By Cole Premo
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — After years of controversy and public debate, Tuesday marks the beginning of the end for the Metrodome. State officials and the Minnesota Vikings will break ground for a new NFL football stadium.
The Metrodome will be torn down and everything inside will be sold.
Now, everything must go, from the fabric roof to the field turf. But how do you go about unloading 65,000 iconic blue Metrodome stadium seats?
Michele Kelm-Helgen chairs the Stadium Authority that oversees the Metrodome demolition and new stadium construction.
“We’ve had a lot of inquiries on the seats,” Michele Kelm-Helgen said. “We will be taking out probably thousands of these seats. We have 65,000, so there certainly is no shortage.”
Unlike vintage stadium seats, the Metrodome chairs are attached to each other in rows, sometimes stretching 33 seats in length.
More importantly, they have no bottoms. They aren’t bolted into the floor They’re attached to the risers.
“So, whoever uses them has to have a place to bolt them in or they’re going to have to figure out how to put some legs on them,” Kelm Helgen said.
Stadium seats can be big ticket items. When the old Met Stadium was torn down, fans lingered after the game. Some tore signs off the walls and stadium seats from the floor.
Just last week, an old Met Stadium chair sold for $495 on eBay.
It’s hard to tell if Metrodome seats have the same nostalgic allure, but requests for the seats are coming in.
Kelm-Helgen says local community centers, ballparks and schools have asked about them.
Source: CBS Minnesota
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