New Vikings stadium in the works: Ted Mondale appointed Chairman of Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission
Heavy snow destroyed the Metrodome during the season and was in part to blame for ending Brett Favre’s career (assuming Favre doesn’t try to come back again next season as a 42-year-old quarterback) slightly earlier than expected.
After the roof of the Metrodome collapsed, the Minnesota Vikings were forced to play outdoors on the frozen field. Favre was knocked against the solid ground and had to leave the game. However, Vikings vice-president Lester Bagley didn’t feel like the club
really needed a domed stadium.
Bagley also said that unless lawmakers took steps to provide the club with a viable NFL facility, the Vikings might not stay in Minnesota. Los Angeles has been aching for an NFL franchise to call its own. LA Vikings doesn’t have
the same ring to it but it might grow on us in time.
However, in the current economy putting anything from $700 million in an outdoor stadium or close to a billion dollars on an all weather football facility could be a tall order. The Vikings have offered to pay a third of the cost
of an outdoor stadium with the rest of the cost being supported by the lawmakers. However, lawmakers feel that if so much capital is invested into a sports facility, in the very least it should be a 365 days facility like the Metrodome. Lawmakers are expected
to push a bill for the construction of a new stadium in February.
Minnesota is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The state is facing a $6 billion budget deficit and can’t really afford to lose the Vikings to another city. The state wants to retain the Vikings but can’t put two thirds of
the burden on tax payers (or more if they opt for a domed facility). Governor Mark Dayton has just appointed former senator Ted Mondale as the Chairman of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission in an effort to get a new Vikings stadium constructed.
The MSFC was formed to oversee the construction of the Metrodome almost 3 decades ago.
“My central focus is to represent the governor on the potential for getting this done,” said Mondale. He is a veteran of local politics and can navigate his way around the financial districts with his eyes closed. “I can't think
of a person better to be dealing with a deflated dome, the problems of the Vikings, a Republican legislature and a Democratic governor than Ted Mondale. He's the perfect guy to take on a mess like that,” Mondale’s political director said. Mondale was interviewed
on January the 13th for the position and appointed as chairman by the governor on the 14th. “Government has to prioritize where it spends its money,” he (Mondale) said. He said that constructing a new stadium for the Vikings in Minneapolis may very well be
impossible but he was optimistic about the project. “I think if it's doable, this is the year we do it,” he added.
Mondale said that if tax payer dollars are poured into the stadium, the public would get more out of the stadium than they put in. Mondale also supports the idea of a domed roof. He said that if the stadium was covered, other groups
could use it throughout the year. “It's something we need to be a competitive community and to have the kind of lifestyle we want to have in Minnesota,” he said. “It's a long winter.”
Mondale didn’t specify what kind of capital he expects the team to put up for the construction of the stadium but he said that a ‘significant chunk’ would have to come from the Vikings. The Vikings’ lease for the Metrodome is set
to expire after the 2011 season.
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