March 15, 2011

Vikings stadium plans going nowhere fast

More developments from Minnesota, where the Vikings stadium push seems to be stuck firmly in neutral:

• The Timberwolves' "global solution" plan isn't getting a warm welcome at the state legislature, where even backers of a Vikings stadium bill were cool to the idea of tacking on an arena renovation and other goodies as well. State senator Julie Rosen, whose Vikings stadium bill is now two months overdue, said that the T-Wolves' plan was "perhaps a good vehicle" for the NBA team's own need, but "it gets pretty heavy, doesn't it? It does get a little over complicated. You have to be cognizant [that] there are a lot of needs out there, but I think we're focused really on a [Vikings] stadium."
• With the long-expected NFL lockout now underway, enthusiasm for a Vikings stadium bill is likely to sink even lower, if possible. According to Minnesota Public Radio, the only silver lining might be that "Deputy Senate Majority Leader Geoff Michel, R-Edina, said today there wasn't much progress on the stadium to slow down at this point." Michel told MPR, "We have had zero caucus discussion on the NFL, on a lockout, on the Vikings, on the Metrodome."
• The U.S. General Services Administration says it will hold off on auctioning off an abandoned munitions plant in Arden Hills that has been discussed as a possible Vikings stadium site, but only until June. If anyone thinks the Minnesota state legislature is going to pass a stadium bill by June, in the middle of an NFL lockout ... well, I've got an abandoned munitions plant to sell you.

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