Vikings list $67M in hidden costs to build at Dome

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ST. PAUL (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings said Tuesday that building a new football stadium on the current site of the Metrodome would include $67 million in hidden costs that should be factored as state leaders push toward picking a host a new NFL venue.

Also Tuesday, the rector of the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis said church leaders are concerned about another potential downtown Minneapolis location for the stadium— one that would put it just 300 feet from their building.

Concerns about various sites were airing with just two days before a Thursday 5 p.m. deadline set by Gov. Mark Dayton for Minneapolis and Ramsey County to finalize stadium proposals. Dayton and lawmakers are hoping in the legislative session that begins Jan. 24 to finally resolve the team’s longstanding bid for a stadium subsidy.

The Vikings continue to prefer the Ramsey County option — a $1.1 billion stadium on the site of a former Army ammunition plant in Arden Hills. Minneapolis officials, led by Mayor R.T. Rybak, have pitched the Metrodome option as the cheaper option, coming in at about $925 million.

But in a letter to Rybak, Vikings owner Mark Wilf said when it comes to the city’s final proposal, “it is imperative that your analysis of Minneapolis stadium sites include all costs associated with each site.” Building at the Metrodome would force the team out of that building for several seasons and into TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota, which Wilf wrote would have consequences for the team’s bottom line.

Specifically, Wilf wrote, the team estimates generating $37 million less in game revenue for those three seasons. In addition, playing on campus would require $11 million in facility upgrades to make the stadium NFL-ready as well as $19 million to upgrade parking options.

That would “bring the total costs to build at the Metrodome site to $962 million,” Wilf wrote. He added the team is also worried about potential disruptions on its players, fans, sponsors and partners, and also potential challenges for neighborhoods around the University of Minnesota.

John Stiles, a spokesman for Rybak, said city officials were already aware of the team’s concerns. “We’re working to address them,” Stiles said.

Two other Minneapolis sites are under consideration: one near the Twins’ Target Field, and another not far away on Linden Avenue, close to the Basilica of St. Mary. The Rev. John Bauer, rector of the Basilica, said now is the time to raise concerns that building so close to the church would cause traffic and parking problems on Sunday game days, and create other complications for the congregation.

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