02-28-2018, 03:50 AM
Moving day as Vikings bid adieu to Winter Park home of the past 37 yearsMemories get packed along with gear as team shifts to Eagan facility
Vikings staffers wove past stacks of blue plastic boxes in the hallways of Winter Park on Tuesday, where they've packed up everything but memories in the final week at the 37-year-old Eden Prairie team headquarters.
On Monday, the Vikings open the doors at the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center, their new home in Eagan.
"You have some pretty strong memories with the team in this building, but it's going to be more fun to have everybody together," said Chad Lundeen, the team's vice president of operations, a 20-year employee overseeing the move.
Vikings staffers wove past stacks of blue plastic boxes in the hallways of Winter Park on Tuesday, where they've packed up everything but memories in the final week at the 37-year-old Eden Prairie team headquarters.
On Monday, the Vikings open the doors at the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center, their new home in Eagan.
"You have some pretty strong memories with the team in this building, but it's going to be more fun to have everybody together," said Chad Lundeen, the team's vice president of operations, a 20-year employee overseeing the move.
The team's operations, including 250 employees, have been spread over several buildings in Eden Prairie and downtown Minneapolis.
With the exception of the ticket office permanently situated in U.S. Bank Stadium (and the players who are away for the offseason), everyone will be together on Monday. That means no more shuttling across town for staff meetings, new commuting routes and more spacious quarters.
Lundeen rattles off the numbers for the move: 20 truckloads of equipment, 1,500 blue moving crates, 200 rolling wooden carts, hundreds of pictures and pieces of art. After a year of planning, the heavy lifting is happening now.
It's a major moment for the franchise, leaving behind the southwest metro home that opened in 1981. The facility was named for Max Winter, the man who brought the NFL expansion team to town in 1961. His name will no longer be prominent.
With the not-yet two-year-old U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis and now the new practice facility, the franchise is firmly in the era of the Wilf family. New Jersey real estate scions and brothers Zygi and Mark Wilf purchased the Vikings in 2005 along with their cousin Leonard Wilf.
On Monday, all staff will arrive to work at the brand-new glassy white home along Interstate 494 in Eagan, 20 minutes east of the old place. It's an unqualified upgrade from the low-slung amalgam of additions that the team long ago outgrew.
The Vikings will get more playing fields, better equipment, more offices and conference rooms, better access to physical treatment, training rooms and a nicer cafeteria overlooking the sylvan parcel that was once home to the world headquarters of Northwest Airlines.
"We are extremely excited with all capital letters," said Kevin Warren, the team's chief operating officer.
With the exception of the ticket office permanently situated in U.S. Bank Stadium (and the players who are away for the offseason), everyone will be together on Monday. That means no more shuttling across town for staff meetings, new commuting routes and more spacious quarters.
Lundeen rattles off the numbers for the move: 20 truckloads of equipment, 1,500 blue moving crates, 200 rolling wooden carts, hundreds of pictures and pieces of art. After a year of planning, the heavy lifting is happening now.
It's a major moment for the franchise, leaving behind the southwest metro home that opened in 1981. The facility was named for Max Winter, the man who brought the NFL expansion team to town in 1961. His name will no longer be prominent.
With the not-yet two-year-old U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis and now the new practice facility, the franchise is firmly in the era of the Wilf family. New Jersey real estate scions and brothers Zygi and Mark Wilf purchased the Vikings in 2005 along with their cousin Leonard Wilf.
On Monday, all staff will arrive to work at the brand-new glassy white home along Interstate 494 in Eagan, 20 minutes east of the old place. It's an unqualified upgrade from the low-slung amalgam of additions that the team long ago outgrew.
The Vikings will get more playing fields, better equipment, more offices and conference rooms, better access to physical treatment, training rooms and a nicer cafeteria overlooking the sylvan parcel that was once home to the world headquarters of Northwest Airlines.
"We are extremely excited with all capital letters," said Kevin Warren, the team's chief operating officer.
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The Vikings staff is accustomed to moving most of the weight equipment once a year — a multiweek process to transfer the machines to training camp in Mankato. Training camp will now be held at the Eagan facility, which comes with its own stadium.