Posted on 12/17/2009 12:51:04 PM PST by MplsSteve
Building a new stadium on the site of the Metrodome would cost $870 million, according to a report presented today to the Dome’s landlords.
That compares to the most recent $954 million pricetag of a new stadium, primarily because of lower product and labor costs, according to Bill Lester, executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission (MSFC).
According to Mortenson Construction, the cost decreased by nine percent since February of 2009 – a savings of $84 million.
“What we’ve learned is that the time to do this is now,” commission chairman Roy Terwilliger said in a prepared statement.
The Vikings called the report "an important contribution" to the search for a new stadium, but the team declined to endorse it. "Given the MSFC's recent attempt to delay a stadium discussion for two years, we are moving forward with those leaders who want to resolve this issue in 2010," the team said in a written statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
The problem is that only “most” of it is still standing. Also technology moves forward, newer stadiums have nicer just about everything, better seats, better site lines, better locker rooms, better drainage for rain, better sound system (goof for events other than sports). Our stadiums can last longer than 30 years, they just tend to not be the kind of place you want to put a billion sports business anymore.
You nailed it; word for word. Ditto.
Hey, we’ve got the twin to the Metrodome here in Michigan, and since the Lions built Ford Field, they’re not using the Silverdome anymore.
You need any spare roof panels or somethin’?
If they are going to tax anybody to pay for the a new Vikings stadium, I’d like to see the StarTribune and Pioneer Press at the top of the list. Along with the local TV and radio stations, the newspapers profit from the presence of the team. I would hope that this tax would be the first of many rejected by the StarTribune, not just the only one...
the thought of spring and fall baseball in the new open air stadium is as disquieting a scenerio as this past season when the Colorado Rockies had to push back games 3-4 of the NLDS because of snow and 17°F temperatures.
you had a beat up old dome stadium that kept the weather at bay....now you have a brand shiny new outdoor stadium that will be unusable in the post season....way to go Twin cities.
Because we don’t have access to thousands of Jewish slaves and billions of Temple Gold. The same people who built the Temple in Jerusalem built the Coliseum.
They got a heated stadium instead...and look what happened to them (haven’t been worth a damn since they left the Met)
I guess the fans don’t like the cold. I used to love the Vikes with Bud Grant. Didn’t know a thing about them, but the games were always entertaining. Loved the snow and mud. Real football. How much would it cost to build an outdoor stadium versus an indoor tractor pulling stadium?
If London Bridge can be moved, the Astrodome can be moved.
870 million? Is that all? OMG we’d be crazy NOT to build it! RAISE THE SKULL AND BONES, WE’RE READY FOR TAX PLUNDERING!!! SPARE NO ONE!
I am sorry but people are better off keeping the 870 million. Let the team spend its money to do some renovation in the existing stadium. Let them take the risk and reap the rewards of taking that risk. That’s business. Keee-rap.
If anything needs immediate attention, could it be.... roads and bridges perhaps? Not as sexy but most states let this stuff decay and steal highway/road funds for other things.
I agree. Taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for private enterprises. Not GM, not Chrysler, not banks, not ballparks.
I hardly consider hot dog vendors and ticket takers as good jobs.
If the end-all is to create jobs and infrastructure, why don’t cities invest in manufacturing—or something that actually produces wealth?
Hubert Humphry.
I am looking out the window at the giant Star Tribune complex just down the street from the dome. I say close down that fish-wrap factory, bull-doze it and you have a perfect tailgating lot right there!
2 problems solved.
If the Vikes are nice maybe they will offer to let the former editors sell dogs on Sundays.
I think both Dallas and the N.Y. Giants sold “personal seat licenses” to their season ticket holders to pay a big piece of the cost of their new stadiums.
I think each still had some public money involved, but, the seat license money paid hundreds of millions towards each stadium. Let the people who actually go to the games pay the biggest piece of the cost of the stadium. If demand for NFL tickets is that high, that people are wililng to spend thousands in “seat license” money up front, why not do it that way?
No.
I'm talking about the 30 year old who has stayed in Minnesota partly because his/her family has had Vikings season tickets forever and decides to start a Web 2.0 business. The Vikings are just another reason to stay in the area. Now he employs 500 which ripples to 1,500 more jobs. That's huge to the area when multiplied by other start ups.
I dunno about that
There was a time not long ago when Minnesotans wouldn't have countenanced life without the big leagues. Hubert Humphrey, the man for whom the desolate Metrodome was named, once remarked that without professional sports the Twin Cities would be "a cold Omaha." Carlson prefers to demean Des Moines in such comparisons, but the message remains the same.From the third paragraph of this article.
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