Mortenson Construction, which has a strong sports facility presence in the Valley with such projects as Salt River Fields at Talking Stick and Camelback Ranch, has been picked to oversee construction of the new home for the NFL Minnesota Vikings.

The Arizona division of the Minneapolis-based general contractor currently is building the Lowell-Stevens football facility at Arizona Stadium in Tucson and is renovating spring training sites Maryvale Stadium and the Peoria Sports Complex.

Mortenson, which most recently built Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins, was selected this week by the team and the staff of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority to build the $975M downtown Minneapolis stadium, which is scheduled to open in time for the 2016 NFL season.

The other finalist was Phoenix-based Hunt Construction Group, which is currently building Riverview Park in Mesa, the new, 2014 spring training home of the Chicago Cubs.

As construction manager, Mortenson will establish the budget for what can be designed and built and draw up a construction timeline and work schedule. It also will provide a guaranteed maximum construction price for the 65,000-seat project.

Mortenson was one of three bidders with extensive stadium-building experience competing for the work. The contruction firm is expected to be paid 2% to 3% of the stadium’s $682M construction cost.

Also bidding was Skanska AB, an international firm based in Sweden that has built several NFL stadiums, including the new home shared by the New York Giants and New York Jets.

The authority and team last week pared the list to Mortenson and Hunt.

Hunt, which had planned to team with Kraus-Anderson, of Minneapolis, and two other local firms, worked with HKS Inc., the Vikings’ stadium architect, on several projects, including Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, which also has a retractable wall that slides open, enabling fans to view Indianapolis’ downtown skyline. The Vikings have long considered Lucas Oil, home of the NFL’s Colts, as the model for how to build a football stadium in a downtown setting.

Mortenson also has worked with HKS. The two firms paired up in 2009 to study and present options for rebuilding or replacing the Metrodome. One of Mortenson’s first challenges on the Vikings’ project will be working with HKS on pricing a retractable roof, wall or window.

The stadium-financing legislation approved last year calls for a fixed roof, but the Vikings and the authority prefer a retractable feature, if it can be built within budget.

Depending on the design, adding a fully retractable roof to a stadium already designed for a fixed roof could add $25M to $50M to construction costs, according to several experts familiar with such designs. Adding a wall or window would cost less.

Groundbreaking for the stadium is scheduled for October.