Vikes Dismiss $870M Stadium Plan

An ambitious design for a new Minneapolis football stadium was unveiled in December, but the rollout was missing two key elements: a financing plan and the support of the football team that would presumably anchor it.

Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission members, architects and builders revealed an $870 million stadium to replace the aging Metrodome. The design includes a pitched roof with a transparent retractable panel, ground-to-roof windows, and 65,000 seats, including 7,500 club seats and 148 luxury suites.

But Minnesota Vikings officials were no-shows to the press conference, still unhappy with the Commission for attempting to get the team to commit to staying at the Metrodome beyond its 2011 lease expiration in exchange for monetary perks, according to the Star-Tribune. The team said it intends to keep its options open to move elsewhere in Minnesota.

Team owners Zygi and Mark Wilf released a letter to Commission chief Roy Terwilliger saying they could not “endorse or support the project” because they are already on the hunt for other locales, the paper reported.

“Frankly, we don’t understand how you can pass this resolution [seeking an extension] and then, one month later, try to move forward with a stadium design and costly study,” the letter reportedly said.

However, Commission officials said the design, study and $2.5 million paid to HKS Sports & Entertainment was not a secret. “There is nothing in here that they haven’t seen, that their fingerprints are not on, that they haven’t endorsed,” Commission executive director Bill Lester told the Star-Tribune.

In addition to bringing the Vikings back to the table, Metropolitan SFC faces another daunting hurdle – convincing the cash-strapped state to pay for it. Minnesota faces a $1.2 billion budget deficit.