The Minnesota Vikings Museum allows fans to connect with the Vikings brand outside the game-day experience. With a 360-degree video theater, multiple interactive exhibits, and hundreds of historical artifacts, fans can discover the stories and insider details of the franchise throughout its 50+ year history in unique ways.

Dimensional Innovations (DI) led the entire design and build process of the Vikings Museum, which opened in 2018 in Eagan, Minnesota within the Vikings Lakes development.

Nominating Company: Dimensional Innovations, Overland Park, Kansas

Venue: The Vikings Museum, Eagan, Minnesota

Project: The Vikings Museum

Category: Entertainment & Recreation

BACKGROUND

The Minnesota Vikings have a rich and storied history going back to 1961. After accumulating a vast collection of historical memorabilia, the Vikings needed a space to showcase these commemorative displays and capture the incredible moments in Vikings’ history to share with new generations of fans.

Dimensional Innovations’ scope involved the entire design and build process of the Vikings Museum. Leading the way on a larger trend within the NFL, the Vikings Lakes multi-use development will continue to grow with the addition of office space, multi-family housing, a conference center, retail locations, and restaurants to create a year-round destination.

The Vikings Museum is centered around storytelling, and combines physical artifacts and displays with moments of interactive technology that bring the stories to life in an engaging manner through audio and video, many with elements that are responsive to touch.

CHALLENGES

One of the main challenges was appealing to a broad audience and making sure a 10-year-old had just as much fun as a 70-year-old reliving their own Vikings’ memories. The Vikings also wanted the space to be able to evolve over time to allow new pieces to be incorporated in order to keep the experience fresh.

With a history of more than 50 years, and numerous artifacts and objects found and donated, another challenge was to sort through and pull the best moments while maintaining a connection to the overall vision. Several historic pieces are one-of-a-kind and required special security. Finally, the museum space would also serve as an event space on numerous occasions, so the ability to adapt and update the space through digital displays customized for the event was key.

SOLUTIONS

The Vikings Museum combines storytelling and several unique artifacts and displays. The interactive technology is used to keep the content and stories fresh and engaging, so that return visitors will have a new experience.

There are several innovative technologies incorporated into the space including a gesture-based, rear projection book displaying the greatest players and a 360-degree immersive theater, which functions as a space to share social media posts and view a video of what it means to be a Vikings fan.

Screens can be touch interfaces for storytelling and content, but can also function as presentation displays. Additionally, by creating a truly modular display platform, we were able to streamline future artifact additions and rotation while minimizing cost to the client. On the digital side, our custom CMS allows for quick updates to stories, images, and video.

RESULTS

The Vikings Museum is an anchor point of the larger Viking Lakes development, which includes a practice facility as well as what will soon be a mixed-use development destination. This is in line with the trend in NFL team facilities to create a 365-day-a-year attraction for fans and the greater community. By creating an anchor for the overall development, DI was able to tie the Vikings’ brand not only to history and the fan base, but also ensure that it’s a true community amenity. As the development grows, so will the connection with hotel, retail, restaurants, and future residential spaces that are in the works.

The idea of the museum as special event space, retail space, and experience space has great benefits to client and visitor alike. By increasing the brand’s reach and touch points, it creates a win-win for the community.

PROJECT PARTNERS

SRA Architects, Kraus Anderson (General Contractor)