Vikings Want Fencing At U.S. Bank Stadium

The NFL’s Minnesota Vikings want to build permanent fencing around U.S. Bank Stadium for better security but it could be a hard sell with the venue’s governing body.

AP Photo – U.S. Bank Stadium
The brand-new U.S. Bank Stadium hosts its home team Minnesota Vikings, who beat the rival Green Bay Packers Sept. 18. 

U.S. Bank Stadium – The brand-new U.S. Bank Stadium hosts its home team Minnesota Vikings, who beat the rival Green Bay Packers Sept. 18.

Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority Chairwoman Michele Kelm-Helgen told KARE-TV that the stadium needs to be connected to its surrounding neighborhood, both visually and practically.

“It just makes no sense to fence off a public building from the public itself,” she said. Temporary fencing was used last season during football games last season. The Vikings say more permanent fencing is necessary.

“The access (to the stadium) will be the same, it won’t change,” team spokesman Lester Bagley said. “Fundamentally it’s a stadium security issue, especially given what happened at the last Vikings game” where Dakota Access oil pipeline protestors hung a massive banner from the top of the stadium.

Bagley said fencing wasn’t necessarily to blame for the incident but made clear the need for added security measures.

A rendering of the proposed fencing shows gates that could stay open on non-event days while being more stable and reliable than the current temporary fencing.

The Vikings or venue operator SMG handle the cost of fencing for events.

“This is not an outrageously expensive matter,” Bagley said. “When it’s a stadium project, if it’s used for Vikings games and for non-Viking games, other events, it’s a shared cost.”