Vikings' Letter To Dayton: Arden Hills Is It
Web Extra: Vikings' Letter To Dayton
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (WCCO) -- The Minnesota Vikings have sent Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton a letter expressing their disappointment in the decision to eliminate a local sales tax option to finance a new football stadium.
Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf sent the letter on Friday, praising Dayton and lawmakers for having conversations on possible stadium solutions, but also cautioning "the strategy of avoiding this issue does not work."
In the letter, the Wilfs said they believe Arden Hills remains the ideal site for a future stadium.
"The Vikings have spent more than a year working with Ramsey County on the analysis of this site and we are confident that it will serve the State and our fans extremely well," read the letter.
The letter also pointed out the more than $400 million private investment they've already made in the Arden Hills site, and drove their point home with a few new artistic renderings of the stadium complex.
Earlier this week, Gov. Dayton forcefully raised the stadium stakes, accusing key lawmakers of deliberately slowing down the stadium push for political reasons.
Dayton called out lawmakers for focusing on their careers, rather than the task at hand.
"Their number one job is more important than providing several thousand jobs to Minnesotans who are currently sitting on the bench and want to work," he said.
A stadium bill appeared to be moving once, but then stopped when GOP leaders backed off. Republican leaders said they are caught in a political Catch-22 -- nobody wants to lose the Vikings but no one wants to pay for them, either.
