At 1 p.m. Thursday, the Metrodome will be history as its remaining rubble is hauled off the construction site of the new Minnesota Multipurpose (aka Vikings) Stadium.

Only a couple of piles of rubble remain in the giant pit that was once the site of Metrodome. (Go on, now, Dome haters, and call it the "End of an Error.")

Fittingly, the milestone removal of the remaining Metrodome rubble comes in April, the same month the dome opened in 1982.

Once the rubble is hauled away, Frattalone's work on the site is done - earlier than expected. Construction plans envisioned the demolition and excavation stretching through the entire month of April.

The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority plans a news conference Thursday to commemorate the occasion with views of the pit for cameras and reporters.

Construction of the $1 billion stadium was in full throttle Wednesday even as the snow flew and the Minnesota Twins game was canceled. Time is money on a construction site.

Concrete pilings already are on the eastern edge of the site and a horizontal concrete slab has been poured on what was once the Metrodome's parking lot.

The new stadium will be nearly double the size of the Metrodome. To get some perspective: The *lowest* part of the roof on the new stadium is as high as the tallest crane currently on the construction site.