on june 8, 2006, the university announced that it had selected populous to design the stadium. populous (then hok sport) was one of the three finalists, along with hntb architects and crawford architects, that made presentations to the university on may 24, 2006. the local firm that worked on the project was minneapolis-based "architectural alliance", and m.a. mortenson company was the general contractor. schematic designs of the stadium were presented to the public on january 3, 2007.