Minneapolis, MN – (June 3, 2016) – Construction of U.S. Bank Stadium reached a major milestone today as the City of Minneapolis issued the building’s certificate of occupancy a month-and-a-half early, which now allows the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, the Minnesota Vikings and other stakeholders to occupy the new facility and move in ahead of schedule. The early certificate of occupancy is a major feat that provides additional time for the facility’s transition to ongoing operations while construction is completed.

“It is the partnership we have with Mortenson, a great Minnesota company, that has brought us here today ahead of schedule,” said Michele Kelm-Helgen, Chair of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority. “To have the largest construction project in Minnesota’s history reach this milestone six weeks early is amazing.”

“Today’s early milestone is a testament of true collaboration by thousands of construction workers, hundreds of Minnesota-based businesses, the MSFA, Mortenson, HKS and the Vikings,” said Vikings Owner/President Mark Wilf. “With the incredible work shown by so many individuals, we are growing closer to opening the future home for Vikings football and showcasing the unprecedented game day experience U.S. Bank Stadium will provide.”

The Minnesota State Building Code (MSBC) requires that new buildings must obtain a certificate of occupancy before the building can be occupied.

The contracted date for U.S. Bank Stadium’s certificate of occupancy was July 15 according to the project’s construction services agreement. Construction of U.S. Bank Stadium is in its final weeks and will be completed ahead of schedule.

“We are extremely pleased to reach this important milestone ahead of schedule and look forward to the early completion of the stadium in the near future,” said John Wood, Senior Vice President at Mortenson Construction. “It’s been exciting to see the project progress so well and we are grateful to all the exceptional craftworkers and project partners who have enabled us to get to this point. We will be handing over the keys to this amazing new stadium to the MSFA very soon.”

The groundbreaking for U.S. Bank Stadium was on December 3, 2013 and more than 8,000 workers have worked more than four million hours on the project to date. The stadium’s official ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on July 22.