Blaine is finally getting its Vikings stadium, but not in the way it once hoped.

The city — considered a potential stadium destination in 2006, until the team and Anoka County dissolved their partnership — will be getting the fill from the Metrodome site as the team's new Minneapolis home is developed. Trucks are expected to haul 350,000 cubic yards of soil to a 33-acre site in Blaine by April, a Blaine official said Tuesday.

"It's clean fill," said Bryan Schafer, the city's community development director. "The team hasn't always been very good, but the fill's good," he said jokingly.

The land, at the southwest corner of 109th and Lexington Avenues, is owned by Allina Health and is one of several parcels that Vikings owner Zygi Wilf had contingency deals to buy in 2006, had the Minnesota Legislature approved a bid to help fund a Vikings stadium in Anoka County. But those plans never gained lawmakers' support, and the Vikings eventually announced that they were exploring a site in downtown Minneapolis.

The Blaine location is just one of many that will receive fill from the Metrodome site once the 31-year-old Dome is demolished. The fill will be transported at night.

A year from now, Allina is expected to begin building on the site.

" 'Irony' is a word we're hearing a lot here," Schafer said. "You couldn't make this up."

Paul Levy