more stadiums needed to be built to house all of the sporting teams.

With more stadiums need-

ing to be built, that meant cities and states with sporting teams in need of stadiums had to spend
that much more money. Even in the late 90s and early 2000s little had still been proven that
stadiums could be economically-viable ventures for the cities that they are in. This is where the
location of the stadiums and inclusion of mixed-use can be so important for stadiums. If there is
going to be more and more money spent on stadiums in the future, then we need to find a way to
design these coliseums smarter so that they can give back to the city that is supporting them
financially.

Figure 62 - Old Picture of

Manchester United fans

79 | Page

 Figure 63 - Century Link
Field, home to the Seattle
Seahawks NFL team and
the Sounders MLS team

Socially, sports are also a juggernaut. The most popular sport in the world is soccer with
approximately 3.5 billion estimated fans and even though it is not the most popular in America, it
is growing in popularity every year. With this project I am looking to design a stadium that if built
would cause as much positive change in the popularity of soccer in Minneapolis, MN as the de-
sign would cause for the stadia typology. The millennial generation are now adults and the social
preferences of that generation is changing the world. Many of us prefer living in urban areas with
lots of mixed-usage buildings. Those areas best fit our style of living, they are high energy and
are connected to so many different outlets of entertainment. Stadiums are a part of those urban
environments that the millenials are populating and they need to adapt to the changes that they
are bringing with them. One of the biggest ways that stadiums can integrate into the urban neigh-
borhoods around them is to study the social trends of the people in that neighborhood. In
Minneapolis there is a growing number of millenials as mentioned before. If that is the group
of people that will be buying tickets to see soccer games and concerts in a new stadium that is
being designed, then the smartest thing to do economically-speaking is to design it around their
lifestyle. Ford Field, the football stadium for the Detroit Lions football team features a team store,
a nightclub/restaurant, 200-room hotel, office spaces and various retail areas. This is the level of
mixed-use that needs to start being adapted into all new stadiums that hope to successfully inte-
80 | Page

 Figure 64 - Entry ele-
vation of Ford Field in
Detroit, home of the NFL
team the Detroit Lions

grate into their urban landscapes. Before the inclusion of mixed-usage to pull in people off the
street and into the stadium, the stadium also needs to be placed in an urban location that is
in close vicinity to a large number of people and walkable areas. The more walkable the area
surrounding a stadium, the more foot traffic that stadium is going to get inside it. Kauffman
stadium (MLB) and the Chiefs stadium (NFL) are both very beautiful stadiums for their respective
sports, but they provide little extra earning possibilities for the city of Kansas City because they
are only designed to house sporting events. And even if they were designed with mixed-usage,
it wouldn’t matter because both stadiums are placed in the middle of nothing in the city, they are
very far away from the urban areas of the city and are surrounded by 19,000 parking spaces.
The next generation of sporting event attenders want to see the design of sporting stadi-
81 | Page
ums fit their lifestyle in the form of mixed-uses and cities want to see the mixed-usage revenue
to help offset the costs that building a stadium incurs. Unfortunately, getting a mixed-use stadi
um approved is hard when there are more potential owners of the stadium involved, and that can
become true with mixed-usage. Trying to balance the legislation, the public and private funding,
and the sporting associations when trying to get a stadium built for a single tenant is hard
enough, but with mixed-use there are many more tenants and much more to juggle on the
political side of getting a stadium approved. There are many stadiums in the present day that are
including mixed-uses within their stadium or are spurring it on in the form of development
outside the stadium walls. The new San Francisco 49ers stadium, the new Vikings stadium in
Minneapolis, MN and the planned Braves baseball stadium all have plans for mixed-use residen-
tial (hotels and apartments) and retail developments (shopping centers) nearby the stadiums.
This is showing that even if mixed-use isn’t built within the stadium, a stadium that is expertly
placed in the middle of a bustling urban area will have mixed-use developments follow. With
thoughtful design, no longer do stadiums have to be located on the coasts with storied franchis-
es to be financially successful like in the past.
Culturally, soccer has always had great influence. It is the one sport that the whole world
plays. Every four years the World Cup is held and teams from all around the world compete to
win the honor of being called the best soccer team in the world for the following four years.
Wherever the World Cup has been held, it has always been a way for that country to show itself
off to the rest of the world including the people, the architecture, the food, etc. The best stadiums
around the world are able to represent the country and culture around them through their designs.
With this soccer stadium design for the MN United team, I am looking to represent the city of
Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota around it. The fact that the building of a soccer-specific
stadium for Minnesota is even in the works is a product of cultural change in the state of Minne-
sota and the country of the United States. Since the modern era of American football started in
1932, that sport has steadily grown into the most popular sport in the United States by a wide
82 | Page
margin. Soccer was widely regarded as the least popular of the main sports in America, but that
has been changing over the last 15 years or so. Even before the latest World Cup in which team
U.S.A.’s participation garnered much greater soccer viewership, there has been a surge in televi-
sion ratings for the games played in the Premier League with ratings nearly doubling from 2012
to 2013. Not only that but MLS teams have been noticing a greater success at the local level as
well, with attendance increasing consistently over the past 14 years despite the great increase
in MLS teams. Total attendance topped 6 million in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, with the 2015
season bringing in a total attendance of just over 7.3 million. Whether it is due to there being a
wider cultural range of people now living in the U.S. and bringing their love of soccer with, the
greatly increasing knowledge of the danger present in the popular sport of American football, the
increased televising of soccer in the U.S., or the possibility of the millennial generation liking
soccer more than the past generations, overall attendance and viewership of soccer is rising and
the growing amount of soccer stadiums being built in the United States is showing that.
The progression of mixed-usage in stadium design and the growing popularity of soccer
in the United States (12 soccer-specific stadiums have been built in the past 12 years), this is
the perfect time to be capitalizing and designing a mixed-use stadium for an excellent fanbase
in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Combining the lessons learned about stadium history, the social
changes that the millennial generation has brought and the ever growing culture of soccer in the
United States, the MN United stadium will be designed for the team, for the fans, for the city.

