enderu: Well it's no wonder.

Alex (

enderu) wrote,
@ 2008-03-22 12:38:00

Entry tags:

minnesota, sports

Well it's no wonder.
How it all stacks up:

Arena	Year of Completion	Cost (millions)
Xcel Energy Center	2000	$130
TCF Bank Stadium (U of M Football)	2009 (est.)	$288.5
Twins Ballpark	2010 (est.)	$522
Proposed Vikings Stadium	2012 (est.)	$954 (est.)

Wow. I mean, it's great and all that the Vikings did okay this season (compared to what we expected, haha), and I really do wish they had spent the extra money on the Twins Ballpark for a retractable roof, but seriously, the Vikings want a near $1 billion stadium? It's no wonder no headway hasn't been made on it, especially since no official proposal explaining where the money will come from has been made. I do have to admit that the proposed sketch looks absolutely amazing (but so will TCF Bank Stadium and the Twins Ballpark, perfect downtown views and all). It would be cool to have near brand new stadiums for every major sport.

Honestly, I'd probably be all for it if I actually liked football at all, lol.

(Post a new comment)

izlude_tingel
2008-03-22 06:19 pm UTC (link)

I've been really crabby about all the stadiums, as I don't follow sports at all and it doesn't much affect me. But I'm starting to warm up to parts of the twins stadium - the parts where the Twins kick in some of the money for the huge light rail station below the stadium, and the part where part of the new tax revenue goes to libraries and youth programs.

If Pawlenty approves a billion dollar Vikings stadium after all of the budgetary nonsense he's pulled, (like refusing to adequately fund stuff like education) though, I'm seriously going to lose my mind.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

enderu
2008-03-22 06:55 pm UTC (link)

The large light rail station would be nice, and they've sure used that to market the stadium. And I didn't know some of the revenue will go to the libraries, but that's good to hear, because they're in desperate need of some additional funds, I know they just recently opened the one on 4th back up again.

That said, there's a lot better things $1 billion could go to. If nothing else, there's no reason a stadium needs to be even close to that expensive.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

boxrboyga
2008-03-22 06:23 pm UTC (link)

I'm a bit out of the loop since my Godparents are the only family still living in MSP, but isn't that sketch more than just a stadium?

Are the Vikings looking for taxpayers to pay for the stadium and an entire COMPLEX with two high rises for what... leased office space?

When did a "stadium" project start becoming an entire downtown residential/commercial development complex?

Ridiculous!

(Reply to this)(Thread)

enderu
2008-03-22 06:52 pm UTC (link)

First of all, nice icon choice, lol.

The Vikings will pay for portions, I'm sure, but I'm also at least 90% sure they're going to want significant amounts of tax payers' money.

And yes, it would be a complex. I guess they figure this is something the city would be more likely to go for, as the area they're considering is generally unused and neglected, sort of a sore spot on Minneapolis.

The plan included substantial improvements to the surrounding area, including an improved light rail stop, 4,500 residential units, hotels with a combined 270 rooms, 1,700,000 square feet (158,000 m²) of office space and substantial retail space.

And in explaining the high cost:

These include a popular demand for a retractable-roof, an open view of the surroundings (particularly the downtown skyline), a glass-enclosed Winter Garden alongside the already-existing adjacent Metrodome light-rail stop, leafy urban square with outdoor cafes and dense housing around its edges, aesthetic improvements to roads connecting the stadium to nearby cultural institutions, and adaptive reuse of neighboring historic buildings.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	keftenk 2008-03-22 08:50 pm UTC (link)
	Wow, I knew the Xcel wasn't that much (in comparison to other sport franchise stadiums), but that gap is pretty large ;o (Reply to this)(Thread)

	keftenk 2008-03-22 08:50 pm UTC (link)
	btw, 3 more wins(6 points) and Wild clinch playoffs :D (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	enderu 2008-03-23 03:03 am UTC (link)
	I know! I suppose you're at (we're at?) the game tonight? I wish they had made the Xcel bigger, so season hockey tickets didn't cost huge amounts of money. Then again, it might be harder to sellout the stadium 300+ times, haha. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	enderu 2008-03-23 04:26 am UTC (link)
	lol....nvm. @ calgary. I even watched the WCHA game (at the Xcel tonight) on TV and didn't catch that, lol. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	enderu 2008-03-23 03:02 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, it's crazy how much cheaper it was. Then again, no need for a retractable roof, and it only seats 18.5k, whereas the Twins Ballpark is 42k, and TCF Bank Stadium is upwards of 50k. Still, for being as cheap as it was (relatively speaking), it's a great arena. I think I read somewhere that it was named best sports arena in the country in 2004 or something. (Reply to this)(Parent)

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…