Ending a decade of turmoil, the Minnesota Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a $975 million Vikings stadium meant to anchor the team in Minneapolis for a generation.
The vote ended a turbulent session that saw the project nearly die several times, only to get revived and then dominate the Legislature's final weeks, as opponents ultimately succumbed to intense pressure.
I'll probably do a longer post-mortem of this shameful spectacle in a few days, although there's not much more to say, really. I don't doubt that the new building will be very nice -- once we've spent well over a billion dollars for the thing, which it will be after the cost overruns, it's not going to be a dump.
The problem is an eternal one -- we have more Julie Rosens than we have Dave Thompsons, at least among those who are willing to run for office. And until and unless we address that issue, we'll continue to spend money we don't have for projects we don't need.
3 comments:
Well, at least the good news is that with a 30-year lease we won't have to hear about the need to build a new stadium for at least 10 years.
Beyond the tax dollars, the Vikings will no doubt charge over $200 a ticket. The Vikings will stay and remain an integral part of the Minnesota landscape, but the average Joe will be lucky if they can afford to attend one game per year. What a country! Socialism for the rich, and capitalism for the poor.
where is this one located? i lost track in the confusion.
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