Officials of the Twins and Vikings agreed yesterday to
study the feasibility of a multi-purpose stadium, which for
the Twins is "a small step backward" from their "previous
stand against sharing" a facility, according to Patrick
Sweeney in the St. Paul PIONEER PRESS. Sweeney writes that
for the Vikings, the agreement "allows the team to become a
player in the legislative debate" over public funding of new
sports facilities. Execs from both teams yesterday examined
a model of a proposed stadium that would seat about 42,000
for baseball and 63,000 for football. After the meeting,
Twins President Jerry Bell said, "It's good, but it's not
nearly as good as a baseball-only ballpark." Vikings
President Roger Headrick: "The assumption we're making is
the community is not going to support two separate stadiums"
(PIONEER PRESS, 7/24). The presentation was made by K.C.-
based HOK, whose representative said the proposed stadium
would cost about $400M, not including land, architect's fees
and construction management costs. Also yesterday, four
Republican legislators held a news conference to propose a
statewide referendum on pro subsidies (Whereatt & Weiner,
Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/24).
