This one's for the football fans:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/...
Zygi Wilf beamed in the middle of the sharp-dressed group, a gold-painted shovel in his hands, a purple Vikings hard hat on his head and star running back Adrian Peterson by his side.
Finally, the work on Minnesota’s polarizing and long-sought new stadium was under way.
After more than a decade of planning, dealing and pleading, the
$1 billion project began Tuesday with a formal groundbreaking in downtown Minneapolis. About 600 people, including local politicians, business leaders and chanting fans, were in attendance as Wilf, Peterson, Gov. Mark Dayton and many others took turns flipping dirt and smiling for photos as fireworks exploded overhead.
The grinning and digging took place in the parking lot next to the Metrodome, where the Vikings have played since 1982. Their last game there is Dec. 29, and a three-month demolition of the Teflon-topped stadium will start in mid-January. After two years outdoors at the University of Minnesota, the Vikings are scheduled to inaugurate the ship-shaped, glass-encased venue in time for the 2016 season.
During a set of speeches in a nearby tent, Dayton joked that he felt just like Vikings coach Leslie Frazier after the team’s 23-20 overtime victory Sunday over Chicago.
“I can’t believe it’s over, and I can’t believe we won,” Dayton said. - Duluth News Tribune, 12/4/13
And of course conservatives and Republicans had to shit on it:
http://blogs.mprnews.org/...
The Taxpayers League of Minnesota and other conservative groups held a separate news conference to highlight what they view as a bad deal for the state.
Republican Senator Dave Thompson of Lakeville predicted that funding for the public share of the stadium will fall short and taxpayers will get hit harder. Thompson, who is a GOP candidate for governor, blamed incumbent DFL Governor Mark Dayton.
“Who’s going to get stuck with it? Probably the taxpayer, and not the hated 1 percent,” said Thompson. “The regular folks in Minnesota that are getting up every Monday through Friday, going to work, working hard and earning an average living will pay for this stadium. It’s wrong. It shouldn’t have been done, and this governor should be held accountable.”
Republicans controlled the Legislature when the stadium measure was passed. Public money makes up about half of the $1 billion project and is being paid for mostly with new corporate taxes, a small amount of new gambling taxes and a one-time excise tax on cigarettes. The Dayton administration has said the funding won’t come at the expense of any existing state programs.
Dayton dismissed the cost concerns, saying state and city subsidies are worthwhile investment. He cited a maximum price guarantee the state negotiated with the builder and a $400 million mixed-use development planned just blocks from the stadium. - Minnesota Public Radio, 12/4/13
Here's a little more info:
http://www.twincities.com/...
The stadium will be built, "but the deal is not fully funded yet," said former state Sen. Ted Lillie, president of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota.
He noted that the original source of the state's contribution -- taxes on electronic pulltabs and bingo -- is falling far short of projections. He warned that stadium backers would try to tap tax dollars that would otherwise go to the state's general fund.
Last May, Dayton, a DFLer, and the DFL-led Legislature shored up the state's ability to pay its share of stadium costs with a one-time cigarette tax that generated $26.5 million and an ongoing corporate tax-law change that will provide $20 million a year, if needed.
The original stadium bill was passed when Republicans controlled the Legislature.
The funding backstops would still leave the state short about $10 million a year if bond payments turn out to be $33.5 million per year, as has been projected, but state officials have said those payments may turn out to be lower and that Minneapolis will be picking up a greater share of the stadium tab as time goes on.
If more funding does become necessary to complete the stadium, state Sen. Dave Thompson, a Lakeville Republican who is running for governor, said stadium users and the Vikings owners should foot the bill. - Pioneer Press, 12/3/13
But Vikings owners are already helping foot the bill:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Recently the Wilfs agreed to cover cost overruns that have pushed the price of the project past the original $975 million estimate. The Wilfs pledged $26.4 million in additional financing and assumed the $15 million cost of playing games at the University of Minnesota’s stadium that had been part of the financing bill. The 64,000-seat stadium is expected to open in 2016.
Exactly how much the Wilfs are committing remains a point of contention for those who opposed public financing for the building, a fixed-roof, multipurpose stadium. The bill calls for the Vikings to contribute $477 million, which will be culled from three sources: the N.F.L.; a financial consortium led by Goldman Sachs and U.S. Bank; and the Wilfs, developers from New Jersey who tightly guard their net worth. With the covered overruns, the team’s share is expected to surpass $500 million, a little more than half the cost.
According to Vikings officials, the N.F.L. provided the team $200 million from its stadium construction fund, combining $150 million in loans with a $50 million grant. An additional $250 million will be privately financed through the consortium, $100 million of that recouped through personal seat licenses. Dayton criticized the Vikings last year for including personal seat licenses in the stadium bill.
The Wilfs pledged another $100 million in cash, in part for interest payments and rising costs. The selling of naming rights could reduce the Wilfs’ share or the amount financed.
Mark Wilf, the Vikings’ president, said his family and the team had contributed a large enough share. “This kind of public-private partnership was needed on this kind of project,” he said. “As the building goes up and as people start seeing what it means to the economy over the next few years, I think those positives will outweigh any contrary concerns.”
When construction bids came back higher than expected, Wilf said, ownership chose to pay more to maintain the features needed so the building could lure major events. Minneapolis is one of three finalists for the 2018 Super Bowl along with New Orleans and Indianapolis, and the city plans to bid for an N.C.A.A. Final Four and an N.C.A.A. football championship game.
“We want to make sure we have the big-screen scoreboards, the ribbon boards, the Wi-Fi, the wider concourses,” Wilf said. “In order to make that happen and to keep pace with what is really a first-class N.F.L. standard, we had to step up to meet that budget gap. It’s a significant increased investment, but we want our fans to have the best type of experience possible.” - New York Times, 12/3/13
Leave it to the GOP to try and make something good sound horrible and claim that it will hurt Dayton next year. Here's Dayton's response:
“Minnesotans have a right to decide whether they want to keep me on the job or not,” Dayton said after overturning a shovelful of dirt Tuesday. “Either way, I’ll know that I did what I believe was right for Minnesota. Economic recovery and putting thousands of people to work — that’s as good as it gets in my line of work.” - New York Times, 12/3/13
Well said. Dayton has been a great progressive Governor and he deserves our support next year. If you would like to donate to or get involved with his re-election campaign, you can do so here:
http://markdayton.org/