Vikings-Giants to play in Detroit Monday night
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The roof of the Metrodome collapsed under the weight of the heavy snow...
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The Metrodome roof collapsed early Sunday morning and the Vikings-Giants game that had been rescheduled for Monday night at the Dome will be played in Detroit instead.
The NFL decided to move the game to Detroit's domed stadium.
The NFL says kickoff will be Monday night at 7:20 p.m. Eastern time, or 6:20 p.m. Central time.
The Vikings said that any ticket holders to the original Vikings-Giants game who make it to Detroit will be admitted and given preferred seating along the 50-yard line.
Those who can't make it to the game will get a full refund for their tickets. In Detroit, fans will get in free with general admission seating at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions.
The 9.5-acre Metrodome roof tore in three places shortly after 5 a.m., said Roy Terwilliger, head of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.
Aerial photos show the roof tore in two places in the center and one near the edge of the roof.
The Vikings have been pushing for a new stadium for years without success. So far today, they have been silent on what this collapse means for their stadium wishes, perhaps deciding the best strategy is to let the event speak for itself.
With the storm dumping nearly two feet on parts of the Twin Cities, the snow was accumulating on the Metrodome roof Saturday night.
"It was an extraordinary situation involving Mother Nature that the Dome's roof couldn't handle," Terwilliger said.
He said normal procedures were being followed Saturday, with workers on the roof itself using steam and hot water to melt and remove snow. Also, the heat inside the Dome was turned up and hot air was pumped into the in-between layers.
"That didn't work," Terwilliger said.
"Then it got dangerous for personnel up on the roof and we decided for the sake of safety to take them off," he said.
Dome staff continued through the night to use inside heat and other procedures to try to keep the roof inflated, he said.
"Shortly after 5 a.m. [Sunday] it appears that three panels of the Teflon roof gave way to the pressure," Terwilliger said. "Since that time we've been assessing what needs to be done."
The company that made and installed the roof will head to Minneapolis as soon as possible, battling the disrupted airline schedules, Terwilliger said. He expected it would be mid- to late-afternoon before they arrive and can assess what needs to be done and how long it will take.
In the meantime, the NFL, Vikings, Giants and Dome officials have held three conference calls -- two Saturday night and one early this morning.
"The NFL has a set procedure in their policy for when a facility is not available," he said.
"The only thing we can say right now is that it's not practical to have a game here today, tomorrow or even Tuesday," Terwilliger said.
NFL spokesman Greg Aeillo said via Twitter that the league is considering playing the game at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus Monday night, or in another NFL domed stadium. The most likely options for that would be in Detroit, Indianapolis or St. Louis.
"The facility -- we don't think sustained other damage to the seats or scoreboard or other structures," Terwilliger said.
Terwilliger said the focus now is on trying to get the Dome repaired in time for the Dec. 20 Monday night game against the Bears.
This is the second notable collapse of the dome. It deflated under heavy, wet snow from an April 1983 storm, a year after the Dome was built. It took four days to repair and reinflate the Dome after that collapse.
The year before that, it had a tear that resulted from a design flaw. But that problem, which happened before a Vikings-Cowboys game, was repaired in time for the game to be held on schedule, Terwilliger said.
It was in that game, Terwilliger recalled, Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett ran for a 99-yard touchdown. "I remember that one," said Terwilliger, a former state senator from Edina. "I was there that day."
By 9 a.m., Metrodome personnel had barricaded sections of the street level ramp early to begin the arduous task of dumping snow from the collapsed roof. Onlookers were gawking.
Mike Kraft, who flew in Friday from New Jersey to see Brett Favre play one of his last games, stood in the middle of the street next to the Dome taking pictures.
“I’m cursed,” said the life long Favre fan.
He weathered the brutally cold 2007 NFC Championship game in Green Bay and vowed he’d never do it again.
“So I flew out here to see this game. I figured I don’t have to sit outside. It’s a dome. And then, of course, the whole Dome collapses. My friends are really giving me grief,” he said with a chuckle.
