U.S. Bank Stadium

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mullen
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby mullen » August 27th, 2014, 10:15 am

Pretty sure the Audubon Society has the right to keep calling for a change, when its whole purpose is in fact protecting birds.

then demand fritted glass installs on every downtown tower. especially public public buildings. why is this building being singled out? oh right, stadiums bad. it always gets back to that. majority of the stadium will have zinc siding.

IllogicalJake
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby IllogicalJake » August 27th, 2014, 10:24 am

From that same interview with Pat Kessler, he did state the they had many requests, and many of them were met. These are mainly around lighting schemes and turning off certain lights during migration season, just like the downtown skyscrapers do.

One question I do have, as I am not a bird migration expert. Would the stadium be that big of an issue as the birds would have to fly up and over downtown and then quickly back down in order to worry about flying into the stadium? And also, doesnt the big glass wall face west? Would that wall really impact migration patterns?
Yes, you are correct. They would fly into the glass skysrapers before making it to the stadium if that was their route.
I think that's misinformation, unless you have a source I haven't read.

Most, if not all, of the glass skyscrapers in the area use colored tinted or fritted glass. No buildings in Minneapolis have giant, fully-transparent untinted glass walls that I'm aware of. The stadium is right along the Mississippi, which is followed as a primary route.
They also stated that they don't want to obstruct views for fans, and with the fritted glass, you may as well just put up walls....
There are thousands of ways to do fritted glass, but all of those ways basically mean putting a pattern on the glass to be visible to birds. There are ways to do this to minimize the appearance of the pattern, especially from long distances. The illusion of open-air can still exist. That's a baseless comparison. It is not at all like changing the glass to a wall. The fritting also would only need to be applied to upper portions of the glass and not likely any parts of the glass that people would be anywhere near. From a distance of 20+ feet away, it's possible to create a virtually invisible pattern to humans that could be fairly easily detected by birds.
Last edited by IllogicalJake on August 27th, 2014, 10:32 am, edited 2 times in total.
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IllogicalJake
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby IllogicalJake » August 27th, 2014, 10:26 am

Pretty sure the Audubon Society has the right to keep calling for a change, when its whole purpose is in fact protecting birds.

then demand fritted glass installs on every downtown tower. especially public public buildings. why is this building being singled out? oh right, stadiums bad. it always gets back to that. majority of the stadium will have zinc siding.
Again, the downtown towers have heavily-tinted glass (safe for birds already!) and aren't so close to the major migration route of the Mississippi.

Trying to say that the Audubon Society is only doing this because they hate sports is absurd... Again, people would rather make things up than actually listen to experts. :roll:

Also, I'll point out that that Project BirdSafe has been going on for many years and has worked with tons of downtown projects without as much incident.
Last edited by IllogicalJake on August 27th, 2014, 10:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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David Greene
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby David Greene » August 27th, 2014, 10:27 am

why is this building being singled out? oh right, stadiums bad. it always gets back to that. majority of the stadium will have zinc siding.
Oh come on. I'm as tired of petty stadium objections as anyone else (and I opposed the stadium) but this is not one of them. The stadium is a real problem for birds. As IllogicalJake said, no other downtown building has the amount of clear glass the stadium will have.

This isn't about the stadium _per_se_. It's about a building that's a major hazard to migratory birds that just happens to be a stadium.

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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby nfschauer » August 27th, 2014, 10:37 am

At this rate we'll need to begin a thread on the Audobon and the Stadium, haha!! In the end it appears a lot of people support the Audobon efforts in that the stadium is a threat to migratory birds, which I greatly respect. Then there are those who believe the stadium shouldn't pose an issue to migratory birds based off it's location and that skyscrapers are supposedly posing a similar threat. Whether the Vikings decide to change the glass, or keep it as is with altered lighting, the Audobon Society definitely raised awareness that was heard from all over the state, which is their job and effort in trying to change our rapidly developing urban areas. So with that, I guess it's a matter of "wait and see" if the glass will be changed, and it will be an interesting outcome.

On another note, has anyone noticed that the steel that is meant to go up on the West side of the stadium hasn't been erected yet, though Mortenson's timeline shows it should be up now?

J2K
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby J2K » August 27th, 2014, 11:32 am

I have been checking the web cam regularly to see that next steel piece go up and am also curious to what the delay is.