83 | Page
Site Analysis

Views
The MN United stadium design will need to incorporate views of the Minneapolis skyline
around it by keeping views from inside the stadium to the outside open on the south-
eastern corner of the proposed site.
Built Features
Most of the built features that are represented on the site are the office/retail buildings on the
site. The other features include the berm mentioned before that runs north-soutth through the
middle of the site and the built concrete platforms that support the roofing structures used by the
Farmers Market.
Light Quality
The light quality on the site is very generous as it is not surrounded by many of the tall skyscrap-
ers that are to the east of the site that would block out the sunlight. This works very well for the
stadium project if there is going to be a retractable roof with the sunlight then able to fall through
the roof onto the field. The regular season in MLS goes from March to October, which is when
Minneapolis and the rest of the state of Minnesota has more of its sunny days, which will also
help there be plenty of sunshine onto the soccer field during play. Unlike many of the soc-
cer-specific stadiums located in the southern states in the U.S., the changing seasons in Minne-
apolis mean a large swing in the location and timing of sunlight. This will have to be taken into
account with planning the artificial light system and the orientation of the stadium on the site.
Utilities
There are electrical systems present on the site in the form of transformers. there are also
telephone wires. The benefit this site provides to the furture usage of a stadium is that the areas
has been inhabited by so many different businesses which means that many of the necessities
the stadium will need in electrical connections have already been started. Sure there will have
to be much expansion on these systems in order to support the much larger needs of a stadium
housing 20,000 soccer fans, but at least the site isn’t starting from square one.
84 | Page
Existing Topography
There is a large berm that is running through middle of the proposed stadium site along the
north-south axis. This change in topography would need to be leveled before the construction
of a stadium on the site, or that feature would simply have to be worked into the stadium site
design. Maybe the stadium rests on the east side of the proposed site with a large plaza staircase
leading up to the stadium from the west side to counteract the change in elevation the berm
presents. The 93.8% of the site that has the U4A classification of soil is described as urban
land-udipsamments (cut and fill land), it is also described as complex which explains the many
different possible soils it could be (described in the soils section) and that it has a 0 to 2 %
slope. This means that this area has some spaces that have a slope of under 1% which means it
does not drain well unless it is paved and carefully finished. The part of that area that is between
1 & 2% will seem flat and are usable for all kinds of activity. The part of the site that has a U3B
soil classification is also described as unorthodents (cut and full land), and that the area this soil
inhabits can have anywhere from a 0 to 6% slope. That means it includes the two classifications
of slope found with the area that the U4A soil inhabits, but with the extra slope category of 4 to
10% with are defined as easy grades, and are suitable for movement and informal activity.

