Mortenson Construction soon will have put its stamp on every major sports home in the Twin Cities.

The builder of Target Field, Xcel Energy Center and Target Center was chosen Friday, Feb. 15, to construct the next home for the Minnesota Vikings, too.

The Minneapolis company was awarded a $12.5 million contract — up to $15 million with bonuses — to serve as construction manager for the $975 million stadium.

The company was selected over an Arizona firm that built stadiums for the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals.

The Vikings’ current home, the Metrodome, will likely be torn down within a year, officials said. The team said Friday that it expects to play the 2014 and 2015 seasons at the University of Minnesota — whose stadium was also built by Mortenson.

The new Vikings facility would open in 2016 on the site of the Dome in downtown Minneapolis.

In terms of stadiums, Mortenson has “set the gold standard here in Minnesota,” said Michele Kelm-Helgen, chairwoman of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which will own and operate the new stadium and is overseeing design and construction.

The five-member authority voted unanimously to give the job to Mortenson, which built Target Field for the Twins, the X for the Wild and Target Center for the Timberwolves.

On top of its local and national experience, Mortenson is a Minnesota company, Kelm-Helgen said. And that means “pretty much 100 percent Minnesota jobs,” she said.

The project will involve an estimated 7,500 workers and 4.25 million work hours.

Mortenson has never built a stadium with a retractable roof, which was a mark against it compared with the other finalist, Hunt Construction of Scottsdale, Ariz. Hunt had partnered with Kraus-Anderson Construction of Minneapolis on its stadium bid.

But Mortenson was able to compete not just on local connections but on price, coming in with the low bid. The firm knocked about $2 million off its price during negotiations.

Kelm-Helgen said the fee — about 1.7 percent of the contract amount — was “incredibly competitive.”

The construction contract covers $690 million in stadium work, plus potentially $50 million in work on parking areas and other facilities, Kelm-Helgen said.

The architecture firm hired in September to design the stadium, HKS Inc., is being paid $34 million, but that includes payments to subcontractors.

John Wood, Mortenson senior vice president, said the company will get help with a potential retractable piece in a couple of ways: The project manager for the retractable roof on the Colts’ stadium now works for Mortenson, and the company also is engaging outside consultants who have experience with retractable roofs.

Getting a retractable something — roof, wall, window — remains a key priority for the Vikings, said Lester Bagley, the team’s vice president of public affairs and stadium development.

Adding a retractable roof would cost an additional $25 million to $40 million, said Wood, and that money would need to be found from savings elsewhere in the project.

“We think there are opportunities to find savings in some components of the building that might provide offsetting funds for a retractable roof, but those are the things that are all going to be explored over the course of the next 90 days,” Wood said.

Kelm-Helgen praised Mortenson’s track record of working with companies owned by women or minorities. The company is partnering in the stadium effort with Thor Construction, described by the stadium authority as “Minnesota’s largest minority-owned business.”

Kelm-Helgen also credited Mortenson with being willing to agree to terms shielding the public and team from risk.

Wood said the company assumed risks on this project — related to penalties for late completion, guarantee of a maximum price and other obligations — that it typically wouldn’t.

“I really don’t think we would have done it anywhere else other than here in our home state,” the Mortenson senior vice president said.

If the stadium isn’t finished on time for the 2016 season, Mortenson would face a fine of $5 million for every game the team had to play elsewhere, Wood said.

At first, it was hoped the Vikings could play the 2014 season at the Dome during the early stages of construction. The team then would move to TCF Bank Stadium in 2015. But planners said that scenario is proving too difficult.

Mortenson has the capability to do some of the construction work itself, and Kelm-Helgen said the stadium authority would be open to having that happen — if the price were competitive.

Wood said Mortenson will begin work immediately, putting prices on various design options and helping make decisions about the retractable roof and other issues.

A schematic design for the stadium is expected in March.

Wood said Mortenson expects to guarantee a maximum price for the work this fall before breaking ground in October, and all the design documents are supposed to be in by January 2014. Substantial completion — when the stadium is ready to use — is set for July 1, 2016.

A construction timeline of 33 months is “pretty tight, but we have absolutely no concerns about being able to meet the deadlines,” Wood said.

He said Mortenson built the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, a bigger stadium, in 31 months.

Doug Belden can be reached at 651-228-5136. Follow him at twitter.com/dbeldenpipress.