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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby Drizzay » August 27th, 2014, 12:00 pm

It sounds like they should just let natural selection play out. In 500 million years. the birds will be better for it.

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Nick
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby Nick » August 27th, 2014, 4:59 pm

re: dead birds, as far as I can tell from walking around downtown everyday, the building that kills the most birds is Minneapolis City Hall, by virtue of the peregrine falcon nest on the roof. There are pieces of dead birds on the sidewalks around City Hall pretty regularly. I don't think I've ever seen dead birds on the ground elsewhere, though maybe DID is all over that.
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby EOst » August 27th, 2014, 5:16 pm

A lot of the birds killed by skyscrapers end up on the roofs of other buildings/their bases. You wouldn't necessarily see them on the street.

Minneboy
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby Minneboy » August 27th, 2014, 6:46 pm

The only dead birds I see around downtown are just wings. Falcons.

BigIdeasGuy
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby BigIdeasGuy » August 27th, 2014, 8:31 pm

1 things about the bird issue.

1. Anyone want to start a pool on how many dead birds will be found around the stadium each year?
2. While every group has a right to speak out and raise concerns and issues, thank you 1st amendment, that doesn't require that those concerns have to be addressed. I.E. the Audubon Society certainly has a right to speak out on about the birds and glass but that doesn't require the Vikings/MSFC to directly address those concerns.

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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby grant1simons2 » August 27th, 2014, 8:48 pm

Why doesn't the state or Audubon pay for it. Its just 1 million dollars. I agree that maybe the wilfs should but the Audubon was the one who brought up the case

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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby Anondson » August 27th, 2014, 8:54 pm

Maybe run a fund drive among its members and Vikings fans who agree with them.

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TommyT
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby TommyT » August 27th, 2014, 8:58 pm

Can we start a dead bird/Audobon thread?

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Nick
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby Nick » August 27th, 2014, 9:38 pm

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Didier
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby Didier » August 27th, 2014, 9:55 pm

I honestly don't really care, and as such I haven't done much research at all, but the Pat Kessler interview from Tuesday indicated that the new glass would be filled with quarter-sized dots, and his implication was that it's basically a non-starter due to the aesthetics, not the price.

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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby nfschauer » August 28th, 2014, 7:07 am

It's not quarter inch, it's still clear as of now. The most recent article on CBS says the Vikings are adjusting lighting but have not yet changed anything with the glass and will not due to the fan experience.

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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby IllogicalJake » August 28th, 2014, 8:25 am

Why doesn't the state or Audubon pay for it. Its just 1 million dollars. I agree that maybe the wilfs should but the Audubon was the one who brought up the case
Just FYI - cost isn't the issue here, "design" is - according to the Stadium Commission. They don't like the look of the bird-safe glass. Though, previously they did claim cost was a factor.
the Pat Kessler interview from Tuesday indicated that the new glass would be filled with quarter-sized dots
Much smaller than quarter-sized, not fully opaque, and would only be required on the upper heights of the glass. They have engineers that can make these things as unnoticeable to humans as possible.
2. While every group has a right to speak out and raise concerns and issues, thank you 1st amendment, that doesn't require that those concerns have to be addressed. I.E. the Audubon Society certainly has a right to speak out on about the birds and glass but that doesn't require the Vikings/MSFC to directly address those concerns.
I'm just debating the point is all, not saying anyone should be forced into it constitutionally. In the end I just hope a flock of birds doesn't slam into the thing during a high-profile televised game. :D

The Minneapolis City Council and Minnesota DPR have both urged the stadium to use the bird-safe glass, but the stadium commission hasn't backed down. I'm really not expecting them to. I'm just saying I'd like them to, for the sake of Minnesota's nature and wildlife.
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nfschauer
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby nfschauer » August 28th, 2014, 8:38 am

Next week Thursday they're supposed to erect the triangle steel supports that angle towards the West, but they've been known to put the steel up a day earlier in the past, so could be Wednesday.

IllogicalJake
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Re: Minnesota Multi Purpose Stadium

Postby IllogicalJake » August 28th, 2014, 8:40 am

Next week Thursday they're supposed to erect the triangle steel supports that angle towards the West, but they've been known to put the steel up a day earlier in the past, so could be Wednesday.
Looking forward to that. I stop at the DTE station every day, so if I spot I'll get a shot on here.
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