Nov 23, 2009 6:46 pm US/Central
Vikings Pressure Lawmakers With Stadium Comparison
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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Lawmakers toured the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome, built in 1981. They got a top-to-bottom inspection of the facility to get an idea of what needs fixing or renovating.
CBS
Minnesota lawmakers Monday got an inside look at the Metrodome: a possible preview to a fight brewing about the Vikings.
Twenty lawmakers walked through the Vikings' home at the Dome, then travelled a few blocks north to tour the brand new Twins facility. That's where they got a stadium pitch from an unexpected source -- the Vikings.
There's quite a contrast between the two stadiums, but it's exactly what the Vikings want lawmakers to see.
The publicly-funded Target Field where the Twins will play next season is nearly complete, and lawmakers touring the sparkling-new ballpark Monday started to feel the pressure.
"I think everybody generally thinks that we should do what we can to keep the Vikings here," said Rep. Joe Hoppe (R-Chaska), as he toured Target Field. "But nobody really wants to pay for it. That's going to be the big question for the legislature. "
In the new Twins home, a spokesman for the Vikings made a stadium pitch for the Purple, telling lawmakers that teams in Chicago, Green Bay and Detroit all got some public funding, each generating $30 million a year more than the Vikes.
"$30 million more [a year] for the Bears, Packers and Lions versus the Vikings," said Lester Bagley, spokesman for the Vikings. "Over time, that is a huge economic and competitive disadvantage."
Earlier, lawmakers toured the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome, built in 1981. They got a top-to-bottom inspection of the facility to get an idea of what needs fixing or renovating.
The Vikings' Metrodome lease expires in 2011 and the team says it will not renew it. Lawmakers know they could be asked to make a tough call as early as 2010 -- build a new stadium, or watch the Vikings leave.
But key lawmakers say it's too early to make any decisions yet.
"We've got a lease that's coming to an end with the primary tenant," said Rep. Joe Adkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights), chairman of the House Commerce and labor Committee. "We own a building. It's a conversation that we ought to be having about what's the next step."
The Vikings did not attend the Metrodome tour.
Last week they broke off relations with the Sports Facilities Commission until, according to the team, the Commission "gets serious" about a new stadium.
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