Editorial: Arden Hills is the right plan

Published 7:18 am Friday, June 17, 2011

If there’s going to be a stadium, Arden Hills is the place, and now’s the time

Ramsey County and the Minnesota Vikings have put forward a strong proposal for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium in Arden Hills. “This is the closest we’ve been in 15 years,” said one insider, not affiliated with the Vikings or any branch of government.

So, if we’re going to make a stadium deal, now is the time, and the Arden Hills venue is the site. If ever you can make the case for government involvement in economic development, bringing back a brownfield is it.

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It has only been a month since Ramsey County commissioners Tony Bennett and Rafael Ortega and Vikings owner Zygi Wilf announced their plan. They would reuse a slice of the old Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant site for a new, $1.1 billion retractable-roof sports palace, with the state, Ramsey County taxpayers and the team sharing the costs. This is the site the team wants, in part because it is centrally located and has plenty of space for tailgaters and future development.

In a year when nothing much has happened at the Minnesota Legislature, this is a project that could actually happen. Wouldn’t that be a kick through the goalposts?

We admit to an interest in promoting our East Metro neighborhood. But the site, on the western side of Ramsey County, is equidistant from the two downtowns, and linked via I-35W, I-694 and U.S. 10 to the entire state and region. It is odd that the presence of those roads has become a barrier to the deal, because there would be significant upgrades needed to handle the purple-clad multitudes.

We see those highways as a great plus for the site. Upgrades happen all the time throughout our system and the amount needed for these upgrades, most recently estimated at $130 million, is hardly enough to disqualify Arden Hills. It is a lot of money in the abstract but not in the context of major transportation projects — about what it cost to “unweave the weave” at I-35E and I-694 and about $100 million less than the cost of a new I-35W bridge in Minneapolis.

Commissioners Bennett and Ortega say they have the four votes to raise the county’s sales tax one-half of 1 percent to fund the county’s portion of approximately $350 million. The Wilfs say the team will commit $407 million. Gov. Dayton says the state will contribute $300 million. This does not account for the costs of highway improvements and therein lies the barrier. To us it is a problem that can be solved if all sides really want the deal to happen.

As to financing: We think St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman got it right. Keeping the Vikings in Minnesota is a goal of regionwide and statewide significance. It is unfair for the taxpayers of Ramsey County to shoulder such a great burden for accomplishing this, in the same way that it was unfair for Hennepin County taxpayers to shoulder much of the burden for building Target Field and keeping the Twins. Coleman’s proposal for a statewide, per-drink liquor tax to fund stadiums and arenas makes much more sense.

But the reality of this deal at this time is that the state’s contribution will be limited and there must be a local contribution. That puts the onus back on Ramsey.

The site, the financing and the infrastructure all have problems. All can be solved. The deal could work. We end with the questions we could have begun with: Should the taxpayers pitch in to help build a sports palace for wealthy owners and players? Should we do it when the state is cutting back everywhere else to balance the budget? Is this the job of government?

Those are very good questions and the beginnings of a big political battle. We make the case that this is a reasonable investment to remain competitive with other major-league cities. But we can also understand those who would say this is not the job of government, or now is not the time to do it. If Arden Hills fails for those reasons, so be it.

Despite whatever objections there may be, the situation is simple: If we really want to keep the Vikings we need a deal now. A decision against a deal is likely a decision to let the team go.

But if there is a grudging consensus to move forward — as we are beginning to sense there is — then Arden Hills is the place, and now is the time.

— St. Paul Pioneer Press, June 11

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