The new Gopher football stadium will try to capture the hearts and minds of all Minnesotans by carving the name of each of the state’s 87 counties in stone around the stadium.
That fact from University of Minnesota officials who are touring the state to tout the stadium, said the Marshall Independent.
The county stone feature will make the new stadium a Minnesota stadium for all, said Mary Kay Delvo, an advocacy and public-policy director for the U of M alumni association. (That, and the fact that taxpayers are paying for it.)
Delvo spoke to the Marshall Rotary Club. She’s in Slayton today and in Worthington on Thursday.
Other fun stadium facts from the goodwill tour:
- The stadium will have an area in tribute to Minnesota’s Veterans of War.
- A hospitality area will honor American Indians in Minnesota.
- The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community donated $10 million to the stadium and another $2.5 million to academic scholarships.
- The general contractor for the project is Mortenson Construction, of Minnesota, and the majority of subcontractors are from Minnesota.
- Mortenson was involved in the Regional Event Center at Southwest Minnesota State University.
- Daktronics of Brookings, S.D., will supply the scoreboard, the second largest in college football and four times larger than the scoreboard at the Metrodome.
