MINNEAPOLIS - For all 65 Division I college men’s basketball teams that were eligible for NCAA Tournament play, this year’s road to the Final Four was at times a long bumpy trip because of the intense scheduling involved with March Madness.

And local Minneapolis event coordinators, national media, Metrodome employees and more than 2,000 volunteers who helped set up this year’s nationally acclaimed event can share their pain.

“It’s definitely a tough task to set up a Final Four,” said Marc Ryan, the University of Minnesota’s assistant athletic director for external relations.

“Our biggest challenge was to put all the right people together, ranging from technicians, maintenance workers, support staff and merchants, to community groups and local businesses. This is a community-driven event and without that support, the setup process wouldn’t go smoothly.”

The massive undertaking in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome - which is home to the Minnesota Twins, Vikings and University of Minnesota football’s squad - converted a 60,000-seat football and baseball arena into a 45,000-seat basketball facility in the span of only two weeks.

And workers now must prepare the dome for the Minnesota Twins’ home opener April 9.

Ryan said seating for the event became top priority, with an $8,000 set of bleachers installed to help give fans a perfect view of all the action. The installation of the basketball court, which was manufactured in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, started March 22, when the pieces of the floor arrived by truck.

Since the Metrodome last hosted the Final Four in 1992 - a year that newly crowned champion Duke also claimed the national title - Ryan said there’s been an increased focus by the NCAA on hosting the premiere games at larger venues.

“There’s certainly revenue implications as to why the games are usually held at football stadiums, since there are a lot of people willing to buy a lot of tickets,” Ryan said. “But with all the accommodations that are needed by fans, media and event employees these days, it would be almost impossible not to have it in a domed stadium.”

Among the 2,000 volunteers who assisted at this year’s Final Four, Ryan said only 70 of them had access to the Metrodome to catch the games.

Media volunteer Mike Hemmresch said he was happy to be one of the privileged ones able to take part in the full experience.

“Two years ago I helped out at the Division I Golf Championship when it was hosted here in Minneapolis,” said Hemmresch, an associate director for communications at Division III St. John’s. “There is really nothing like the Final Four though. The college perspective with the bands and all the enthusiastic fans is what sets this apart from other events.”

Souvenir vendor Dick Wilke, a Minneapolis native, said the Final Four is unlike other events - the increased demand for merchandise keeps him busy.

He estimates that of the Four Final Four squads, Maryland fans bought the most merchandise this year. Duke, MSU and Arizona were the other teams that made it to Minneapolis play.

“It’s pretty crazy since there’s so many people looking to support their teams,” said Wilke, who works at many of the dome’s professional games. “We’ve had to brings in tons of extra cash registers for the 11 stands all over the arena.”

And it’s certainly not just the souvenir vendors who kept busy this weekend.

Food servers were kept occupied supplying the thousands of fans with piles of munchies.

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