Super news from Minnesota this week. The Minnesota Vikings and Ramsey County reached an agreement on a new stadium in Arden Hills. 260 acres at the former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant site. I took a look at the plans for the development, and I must say that they look spectacular. The Vikings have never had a decent home. Certainly not one that approaches the high class outfit that they are. I noticed that there are two additional practice fields in the plans. So, I guess that the Vikings facilities would be moving from Eden Prairie. There are 21,000 parking spaces, so tailgating would be returning to Vikings games. There will be a Vikings Hall of Fame, a "main street" type shopping district, a cinema, offices, a festival plaza. If I lived in Minnesota, I'd never leave that place. A significant component to the plans is a retractable roof. The Vikings were really pushing for an open stadium, but that was never realistic. An all purpose, year round stadium in Minnesota needs a roof.
Some people are pissy that this agreement with Ramsey County takes the Vikings out of Minneapolis. It's about 10 miles away. The big city people simply assumed that the team would never leave the Metrodome site. When they heard that negotiations were heating up with Ramsey County, they threw together a package that was laughable compared to the Arden Hills plans. There is still one big obstacle. A bill needs to be passed in the state legislature for some state funding. That could be an issue. For a state that has lost it's basketball team, it's hockey team and nearly lost it's baseball team, I would think that people would take this a bit more seriously. The legislature has brushed the Vikings aside for over 10 years. It's time to get this done and insure the Vikings presence in Minnesota for a very long time.
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