Lucas Oil Stadium is model for what Wilf wants here

INDIANAPOLIS — Vikings owner Zygi Wilf got his first in-depth look at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday when he was among a group of team executives to tour the facility before his team faced the Colts in their preseason opener.

Wilf did not speak to the media afterward, but Vikings exec Lester Bagley did, and he said the owner was impressed. "As Zygi said, 'This would be great in Minneapolis,'" said Bagley, Vikings vice president of public affairs and stadium development.

Built at a cost of $720 million, with $100 million coming from the team, the stadium is beginning its second season as the home of the Colts. In many ways this is exactly what Wilf would like to see built on the site of the Metrodome. Lucas Oil Stadium isn't a Cowboys-like stadium with all the bells and whistles, but the retractable-roof facility is able to play host to the Colts and a variety of other events.

Wilf, who has been pursuing a new stadium for the Vikings since he bought the team in 2005, hasn't expressed a desire to have a roof but knows many would want one because that means the facility could be used year round. A group of Vikings executives, including Bagley, got a tour of Lucas Oil Stadium last September, but being able to see it on a gameday gave them more insight.

It's also likely to have furthered their frustration over not being able to get their own venue. The Vikings lease at the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season.

"The frustrating thing is that the person that's working the hardest to get a deal done and keep the Vikings in Minnesota is Zygi Wilf," Bagley said. "... Our ownership is doing everything they can to get it done, and we just need that level of energy from our public partners. We're getting there, but we clearly got some work to do on that front."

Bagley said there are "some good things happening on the community side," as far as businesses in downtown Minneapolis starting to mobilize. Bagley also said the Vikings have not heard from Ed Roski Jr. of late. Roski is trying to lure a team to the town of Industry, Calif., and has called the Vikings in the past.

"We just completed two days of ownership meetings down in Mankato, and there was significant discussion about a number of the major business and team functions for the Vikings and there was some time spent on [the stadium] issue," Bagley said. "Among the broader ownership group, there is certainly a significant level of frustration. Again, mostly in the fact that it seems like we're the ones who are pushing this.

"We don't have much in the way of public partners that are stepping up to roll up their sleeves and sit down with us. So there was a fair amount of conversation. We understand the economy is a challenge, but by the same token, we're trying to offer a jobs-and-economic-stimulus package to counter that. We have organized labor on board, and they are influential politically at the Capitol. There is a lot of focus on it as we get down to the end of the lease. The conversation is bound to get more difficult."