Most Impressive Feature at the New Vikings’ Stadium? Those Massive Doors

Sure, it cost over one billion dollars to construct, and it looks all futuristic and a little dark and foreboding, but the most impressive feature of the new Vikings stadium might just be its doors.

Wait, what? Doors? Just how impressive are... doors? Well, consider that these aren't just any ordinary doors. According to this WCCO-TV story, these babies are 55-feet wide and between 75 and 95-feet tall. They feature 30,000 square feet of glass (made here in southeast Minnesota over in Owatonna) and weight nearly 40,000 tons. They rotate on hydraulic pistons, and are the largest glass doors (wait for it)... in the world! And, they're right here in Minnesota.

The doors are SOOO massive, the NFL has said the Vikings' new stadium will be required to follow the NFL rules for stadiums that have retractable roofs, regarding when the doors are open or closed. (For instance, they'll have to decide whether they'll be open or closed at least 90-minutes before kick-off.)

I'm hoping the Vikings will open and close them, just so we can see them in action, after games at the new stadium this fall. When Miller Park, with its retractable roof, opened in Milwaukee, the Brewers regularly opened and then closed the roof again after games that season, just because everyone was so curious to see how the roof worked. I hope the Vikings do the same.

Here's more on the massive doors...

And here's a time-lapse view of what the massive doors look like while they open and close!