Minneapolis and Ramsey County "touted the advantages Thursday of their competing plans to build a new Minnesota Vikings stadium amid signs that key legislators want to slow down the rush to quickly approve the project," according to a front-page piece by Kaszuba & Roper of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. By 5:00pm CT -- the deadline set by Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton -- "at least four stadium plans had landed on his desk." The day's "feverish stadium drama was capped by a Vikings spokesman saying the team preferred building in Arden Hills, believed a new Metrodome stadium was 'workable' and declined to guarantee whether it would play in Minnesota next season." Dayton said that he "would review the proposals and may offer his opinion next week." Meanwhile, state Sen. Julie Rosen, the "chief Senate stadium author," and others indicated that legislators "may now throttle back the stadium's frenzied pace." She said that "choosing a stadium site and introducing a stadium bill may not happen before the Legislature convenes on Jan. 24." Minneapolis' plan would contribute more than $300M to a new $918M stadium at the site of the Metrodome. It would funnel $150M of existing taxes for construction and $6.5M annually over 30 years for the stadium's "operation and upkeep." But the plan "does not address how the city would bypass a charter provision that caps sports facility spending at $10 million or show that it has enough City Council votes to be adopted." Ramsey County officials, "submitting a hefty 148-page document to the governor, said the Arden Hills property has had more analysis than any other location." But they acknowledged that the county's share of the $1.1B project, which they increased to $375M, "relies on legislative backing for a local 3 percent food and beverage tax that appears to lack political support." Last-minute proposals also were submitted by Shakopee and for a site in Bloomington (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 1/13). In St. Paul, Doug Belden notes Dayton is "focusing on Minneapolis and Arden Hills as the most serious options" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 1/13). The STAR TRIBUNE lists details from three of the stadium proposals (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 1/13).
