The National Sports Center (NSC) announced on August 20, 2019 that it will begin construction of a seasonal dome that will service the increasing demand for winter indoor sports field space for soccer, lacrosse, ultimate, baseball, softball and golf.
The project was approved by the Blaine City Council on August 5.
The dome will be located in the NSC Stadium, and will measure 110 feet tall by 260 feet wide by 450 long and cover 117,260 square feet. The size of the floor is actually 130 percent the size of an 80 yard x 120 yard soccer field.
It will incorporate part of the Welcome Center building as its entry way.
The dome will go up for the six months, from November 1 through April 30. During the summer months, the stadium will return to its configuration of two outdoor full-size soccer fields.
The construction budget is approximately $4.8 million, and the construction costs will be financed by the National Sports Center.
“You talk to any soccer coach or anybody involved with any sort of field sport, and they will tell you there is a significant need for more indoor field space in the winter,” said the NSC’s Chief Communications Officer Barclay Kruse.
Kruse said the NSC will program time in the dome for its own leagues and tournaments, but that significant blocks of time will be rented to local sports associations. Minnesota United FC will also utilize the domed field for winter training.
“This facility will be a tremendous resource for local sports associations,” said the NSC’s Executive Director Todd Johnson. “Domed fields like this are being built at taxpayer expense in many locations. The NSC is providing this at no cost to taxpayers. This will be a tremendous community asset.”
Construction will begin in late August or early September, with completion projected for early November 2019. The first stage of construction will be the pouring of a concrete foundation around the circumference of the dome. This foundation will provide the bottom anchoring system for the domed structure. During the summer, that foundation will be covered by turf, and it will not affect play.
The fabric dome itself is being designed and built by Yeadon Domes, a Minnesota company that is one of the world’s leading manufacturer of domed structures.
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