All Vikings Stadium Talk. No Action (Yet).

Image via WikipediaGovernor Mark Dayton of Minnesota is currently sifting through at least nine different proposals for a new Vikings football stadium.  He will then decide which proposal to recommend to the Legislature, which opens its regular session next week.  There, we will finally get an answer on where the stadium will be and how it's going to be paid for.  Or not.

The proposals have ranged from the ones you've heard of before (Arden Hills, Minneapolis) to the bolt from the blue (Shakopee) to the uh, well, imaginative.  A giant pickup roof topper, anyone?

The Vikings, whose lease at the Metrodome has expired and will not sign a new one unless a new stadium is in place, keep insisting that the Arden Hills site is still their top choice.  Lately, they've been hedging their bets because of the projected costs of cleaning up the former military munitions factory and Ramsey County's ability to raise funds without the city of St. Paul's help.  So they've turned to Minneapolis.

The city (that is, Mayor R.T. Rybak) has offered the current Metrodome site, which happens to sit next to property the Star Tribune newspaper wants to unload, as the cheapest alternative.  (Not to mention finagling the money to renovate Target Center, home of the Timberwolves)  But the Vikings don't seem to want to pay the "hidden costs" of playing games at the University of Minnesota for a couple of years.

The "Plan B" the team is considering is property near the Basilica of St. Mary on Linden Avenue.  It has nearly everything they want, and they can still play at the Metrodome in the meantime.  That is, if the parishoners don't mind traffic jams and exorbitant parking fees on Sundays.

The Shakopee site, located across from the Valleyfair amusement park, sounds tempting even if this was announced at the last minute.  But if you're coming down from the Twin Cities on game days, there's three ways to get there and two of them go through Eden Prairie (one of those routes goes through downtown Shakopee).  Oh, and the area has also been prone to flooding, given its location near the Minnesota River.  Maybe that's why the Vikings aren't seriously considering it.

As for how to pay for it, most scenarios revolve around setting up slot machines at horse racing tracks and casinos in downtown Minneapolis.  Native American tribes, who have enjoyed a monopoly of sorts on casinos in this state, will try to position this as another attempt by the white man to break a treaty and rip them off.  They're usually successful at this whenever their livelihood is threatened.

But don't expect any quick action on the stadium this session.  Republican leaders who control both houses of the Legislature have adopted a "go-slow" approach, which means it might be the end of the session before there's a vote.  Some legislators even think the Vikings are bluffing when they talk about taking their ball and moving to sunny California.  Well, this is an election year.  If the GOP diddles around like they did last year and the Vikings aren't bluffing, people will remember that at the ballot box.