MINNEAPOLIS, May 10 (UPI) -- Minneapolis city officials Monday unveiled a plan for a new downtown football stadium for the Minnesota Vikings that would also renovate Target Center.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and City Council President Barbara Johnson said the plan to build an $895 million fixed-roofed stadium on the site of the current Metrodome would require the Vikings pay $400 million, 45 percent of the tab.
The city's plan, Rybak said, is "sensible, affordable and builds on the investment we already have here" at the Metrodome site, the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune reported.
The Minneapolis plan would pay for a $95 million renovation for aging Target Center, home of the NBA Minnesota Timberwolves. It comes two weeks before the adjournment of the Minnesota Legislature, which would need to approve the state's $300 million share under the scenario.
Minneapolis is competing with a proposal from neighboring Ramsey County in which a new stadium would be built on the site of a former ammunition plant in suburban St. Paul.
The team's lease at the Metrodome expires at the end of this season and the Vikings have been prominently mentioned as a possible tenant for a proposed new stadium in downtown Los Angeles.
