Minnesota Vikings Stadium: Bird Is (Still) The Word

With the new Minnesota Vikings' stadium now 40% complete, the anti-stadium crowd is rapidly running out of things to whine about. Well, in theory. . .they'll likely be whining about it long after the stadium opens its doors. We've heard all the stuff so far about how the stadium is a danger to birds that will be migrating through the area, but now the pro-bird crowd has shifted their focus elsewhere.

(I feel a bit weird calling them the "pro-bird crowd." Really, it's not as though anyone out there is "anti-bird," as far as I know.)

Apparently now the issue is the skyway that will lead to the stadium.

"Skyways are also bird killers," said Ann Laughlin of Minnesota Citizens for the Protection of Migratory Birds.

. . .

"It's hard for us to come here every month and just hear this list of millions more dollars being spent on this project," Elise Morton, a bird advocate, complained to the five-person authority.

Minneapolis already has the world's largest skyway system, connecting 80 city blocks, and the city has had skyways for over 50 years.

I'm not sure if these folks are as bent out of shape over the other skyways in Minneapolis as they seem to be over this particular one. Given the long history of skyways in the Minneapolis area, I would expect protests against this one to encounter the same level of success.