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Gophers football stadium clears House

The bipartisan 103-30 vote marked the first floor action on a stadium bill in four years.

By Conrad Defiebre, Star Tribune

Last update: April 7, 2006 - 12:18 AM

In a historic show of support for Gophers gridiron tradition that may pave the way for other taxpayer-subsidized sports arenas, the House on Thursday evening overwhelmingly approved the University of Minnesota's request for financing help for an on-campus football stadium.

A retooled plan for $235 million in state contributions to the project over 25 years took less than two weeks from its announcement March 24 to a 103-30 bipartisan floor vote in its favor. It still must pass the full Senate, where it easily cleared one committee last week.

House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, said the vote signaled an end to at least a decade of legislative tax and spending cuts in favor of a project "the whole state can be proud of. ... It's in the best interests of the state."

In a news release, University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks thanked the proposal's legislative backers.

He said the House action "gets us to the 50-yard line. Now we're looking to the Senate to get us into the end zone."

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ron Abrams, R-Minnetonka, replaced a stalled year-old proposal for the state to pay $185 million, which ran into trouble with some legislators over another part of the financing, a $100-per-year student fee. In exchange for $50 million more from the state, the U said it will cut the student fee in half and sell the state a 2,840-acre nature preserve in Dakota County.

Other funding for the $248 million open-air stadium at Oak Street and University Avenue SE. on the Minneapolis campus is projected to come from parking fees, private donations and sponsorships. The 50,000-seat stadium is slated to open in 2009.

Naming rights dispute

Under a $35 million naming-rights agreement with TCF Financial Corp., it would bear the name TCF Bank Stadium, which generated some complaints from DFL legislators. TCF is headed by Bill Cooper, a former state Republican chairman.

"We have sold out cheap," asserted Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL-St. Paul, who said the naming deal will eventually lead to Gopher football players festooned with advertising logos like NASCAR drivers.

Memorial Stadium, which the Gophers abandoned for the Metrodome in 1982 and was subsequently torn down, was dedicated to World War I soldiers. The TCF Bank Stadium plan calls for a veterans' memorial as part of the building, a gesture Abrams said has been approved by veterans groups.

Rep. Dennis Ozment, R-Rosemount, one of the architects of the land-swap part of the deal, hailed it as a move away from what he called a recent legislative mindset to "protect the public from doing the things we all think are right."

"The public supports this," he said, noting that it will preserve the rolling, wooded hills the university will turn over to the state. During a 2½-hour debate, all attempts to block or slow down the deal failed on strong bipartisan votes, despite virtual assurances that it will lead to votes on stadiums for the Twins and Vikings as well.

"I strongly believe we can do three stadiums this year," said Rep. Andy Westerberg, R-Blaine, sponsor of the Vikings-Anoka County plan, which requires legislative approval of a 0.75 percent county sales tax for a retractable-roof stadium in Blaine.

Twins ballpark

Also waiting in the wings is a Twins-Hennepin County deal for a ballpark on the edge of the Minneapolis Warehouse District. It needs legislative blessing for a 0.15 percent county sales tax. Both counties want to impose the taxes without public referendums.

"The other stadium issues will come forward," Sviggum said after the vote on the U plan. "I don't know if they'll be voted up or down, but I expect people to vote."

The total cost of all three stadiums approaches $1.5 billion, less than half of it to be provided by the university and team owners.

Conrad deFiebre • 651-222-1673

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