U.S. Bank Stadium Is Leaking, Could Cost $21 Million to Fix

Back in the day sports fans in Minnesota would complain about the dome and joke about it collapsing (even thought it really has) which is scary -- but now the beautiful, shiny U.S. Bank stadium has apparently sprung a leak or two.

Apparently the black panels that cover the entire exterior of the building are leaking worse than initially thought and will all need to be replaced at a cost of $21 million over the next 2 years.

Thankfully neither Minnesota taxpayers or the Minnesota Vikings will have to pay to replace the panels which coincidentally came undone and leaked months before the $1.1 billion building opened back in August 2016. The cost of this repair will be will be split among the building’s general contractor, Golden Valley-based M.A. Mortenson Co., and seven others.

John Wood, the Mortenson senior vice president said in a statement to the Star Tribune  “I’ll be honest with you, we’re embarrassed by the fact this building has had the issues it’s had. Mortenson can’t change what happened, but the company can “do the right thing” and fix it. The leaks weren’t substantial. Water wasn’t gushing into the building, and it could easily be mopped up. Nonetheless, it gave everyone reason to be concerned, we could see some repetition of these problems.”

Wood explained over the next two years, workers will go section-by-section to remove panels and replace them which be of similar color and dimension. The current zinc panels were designed to act as a rain screen, where as the replacement panels will be designed to repel water.