Metrodome's Flaws Pointed Out To Legislators During Tour

Annual Maintenance Costs For Metrodome  Projected To Run From $4-6M

Minnesota legislators yesterday "roamed the Metrodome to size up the aging stadium and ask some tough questions" of the stadium's operator, Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission (MSFC), according to Duchschere & Kaszuba of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. The MSFC "invited House members on the commerce and local government committees" to tour the facility. MSFC Exec Dir Bill Lester and Chair Roy Terwilliger "made the case that having a climate-controlled stadium is good for the Twin Cities and Minnesota -- and that it can't work financially without the Vikings." Lester told the group, "If the Vikings are gone, the end is near." Lester said that the Metrodome's "mechanical systems are fine." The "heating and air conditioning system is up to date, and the roof was checked a couple of years ago and found to be in generally good shape." But Lester added that the stadium's scoreboard "will need replacing in a couple of years," and that the "five-year-old FieldTurf eventually will need replacing." Lester said that "annual maintenance costs will run from" $4-6M. Meanwhile, Duchschere & Kaszuba note Vikings VP/Public Affairs & Stadium Development Lester Bagley "met with the legislators at Target Field, the Twins' new home, where they were shown the difference between a state-of-the-art facility" and the Metrodome (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/24).

TIME FOR ACTION: Vikings Owner Zygi Wilf Sunday, when asked about the MSFC's threat to "raise his rent by $4[M] a year" if the team did not agree to a lease extension at the Metrodome beyond '11, said the team is "working very hard to try to get everybody engaged" on the stadium issue. The Vikings have been playing rent-free at the Dome since '02, and Wilf said, "We need to step up, get engaged and find solutions and not sit back and be afraid to tackle this issue." He added, "To try to avoid the issue ... like the commission did, is really punting when they should be really engaged in trying to find the way to solve this issue." Terwilliger said the MSFC is "interested in moving as quickly as possible," and he added that the reason a lease extension "'came up is that the feeling was that the timing was going to be difficult next year' in the Legislature to get anything done." But Wilf "didn't sound receptive to waiting three years for a new stadium." Wilf: "We need to get people in the state Legislature and the governor and everyone involved. We need to deal with it now. Waiting is just a way for everyone to procrastinate, especially the commission" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/23).

DEAL INEVITABLE: In St. Paul, Tom Powers wrote it is "important for area taxpayers to remember one thing: You are going to get a new stadium, and you are going to pay for it." Powers: "The question is: Do you want to open wide and take your medicine now, or do you want to wait until later?" Powers added he has "seen enough of these stadium dances to know there are only two possible outcomes," a stadium being built or the team moving elsewhere. Powers: "One is not so nice and the other is worse" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 11/22).