Site Location
The elevation above sea level that the Farmers Market
(just south of the site) is listed at is 826 ft. The rest
of the site is at a higher elevation, but due to the fact
there is little change in topography, the rest of the site
should not be more than 10-15 feet higher that.

Figure 65 - Topographic map of the north/west loop of Minneapolis 85 | Page

Existing Vegetation
There isn’t a large amount of vegetation on the proposed site as the site is occupied mostly of
office buildings for lease or truck depots. The line of trees that follows the east border of the
proposed site would allow for a great processional type feeling as you drive up towards the
southeastern corner of the site. Maybe this would be a great corner to feature the main entrance
of the stadium with much of that part of the elevation being glass to allow views to the skyscrap-
er skyline of Minneapolis?
Wind
The main landform that affects the flow of the wind is the berm that runs north-south just to the
east of Border Ave. The berm is large enough that when on the west side of it, the lower side,
you are protected by most any wind movement. You can tell in the image below that the berm is
about as tall as a the delivery truck next to it so the height of that berm could be as tall as 12-14
ft. None of the buildings prevent too much airflow because they are 2 stories tall or shorter. As
mentioned later, there is few instances of vegetation found on the site except for on the outskirts
so there is little wind cover provided by that.
Figure 66 - Side view
of the berm and Stark
Electronics

86 | Page
Human Characteristics
One of the most significant features on the site is the large berm that has been built to keep
one of the business’ parking lots level throughout the downward slope experienced when going
west on Holden St N. There is people present on the site, mostly people that work at the various
businesses that are still open.
Figure 67 & 68 - One of
the street parking payment
recepticles on the site and
the store Accent Store
Fixtures

Vehicular and Pedestrian Traffic

The only business that has much of a retail function is the Accent Store Fixture business and
Party Value business that is on the west side of the site, located right off of Lakeside Ave. This is
the only business on the site that receives much commercial traffic. All of the traffic that occurs
on the site seems to be vehicular because the neighborhood is not very close to any residential
areas. The Farmers Market that is located on the south end of the site brings quite a few people
to the area. By far the most active area of the entire site is on the west side of the sight between
Accent Store Fixtures, the Farmers Market, and I-94. On the east side there is a decent amount of
both pedestrian traffic and vehicular traffic with roads to the nearby Target Field and access to the
lightrail. There is also a pay and park system located on the site that has various machines that
collect payment for street parking during the weekdays.
87 | Page
Soils
The majority of the site that the stadium will be located on has soil that has a classification
number of 4A. This soil takes up 93.8% of the site. This means the soil on the site could be
any combination of the following: loose to medium dense sands; firm to stiff clays and silts; or
alluvial fills. The allowable soil bearing pressure associated with this type of soil is 1500 psf,
the blow count is 18-23 and the torque probe value (inch-pounds) is 276-350. The minority soil
type that is found on the southeast corner of the site has a classification number U3B. This soil
type takes up 6.1% of the site. The soil in this part of the site could be made of any combination
of the following: sand, silty sand, clayey sand, silty gravel, medium dense course sands, sandy
gravel, very stiff silt, and/or sand clays. This type of soil has an allowable soil bearing pressure
of 1500, a blow count of 18-23 and a torque probe (inch-pounds) of 351-550. The soils on the
proposed site may have to be tested as there may be a chance of soil contamination with the
large amounf of office parking and truck depots that have inhabited the site in its history. The
foundation and structural techniques used by the other stadiums that share this soil (ex. Target
Field) will be studied to determine how to best approach the same for this stadium.
Figure 69 - Soil classifi-
cation map of the site

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Distress and Site Character
The distress that I found on the site is of a human variety. The neighborhood that surrounds the
site is classified as an I2 or “medium industrial district”. This is shown in some of the many of
industrial businesses that call the land between Lakeside Ave and Royalston Ave N their home.
Because of this, there is a lot of asphalt and concrete paving for delivery trucks like the ones
seen at G&K Services. This is leaves little space for green space in the neighborhood. I didn’t
notice any dying trees when I visited the site, but I did notice that some of the businesses that
call that neighborhood their home are already vacated and are looking for tenants. I didn’t see
much erosion or other damage to the land, but the buildings that inhabit the neighborhood are
all older and most are not well kept. The distress in general and is on a macro level, affecting the
entire site.

