Construction of St. Paul soccer stadium gets vertical

November 28, 2017 by

Construction workers and local officials joined in Minnesota United’s “beam signing” ceremony Nov. 21.

Union tradespeople hoisted the first beam of St. Paul’s new professional soccer stadium Nov. 21, after a ceremony that drew local officials, Minnesota United executives and club sponsors to the Midway construction site.

General contractor Mortenson Construction broke ground on the 346,000-square-foot site in June. Since then, workers have completed most of the excavation and foundation work, removing 200,000 cubic yards of dirt and pouring 10,500 yards of concrete.

Now, workers will begin erecting nearly 50 tons of steel, most of it fabricated at a facility in Wisconsin.

Minnesota United celebrated the new phase of construction work on its $200 million future home with last week’s “beam signing” ceremony. Club employees, elected officials, union representatives, construction workers and other stakeholders took turns autographing one of the columns.

Mortenson officials at the ceremony said the stadium build is proceeding on schedule. They expect it to take about 20 months to complete.

Scott Johnson, a business agent with Ironworkers Local 512, signed one of Allianz Field’s columns.

“I think that the progress of the stadium has been inspiring, and that there have been a lot of people working hard,” Mortenson’s Greg Huber said in an interview with Minnesota United’s official website. “We’ve been working 10-hour days, six days a week, on critical path work. So there have been a lot of folks – a lot of women and men – who have been working very, very hard, long hours, to get us to this point.”

A project labor agreement (PLA) negotiated with the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council covers all present and future construction work on Allianz Field. PLA’s establish terms and conditions for construction employees and contractors on a project, from wages and benefits to overtime pay, grievance procedures and more.

By setting terms and conditions at the outset, project owners make their labor costs more predictable, weed out irresponsible bidders and ensure labor peace with local unions for the entirety of the project. Several studies show projects built under PLA’s are more likely to be completed on time, within budget and with quality construction.

Allianz Field will hold close to 19,400 fans at capacity. The stadium is scheduled to host its first match in March 2019.

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Challenges remain, but soccer stadium breaks ground in Midway district

December 14, 2016 by
MN United’s Nick Rogers (L), Mayor Chris Coleman and Dr. Bill McGuire (R) supervised a crew of youth soccer players at the new stadium's groundbreaking ceremony Monday.

MN United’s Nick Rogers (L), Mayor Chris Coleman and Dr. Bill McGuire (R) supervised a crew of youth soccer players who broke ground on the new soccer stadium in St. Paul on Monday.

Youth soccer players and local dignitaries sent dirt and snow flying during a ceremonial groundbreaking Dec. 12 for the planned 20,000-seat pro-soccer stadium in St. Paul’s Midway district.

The $250 million construction project remains in the early, exploratory stages, and snarls remain both at the Capitol, where lawmakers must sign off on a property-tax exemption for the stadium, and in acquiring nearby property, including a shopping center that houses union-staffed Rainbow Foods.

But developers hope to begin work in earnest next spring and, potentially, host games in 2018.

Don Mullin, executive secretary of the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council, said a project labor agreement (PLA) covering construction work already has been negotiated. PLA’s establish terms and conditions for construction employees and contractors on a project, from wages and benefits to overtime pay, grievance procedures and more.

By setting terms and conditions at the outset, project owners make their labor costs more predictable, weed out irresponsible bidders and ensure labor peace with local unions for the entirety of the project. Several studies show projects built under PLAs are more likely to be completed on time, within budget and with quality construction.

The soccer-stadium PLA covers not only construction, Mullin said, but “all future maintenance and improvements” to the facility. “We’re building into the future,” he said. “Future generations of union tradespeople are going to be working on this project, and that’s amazing.”

Planning models show the stadium oval extending north from I-94 toward University Avenue, a configuration that would require acquisition of land owned by Midway Shopping Center and other retailers. The largest is Rainbow, which employs 45 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189.

Bernie Hesse, Local 1189’s director of special projects, said he doesn’t expect land-acquisition negotiations to prevent construction of the stadium, but he warned of an expanding “food desert” in the area if the development squeezes out Rainbow.

Hesse called on city officials to ensure UFCW members, other retail workers and business owners impacted by the project won’t be left “high and dry.”

“Let’s not marginalize these workers,” he said.

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