Report: Preliminary agreement reached on who will pay what for stadium
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There appears to have been another step in the Minnesota Vikings quest to get a new stadium
The Star Tribune reported Friday that Minneapolis, the state of Minnesota and the Vikings have reached a preliminary agreement on how the costs will be divided for a $975 million stadium that will be located on either the site of the Metrodome or very close to it.
The newspaper, citing multiple sources, reports Minneapolis would put in $150 million, the state would pay $398 million and the Vikings would contribute $427 million. The city also would end up paying about $180 million to operate the new stadium over the next 30 years.
There is still work to be done before this proposal is officially announced, including issues such as cost overruns. An announcement is expected next week.
If and when that happens, it only will be a step in this process. The Minneapolis City Council and the Legislature would have to give their stamp of approval before anything could become official.
The Star Tribune also reported that renovations to Target Center would not be part of this agreement, but the city would be allowed to use hospitality taxes to deal with upgrading that building.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak wanted to tie the Vikings stadium deal into getting improvements for Target Center but that appeared to be a sticking point for some.