Site Location

Figure 70 & 71- Zoning

district map of Minneap-
olis and picture of G&K
services and their trucking
parking lot

89 | Page
Base Maps

In Map B, the light green color represents grassy

areas, while the light grey represents paved areas. The
dark grey color shows roads, the middle grey color
represents buildings outside of the site boundaries
and the buildings in blue are the buildings within the
site boundaries.

Figure 72 - Map A : tree & vegetative cover, water, contours

Figure 73 - Map B : road, bridges,

buildings

Map A is the Urban Tree Canopy

(UTC) map for Minneapolis.

90 | Page
Photo Grid
Figure 76 - Picture of north side of site

Figure 77 - Picture of east side of site

Figure 74 - Photo grid map of site

Figure 75 - Picture of west side of site Figure 78 - Picture of south side of site

91 | Page
Climate Data
Daily High and Low
Temperature
The coldest part of the year
lasts from Novermber 26th
until March 4th. The average
temperature during this time
is 34 degrees Fahrenheit. The
warmest part of the year lasts
from May 21st to September
16th. The average tempera-
ture during this time is 71
degrees Fahrenheit.

Relative Humidity

The humidity in Minneapo-

lis greatly varies based on
what season it is in, with the
highest humidity being found
in late August, and the least
humid or driest days being
found in late April.
Figure 79 & 80 - Temperature
and relative humidity charts
for Minneapolis, MN
92 | Page
Daily Chances of
Precipitation
On the days that have re-
corded precipitation over the
year light snow happened on
32% of those days, light rain
happened on 20% of those
days, thunderstorms hap-
pened 20% of the time, and
moderate rain happened 12%
of the time.

Median Cloud Cover

The part of the year that is

the clearest from cloud cover
starts around June 5th. the
part of the year that is cloudi-
er starts around October 5th.

Figure 81 & 82 - Precipita-

tion and cloud cover charts
for Minneapolis, MN

93 | Page
 Wind Speed

In Minneapolis, wind speeds

can vary from 1 mph to 19
mph, but very few times is
the wind speed greater than
25 mph. The time of year
when the average wind speed
is greatest can be found in
early April and the time of
year when the average wind
speed is lowest is in late
July.

Yearly Wind Direction

Percentages
As you can tell from the chart
to the left, the wind in Min-
neapolis comes most from
the Northwest, but there are
many times of the year when
it is coming from any other
direction.

Figure 83 & 84 - Wind speed and wind direction charts for Minneapolis, MN
94 | Page
Sun Path

As you can tell from the sun

path chart, the summer days
in Minneapolis are very long
and the winter days are very
short.

