Photo Set

Allianz Field Construction

Steel frame, seating bowl, roof trusses, and concourses at the Populous-designed Minnesota United FC stadium in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood

Allianz Field

Allianz Field opened in April 2019 at the corner of Snelling and University Avenues in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood, built as the permanent home of Minnesota United FC and the first stadium in Minnesota constructed specifically for professional soccer. Designed by Populous and built by Mortenson Construction, the 19,400-seat venue cost roughly $250 million, funded privately by the team's ownership group led by Bill McGuire.

The site had previously served as a Metro Transit bus barn, and the choice of location was deliberate: the Snelling-University corridor offered strong transit connections and sat roughly equidistant between downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis. Groundbreaking came in 2017, with crews working through Minnesota winters to raise the concrete seating bowl and steel superstructure.

The stadium's most considered engineering feature is its roof canopy, a perforated steel and translucent fabric membrane supported by a lattice truss system that encircles the entire seating bowl. The canopy was designed to shelter most spectators from wind and snow while allowing natural light to reach the natural grass pitch below. Its wrapping form was also intended to concentrate crowd noise over the field, an acoustic effect the club has promoted since opening day.

The bowl geometry places fans close to the pitch with no running track as a buffer, a layout that has contributed to Allianz Field's reputation as one of the louder atmospheres in MLS. The stadium has operated at or near capacity for marquee matches since its first regular-season game.

Allianz Field stadium construction site in St. Paul at night with excavated ground and steel framework. — *May 22, 2018* — Allianz Field opened in 2019 as the home stadium of Minnesota United FC, the city's Major League Soccer franchise. Built in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood on the former Metro Transit bus barn site, the stadium was designed by the architecture firm Populous and cost roughly $150 million to complete. It holds about 19,400 seats and includes a translucent canopy roof engineered to shield fans from wind while keeping the natural grass field exposed to sunlight. The project broke ground in 2017, and construction proceeded through Minnesota's winter months to meet the club's 2019 season opener.

Allianz Field stadium under construction at night in St. Paul with excavated ground and illuminated steel framework. — *May 22, 2018* — Allianz Field is the home of Minnesota United FC, a Major League Soccer franchise that began play at this Snelling Avenue site in April 2019. Populous designed the 19,400-seat stadium, and its steel canopy roof — the structure taking shape here — was engineered to wrap the seating bowl and support a perforated tension-fabric skin unique among MLS venues. The project broke ground in 2016 on the former Metro Transit bus barn site along Snelling Avenue, part of the Midway neighborhood between downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis. Construction costs for the stadium totaled roughly $250 million, funded privately by the team's ownership group. The surrounding Snelling Avenue commercial strip, including longtime retailers like the liquor store seen beyond the site, predates the stadium by decades and has remained active throughout the build.

Yellow mobile crane operates inside Allianz Field stadium under construction at night in St. Paul. — *May 22, 2018* — Allianz Field opened in April 2019 as the home of Minnesota United FC, the city's Major League Soccer club. The stadium seats about 19,400 and was designed by Populous, the firm behind numerous professional sports venues across the country. Its seating bowl and roof canopy were built with steel trusswork erected before the concourses and suites were enclosed. Boom lifts and mobile cranes were used throughout construction to position steel and finish overhead work at height. The stadium sits on a site near the intersection of Snelling and University Avenues, previously home to a bus barn.

Allianz Field stadium under construction at night in St. Paul with illuminated cranes and steel structural framework. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field, home of Minnesota United FC, rose on the former Metro Transit bus barn site at Snelling and St. Anthony Avenues in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood. Construction began in 2017, and the stadium opened in April 2019 with seating for about 19,400 fans. Cranes lift steel beams into place over the unfinished seating bowl.

Allianz Field stadium under construction in St. Paul showing excavated dirt floor and white steel framework. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field opened in April 2019 as the home of Minnesota United FC in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood, on a 17-acre site that once held a Metro Transit bus barn. The precast concrete stairwells and structural steel supporting the upper concourse went in during the stadium's final construction phase in early 2018, ahead of its first season.

Allianz Field stadium under construction at night in St. Paul, Minnesota, showing excavated ground and steel framework. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field opened in April 2019 in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul as the home of Minnesota United FC, on the site of the former Metro Transit bus barn. The stadium seats 19,400 and was designed by the architecture firm Populous, with a roof canopy of steel trusses that wraps the seating bowl. The project cost roughly 250 million dollars and was privately financed by an ownership group led by Bill McGuire.

