Minneapolis officials announced Monday, a proposal to build a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings on the current Metrodome site. The plan calls for the city to pay roughly 25 percent of the cost.
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City officials have scheduled an afternoon news conference at the State Capitol to outline details of the proposal. The city is competing with Ramsey County, which wants the Vikings to build in suburban Arden Hills.The city plan would use sales taxes from the city's convention center and would provide additional money for renovation of Target Center, the downtown home of Minnesota Timberwolves NBA basketball. The proposal would also change the debt structure for Target Center.
Supposedly, no city property taxes would be used for the Vikings stadium..
The latest estimate of the stadium's cost is just under $900 million.
Mayor R.T. Rybak and City Council President Barb Johnson met Friday with Zygi Wilf, the Vikings owner, and an official from the National Football League, but top city officials have until now kept details of the plan secret. More Stealth development.
Polls have consistently shown a significant majority of Minnesotans oppose using public subsidies to build a new stadium for the Vikings.
Stadium critics have also argued that public subsidies for the Vikings should not be approved at a time the state is making major cuts to programs for poor and disadvantaged Minnesotans.
The Vikings have played at the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis since 1982 but have announced they would not renew the team's lease after the 2011 season. Wilf has insisted he is not interested in moving or selling the team.
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