Wow, it's kind of like the public gets to be a part of the design process, only they don't!

I wonder how they got the funding for this thing passed without any of this work having been done beforehand. I mean, didn't the legislators have any information about what they were voting on?

Exciting to see which non Minnesota company will get the job!!! /endsarcasm

Based on the track record of the listed groups, I am hoping for AECOM or Populous. The Giants, Cowboys, and Colts stadiums are all pretty uninspiring to me...at least from my standpoint as a TV viewer. AECOM has a very large presence in Minneapolis. If they get the job it would at least help our local economy a little bit more.

Tragic mistake for Minneapolis taxpayers. Shame on you Rybak and the 7 council members.

Remember folks, this is just the stadium design. Not the construction. I don't have a horse in the race but, personally, I'd like to see HNTB. They have a reputation for striking designs that can be built quickly. They were snubbed from the St.Croix crossing bidding because they recommended a far less expensive design that didn't involve massive rework of the approach roads.

Tragic mistake???...the taxes to pay for this are a hospitality tax on visitors...the tax would have expired and republicans were not going to renew it...so had Minneapolis voted down the stadium, the tax revenue would be gone and so would the Vikings. By renewing the tax the city not only gets a renewed stadium and surrounding money, but there is enough money left over to remodel Target center and the convention center.

Just as I posted on earlier articles, no Minnesota based firm will get the contract. I will repeat, not only will there be no Minnesota based architecture firm involved, but there will not be a Minnesota based construction company either. I will even go so far as to say there will be at best 40% Minnesota based sub-contractors. As a citizen of the City of Minneapolis, I have been committed by the mayor and the city council to pay under penalty of imprisonment nearly $3000 to the NFL and that assumes that everyone pays their fair share. There are Mitt ROmney types out there that will find a way not to pay. It was a good day when Lanning retired. Getting rid of Rybak wont come too soon.

dtmonkeyboy wrote,"Tragic mistake???...the taxes to pay for this are a hospitality tax on visitors.." Baloney. I live in Minneapolis and they tax me just like a visitor. The only difference is that they do it to me everyday. Minneapolis would have been better off not having the 15% sales tax on downtown restaurants. It might actually attract people.

Agree that the New Giants, Cowboys, and Colts stadiums pretty lame... Massive structures that don't look anything like a football stadium should. Green Bay, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and even Cincinati have the best stadiums. Put a lightweight removable roof on it but don't ruin the stadium and game day experience by doing so... We need to think outside of the box to get this done right for the next 50 years!