Interior of Allianz Field stadium under construction in St. Paul, Minnesota, showing excavated dirt floor and steel framework. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field is the home of Minnesota United FC, built on the site of the former Midway Shopping Center in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood. The stadium opened in April 2019 with a seating capacity of 19,400 and a roof canopy supported by a steel truss system. Here the unpoured concourse floor still shows graded dirt and tire tracks beneath the completed truss framework.

Interior of Allianz Field stadium under construction in St. Paul, Minnesota with equipment and materials. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field is the home stadium of Minnesota United FC in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul, built from 2017 to 2019 for about $250 million. Populous designed the 19,400-seat stadium on a 34.8 acre site. Service corridors beneath the seating bowl carry the plumbing, wiring, and ductwork needed to run concessions, restrooms, and locker rooms on game days.

Interior hallway of Allianz Field stadium under construction in St. Paul, Minnesota. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field is the Minnesota United FC stadium in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul, built on a 34.7 acre site once used by Metro Transit for bus storage. Designed by Populous, the stadium opened in April 2019 with about 19,400 seats after roughly two years of construction. This lower-level concourse, cast in concrete and concrete block, carries the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing runs for the seating bowl above.

Nighttime construction site of Allianz Field stadium in St. Paul showing concrete foundation, steel framework, and illuminated — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field is the home of Minnesota United FC at the corner of Snelling and University Avenues in St. Paul, built on the site of a former Metro Transit bus barn. It opened in April 2019 as the first stadium in Minnesota built specifically for professional soccer, with a capacity of about 19,400 and a construction cost of roughly 150 million dollars. The concrete seating bowl and steel roof trusses went up before the stadium's translucent roof panels and exterior mesh were added.

Nighttime construction site of Allianz Field stadium in St. Paul with illuminated steel framework and red cranes. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field, home of Minnesota United FC, stands in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood on the former Metro Transit bus barn site along Snelling Avenue. Populous designed the stadium, which Mortenson Construction built for about $250 million and opened in April 2019 with seating for roughly 19,400 fans. Crawler cranes lift steel roof trusses into place over the unfinished seating bowl during construction in the winter of 2018.

Nighttime construction of Allianz Field stadium in St. Paul showing illuminated steel beams and concrete foundation work. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field stands near the Snelling Avenue and Interstate 94 interchange in St. Paul, built as the home of Minnesota United FC. The stadium opened in April 2019 with seating for about 19,400 fans and cost roughly 250 million dollars, financed privately by the team's ownership. Crews raised the steel truss framework that supports its canopy section by section above the concrete seating bowl before the structure was enclosed.

Night photograph of Allianz Field stadium construction in St. Paul showing illuminated steel framework and structural supports. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field is the home stadium of Minnesota United FC, a Major League Soccer club that began play in 2017. It opened in April 2019 on a 34.4 acre site along Snelling Avenue in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood, formerly home to a Metro Transit bus barn. The stadium seats about 19,400 and is topped by a steel lattice roof structure that encircles the seating bowl.

Nighttime construction site of Allianz Field stadium in St. Paul with illuminated steel framework and cranes. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field is the home of Minnesota United FC, built on the site of a former Metro Transit bus depot in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood. Designed by Populous, the stadium seats 19,400 and opened in April 2019 after roughly two years of construction. The roof canopy's steel trusses, raised into place by tower cranes, were engineered to shelter most of the seating bowl from Minnesota winters.

Nighttime construction site for Allianz Field stadium in St. Paul with industrial infrastructure and city lights. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field is the home stadium of Minnesota United FC, built on the former Metro Transit bus barn site at Snelling and University avenues in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood. Construction ran from 2017 to 2019, and the finished stadium holds about 19,400 fans under a translucent exterior skin. Populous, the firm behind numerous MLS and NFL stadiums, designed the project for team owner Bill McGuire at a cost of roughly 250 million dollars.

Nighttime construction of Allianz Field stadium in St. Paul with steel framing and cranes. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field is the home of Minnesota United FC in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood, built on the site of a former bus barn along Snelling Avenue. The stadium opened in April 2019 with seating for about 19,400 fans and cost roughly 250 million dollars to build. Cranes work beside the unfinished roof canopy and concrete seating bowl during construction.

Nighttime construction of Allianz Field stadium in St. Paul with illuminated cranes and concrete structural supports. — *March 6, 2018* — Allianz Field is the home stadium of Minnesota United FC, Minnesota's Major League Soccer team, in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood. The 19,400 seat venue, designed by Populous, went up between 2017 and 2019 at a cost of about 250 million dollars. A crawler crane lifts steel beams into place over the stadium's unfinished seating bowl during construction in March 2018.

Allianz Field Construction

Minneapolis Photographer