Sunrise, Sunset, Dawn

and Dusk Times Graph

Key:
Yellow - Sunshine
Grey - Darkness
Pink - Dusk
Blue - Dawn

Figure 85 & 86 - Sun path

and sunrise, sunset, dawn
and dusk times for Minneap-
olis, MN
95 | Page
Climate Summary
As proven by the climate graphs, the most temperate time for climate in Minneapolis
is found from late spring to late fall. The soccer season starts in March, which means the first
month or so of the season will be met with pretty cold temperatures. It will be useful to feature
a retractable roof on the soccer stadium so that it can be closed during the beginning of the
soccer season, open during the nice summer months that are less cloudy and daylight lasts long
into the evening, and then closed again late in the season and during the winter months so that
the stadium can be protected from snow and be a venue for other events like concerts. Having
a rectractable roof during the peak summer days with the most humidity will also allow for the
building to be enclosed and better block out those dangerous conditions to the athletes and fans.
Site Analysis Conclusions
The analysis of the selected site for the mixed-use soccer stadium for the MN United
MLS team has provided evidence that although there will have to be some work done on the site
in order to get it ready to house the stadium, the potential difference that this stadium can make
for the west loop neighborhood of Minneapolis is great.
While there are many things that need to change about the site, there are elements of the
site that can be integrated into the stadium design. The part of Royalston Ave that runs north and
south on the east side of the site can be used as the main road to the plaza and main entrance
of the stadium and also act as the main entrance to the stadium from the lightrail extension that
would allow it to run along the east side of Royalston Ave and connect right back up with the
existing part of the light rail track that wraps around the north end of Target field. The northwest
corner of the stadium site at the intersection of Olson Memorial Hwy and East Lyndale Ave N
could also allow for a great secondary entrance for mostly pedestrians as there are nice side-
walks running along Olson and East Lyndale. There is a nice green space at this corner of the site
with a few trees and a sidewalk headed towards the middle of the site that could be expanded
upon to create a secondary plaza/entrance path to the stadium.
There are also many parts of the site that would need to be changed in order to make a 96 | Page
 soccer stadium work on the site. There are a lot of buildings on the site that would need to be
removed in order for a 17,500 – 20,000 seat stadium to fit on the site. This project is all about
rejuvenating this west loop neighborhood of Minneapolis and I feel that in order for the site to
become something new, its needs to wipe its hands clean of the run-down poorly-designed
retail, truck depot, offices, and storage buildings that exist on the site and start fresh. Thankfully
some the buildings on the site are already up for rent as they no longer have any owners. Once
the buildings were removed, the stadium would have to be designed to work around the berm
that runs down the middle of the site or the berm would have to be leveled with the rest of the
site.
The shelters of the Minneapolis Farmers market that are located to the south of the site,
could be renovated in order to fit more with the eventual design of the soccer stadium and left
where they are at. In order for this to work and the farmer’s market still be integrated successful-
ly into the plaza of the stadium, the plaza might have to move to the west and be located more
on the south-southwest side of the stadium. The other option is to relocate the Farmers Market
to the southeast corner of the site, which would work better with the idea of having the main
entrance/glass façade of the stadium be located at this corner in order for the fans in the stadium
to have a nice view of the Minneapolis skyline.
One thing that was noticed during the site analysis was that although the site didn’t have
a lot of pedestrian or vehicle traffic for a Twin Cities area, there were some bright spots of activity
at the Farmers Market and at some of the retail stores along East Lyndale Ave., showing that the
site is in a great location being next to I-94 to the west. There are many reasons to expect a great
increase of foot and vehicle traffic on the site if it were to have a soccer stadium with nice access
to the site from I-94 using East Lyndale Ave N along with nice access to the site from Olson Me-
morial Hwy, which connects to a nicely developing residential area to the west of the site. There
are also many nice bike paths and a nearby lightrail that is close enough to bring people near the
stadium even if an extension along Royalston Ave wasn’t possible. Although there is some park 97 | Page
ing lots near the site, most of them are privately owned so there may need to be some parking
designed for the stadium on the site, especially to accommodate for team buses. The visibility of
the stadium should be good from about any location around the site which will help the mixed-
use spaces be successful along with the stadium. The climate and weather of Minneapolis will
more than likely dictate that this stadium have a fixed or retractable roof in order for the stadium
to be effective economically and be used year-round. It would be preferable for the roof to be
retractable or see-through in order for fans to enjoy the long summer days of Minnesota.
Some testing of the soils on the site would more than likely have to be done to deter-
mine whether or not the area has been contaminated enough by the use of diesel trucks in order
to classify it as a brownfield site. If this site is indeed a brownfield area, then measures would
have to be taken in order to rectify the soils and get it ready for a large complex to be designed
on it. There may be LEED points for the taking if the brownfield soils can be rectified.
All in all, the site between Royalston Ave N and East Lyndale Ave N in the west loop
neighborhood of Minneapolis has a lot of potential to be a successful site for a mixed-use soc-
cer stadium.

Figure 87 - Picture of
apartment buildings on
Glenwood Ave and the Inter-
national Market Square

98 | Page