Hy-Vee, made it unlikely that Rainbow would terminate its lease early without a signed guarantee against a competitor moving into the shopping center.[31]

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held on December 12, 2016, and was attended by MLS commissioner Don Garber. Major construction on the site began in June 2017.[32] Steel erection began in November 2017 and construction reached a halfway milestone in late April 2018.[33]

Allianz Field

Location and transportation

Design

Green space

History

Site

Naming rights

Construction

Major events

Soccer

College football

MLS Cup Playoffs

External links

References