January 16, 2004
Mom! Minny won't share!
St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly brought an unusual argument to the stadium table yesterday, as various cities from around Minnesota made their pitches to build new homes for the Twins and Vikings: "Minneapolis has five of the seven major cultural institutions in it; it has four of the five major sports teams in Minneapolis. And if St. Paul is expected to come to the regional table with a sense of fairness and equity, then I think the ballpark decision is one that should go to St. Paul." By that argument, shouldn't the teams move to South Dakota?
As for the stadium proposals themselves, they ranged from detailed documents submitted by Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the suburban communities of Anoka County, Burnsville, and Eden Prairie, to a proposal submitted by someone who signed themselves "A. Citizen." Many contained no financing details; of those that did:
- St. Paul proposed a $520 million Twins stadium: $220 million from the Twins in cash and rent, plus $260 million in bar, restaurant, and car rental taxes (which, notes Doug Pappas, "will encourage St. Paul residents to eat and drink in Minneapolis") and stadium parking surcharges, and $40 million in other funds.
- Minneapolis upped the Twins ante to $535 million - $308 million from a Hennepin County tax on sales, lodging, bar and restaurant sales, $100 million from the state, $120 million from the team and $7 million from the city - while proposing a renovated Metrodome for the Vikings for $260 million, though without saying where this money would come from.
- Anoka County's Vikings stadium plan would cost between $475 million and $650 million, with most of the money to come from a countywide 0.75 percent sales tax hike, 5 percent food, beverage and hotel tax, and 3.3 percent parking tax.
Other submissions included a state rep's proposal for a new casino to pay for three stadiums, a state senator's call for community ownership of the Twins, and a giant model of a stadium built into a hotel. The governor's stadium screening committee is expected to sift through all this and come up with recommendations by January 29.
