St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman entered the Minnesota Vikings stadium debate with a bang yesterday, issuing a complex plan to use local sales tax hikes and a statewide liquor tax to: build a Vikings stadium in Minneapolis, move the Timberwolves and Lynx to St. Paul’s XCel Center (which would receive $75 million in upgrades for the current tenants, the Wild), redevelop the Target Center, and build a new stadium for the minor-league baseball St. Paul Saints…
…and the Vikings and the Wolves owners already hate the idea, and that’s before even getting into the problems getting approval for all those tax hikes. But at least Coleman got his name in the paper.
Am I the only one wondering whether the city of Minneapolis is filled with nothing but functional alcoholics? If a politician figures that a 2% tax on alcohol will finance multiple stadiums and renovations to others for what will probably be over a billion dollars I can’t imagine how much entertainment money these people would have left to spend at the games.
Andrew – good point. Will they even be able to find the stadium? Let’s hope they’re not driving to the game…