Staff writers Dee DePass and Judd Zugad contributed to this report.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. CHECK BACK FOR MORE DETAILS AS THEY DEVELOP.
The NFL decided to move the game to Detroit's domed stadium.
The NFL says kickoff will be Monday night at 7:20 p.m. Eastern time, or 6:20 p.m. Central time.
The Vikings said that any ticket holders to the original Vikings-Giants game who make it to Detroit will be admitted and given preferred seating along the 50-yard line.
Those who can't make it to the game will get a full refund for their tickets. In Detroit, fans will get in free with general admission seating at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions.
The 9.5-acre Metrodome roof tore in three places shortly after 5 a.m., said Roy Terwilliger, head of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.
Aerial photos show the roof tore in two places in the center and one near the edge of the roof.
The Vikings have been pushing for a new stadium for years without success. So far today, they have been silent on what this collapse means for their stadium wishes, perhaps deciding the best strategy is to let the event speak for itself.
With the storm dumping nearly two feet on parts of the Twin Cities, the snow was accumulating on the Metrodome roof Saturday night.
"It was an extraordinary situation involving Mother Nature that the Dome's roof couldn't handle," Terwilliger said.
He said normal procedures were being followed Saturday, with workers on the roof itself using steam and hot water to melt and remove snow. Also, the heat inside the Dome was turned up and hot air was pumped into the in-between layers.
"That didn't work," Terwilliger said.
"Then it got dangerous for personnel up on the roof and we decided for the sake of safety to take them off," he said.
Dome staff continued through the night to use inside heat and other procedures to try to keep the roof inflated, he said.
"Shortly after 5 a.m. [Sunday] it appears that three panels of the Teflon roof gave way to the pressure," Terwilliger said. "Since that time we've been assessing what needs to be done."
The company that made and installed the roof will head to Minneapolis as soon as possible, battling the disrupted airline schedules, Terwilliger said. He expected it would be mid- to late-afternoon before they arrive and can assess what needs to be done and how long it will take.
In the meantime, the NFL, Vikings, Giants and Dome officials have held three conference calls -- two Saturday night and one early this morning.
"The NFL has a set procedure in their policy for when a facility is not available," he said.
"The only thing we can say right now is that it's not practical to have a game here today, tomorrow or even Tuesday," Terwilliger said.
NFL spokesman Greg Aeillo said via Twitter that the league is considering playing the game at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus Monday night, or in another NFL domed stadium. The most likely options for that would be in Detroit, Indianapolis or St. Louis.
"The facility -- we don't think sustained other damage to the seats or scoreboard or other structures," Terwilliger said.
Terwilliger said the focus now is on trying to get the Dome repaired in time for the Dec. 20 Monday night game against the Bears.
This is the second notable collapse of the dome. It deflated under heavy, wet snow from an April 1983 storm, a year after the Dome was built. It took four days to repair and reinflate the Dome after that collapse.
The year before that, it had a tear that resulted from a design flaw. But that problem, which happened before a Vikings-Cowboys game, was repaired in time for the game to be held on schedule, Terwilliger said.
It was in that game, Terwilliger recalled, Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett ran for a 99-yard touchdown. "I remember that one," said Terwilliger, a former state senator from Edina. "I was there that day."
By 9 a.m., Metrodome personnel had barricaded sections of the street level ramp early to begin the arduous task of dumping snow from the collapsed roof. Onlookers were gawking.
Mike Kraft, who flew in Friday from New Jersey to see Brett Favre play one of his last games, stood in the middle of the street next to the Dome taking pictures.
“I’m cursed,” said the life long Favre fan.
He weathered the brutally cold 2007 NFC Championship game in Green Bay and vowed he’d never do it again.
“So I flew out here to see this game. I figured I don’t have to sit outside. It’s a dome. And then, of course, the whole Dome collapses. My friends are really giving me grief,” he said with a chuckle.
Staff writers Dee DePass and Judd Zugad contributed to this report.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. CHECK BACK FOR MORE DETAILS AS THEY DEVELOP.
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