EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The hallways are a little tight at Vikings headquarters in Winter Park this week.
Crates and boxes are taped up, stacked, and ready to be hauled out as the Vikings prepare for their first day of official business at the new TCO Performance Center in Eagan next week.
"It's an exciting move," says Vikings Chief Operating Officer Kevin Warren.
Exciting and arduous. The first few of nearly 1500 blue cases and 200 loaded carts started making their way down I-494 a few weeks ago. Planning for the moving process began nearly 12 months ago, and has come with a few challenges.
"Trying to figure out what to keep with us and what should be new," says Vikings Vice President of Operations and Facilities Chad Lundeen. "Like when you move out of your house or anything else."
There will plenty of room for everything at the new Eagan facility. The Vikings staff has actually been operating out of five separate buildings, and their new digs will put them all under one roof. The TCO Performance Center is nearly double the size of Winter Park, with 134,000 more square feet of office space than in Eden Prairie.
The state of the art facility will have its own stadium, as well as four grass training fields. It will have an updated weight room, an electronic draft board...even a garden that will grow fruits and vegetables that will be used in the kitchen.
"It's really exciting," says Warren. "To see it come to fruition is really special."
As for Winter Park, there is no real plan for its future. Warren says they've been a little busy lately, but will take the time to make sure it falls into the right hands.
"There are a lot of memories here," says Warren. "We'll figure out the right thing to do with it."