The Minnesota Vikings won't be spending an extra $1.1 million to protect migrating birds from crashing into the team's new stadium.
The NFL team and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority on Wednesday confirmed that decision after the Minnesota Audubon Society sent out an alarm saying the structure's 200,000 square feet of glass could be a "death trap" for birds traveling in the Mississippi River corridor.
"Change glass, save birds," said the e-mail blast to members from national President David Yarnold. He noted that the stadium being built in downtown Minneapolis is less than a mile from the river where "tens of millions of birds" fly annually between their breeding and wintering grounds.
The Vikings say they're working with Audubon on lighting design and procedures but can't afford the added cost of special glass.
A year ago, the team and the Sports Facility Authority tempered some Audubon concerns with a pledge to turn off the stadium lights at night so birds wouldn't get confused. But the bird protectors want more.
The Minnesota Audubon Society cited state guidelines that require bird-safe glass on projects built with bonding money, pointing out that the state and the city of Minneapolis are covering at least half of the cost of the $1 billion Vikings project. "We know the people of Minnesota do not want their money killing birds," said Matthew Anderson, executive director of Minnesota Audubon.
But Michele Kelm-Helgen, chairwoman of the Sports Facility Authority, said the stadium design was started before adoption of the state guidelines on bird-safe glass, so it isn't subject to those rules.
"One of the design goals was to create a building that was more connected and integrated with the community than the Metrodome had been," she said. "The ability to see in and out of the stadium was what led us to the design."
