Minnesota Vikings stadium negotiator Lester Bagley hints at franchise's plans for new facility
The Minnesota Vikings spent much of the season locked in a political debate over state funding for a new $ 975 million stadium for the franchise.
After weeks of back and forth and a number of statements the Minnesota State Legislature finally gave the approval to partly fund the stadium costs through state funds.
Expected to be completed in 2016 the new stadium will be a state-of-the-art facility and will help the Vikings make revenues to allow it to compete with the big boys in the National Football League (NFL), something the franchise had complained about since
a long time about their current home.
Lester Bagley, the chief negotiator for the Minnesota Vikings stadium on Tuesday was honoured by the Leaders in Public Policy 2012 Programme for his successful negotiation in getting legislation for funding approved by the State legislature.
He was awarded the Public Policy Achievement (Sports) award for his work on the stadium and in an interview with the
St. Paul Pioneer Press talked about some of the plans the franchise is considering for its new home.
Speaking to the newspaper he hinted that the franchise was considering installing a retractable roof in the stadium if they could find the money by reducing costs.
He said:
“We have to make sure we get everything with a $975 million budget. It's a fixed-roof facility, but if we can cut costs, manage costs, our goal is to have a retractable feature (such as a portion of the roof that can be opened to view downtown). Some retractable
feature, we think, is important. That's the one thing we're working on.”
He also said that he is looking for feedback on concepts from designers and architects to make the new stadium a signature facility.
“We want to see a signature facility that is unique to this market. We may not know what that is just yet. We may need some feedback from designers and architects to get some concepts.”
With the stadium deal done the Vikings now have to build up a roster that can fight for honours and live up to the stature and grandeur of their future home.
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